Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)

Template:Short description Template:Underreferenced Template:Use British English Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Infobox UK constituency Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950). It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London which were already separately represented. The constituency effectively represented the red brick universities and Durham University with two members of parliament.

Boundaries

This university constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 and abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948.

The original proposal of the Speaker's Conference, which considered electoral reform before the 1918 legislation was prepared, was to combine all the English and Welsh universities except for Oxford and Cambridge into a three-member constituency. However, during consideration of the legislation, it was agreed that London University alone should continue to return one member. The University of Wales was also given its own seat. The other universities, which were still to be combined, had their proposed representation reduced to two members.^[1]

Combined English Universities was not a physical area. Its electorate consisted of the graduates of the universities included in the seat.

The universities represented by this constituency were Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (from August 1928) and Sheffield.

The constituency returned two members of Parliament, elected at general elections by the single transferable vote method of proportional representation. However, the first past the post system was used in by-elections.

Members of Parliament

This is a list of people who were elected to represent these English universities in the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1918 and 1950. The elections were not held on the polling dates for general elections in the territorial constituencies. The university constituency elections were held over five days, not on the ordinary polling date, so that plural voting graduates could vote in their place of residence and then visit their university to participate in its election.

Constituency created (1918)

Election			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	1918	H. A. L. Fisher	Coalition Liberal	Sir Martin Conway	Coalition Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" rowspan=4\|	1922		National Liberal		Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	1923	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	1926 by-election	Sir Alfred Hopkinson	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" rowspan=4\|	1929	Eleanor Rathbone	Independent
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	1931			Sir Reginald Craddock	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	1937 by-election			Edmund Harvey	Independent Progressive
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" rowspan=2\|	1945			Kenneth Lindsay	Independent
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" \|	1946 by-election	Henry Strauss	Conservative	Kenneth Lindsay	Independent
1950			University constituencies abolished

Elections

There were six contested STV elections. The MPs in 1935 were returned unopposed. By-elections, to fill a single seat, used the first past the post or relative majority electoral system.

1910s – 1920s – 1930s – 1940s –

Elections in the 1910s

Template:STV Election box candidate2 coalition 1918 Template:STV Election box candidate2 coalition 1918 Template:STV Election box end2 1918