Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)

Template:Short description Template:Underreferenced Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates 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.

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
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 1920s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1923: Combined English Universities (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Joseph John Findlay	850	21.9
Total votes			3,877
Quota			1,293
Turnout			5,008	77.4

• As two candidates achieved the quota only one count was necessary

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

1926 Combined English Universities by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ramsay Muir	2,000	46.1
Majority			343	7.8
Turnout			4,343	66.7
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

File:1922 Eleanor Rathbone.jpg

Rathbone

File:Robert Seymour Conway.jpg

Conway

Elections in the 1930s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1935: Combined English Universities (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

1937 Combined English Universities by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Francis Oswald Lindley	4,952	35.6
		Henry Britten Brackenbury	2,373	17.0
Majority			1,644	11.8
Turnout			13,921	48.3
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1940s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

By-Election 13–18 March 1946: Combined English Universities

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Mary Stocks	5,124	28.0
		Ernest Simon	4,028	22.0
		Stanley Wormald	3,414	18.7
		Gerard Stephen Oddie	239	1.3
Majority			359	2.0
Turnout			18,288	42.1
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing