Wallingford (UK Parliament constituency)

Before 1832 the borough consisted only of the town of Wallingford, which by the 19th century was divided into four parishes. The franchise was limited to (male) inhabitants paying scot and lot, a local tax. Namier and Brooke estimated that the number of electors in the mid-18th century was about 200;[1] but the number fluctuated considerably with the fortunes of the town, which had no manufacturing interests and considerable unemployment at some periods. There were never enough voters to avoid the risk of corruption, and systematic bribery generally prevailed, with anything up to 150 votes being bought and sold at any one election. (In 1754, Thomas Sewell, one of the Whig candidates, spent over £1000 of his own money and not only was this reimbursed from the "secret service" funds but the government spent further money unsuccessfully attempting to secure him a seat in Wallingford.[2]) By the 19th century Wallingford was regarded as one of the worst of the rotten boroughs, and Oldfield recorded in 1816 that the price of a vote was 40 guineas.

The 1831 census found the borough had a population of about 2,500, and 485 houses. Under the Reform Act 1832, the constituency was allowed to survive and to keep one of its two MPs, but the boundaries were considerably extended, taking in the Wallingford Castle precincts, which had previously been excluded, and all or part of a dozen neighbouring parishes including Benson and Crowmarsh, and part of Cholsey. This change of boundaries almost trebled the population, but the effect on the electorate was much smaller. According to the reports on which the Reform Act was based, Wallingford had about 300 men qualified to vote in 1831 (though no more than 230 had ever voted in the previous thirty years). Yet despite the widening of the right to vote, which preserved the ancient right voters of the borough while adding new electors on an occupation franchise, there were only 453 names on the 1832 electoral register for the extended borough. (Stooks Smith records that 166 of these claimed their vote as scot and lot payers, while 287 qualified as £10 occupiers; but many of the latter group presumably paid scot and lot within the old boundaries and could have voted before the Reform Act.)

In 1868 the franchise was further extended and there were 942 registered electors, but the constituency was much too small to survive the Third Reform Act, and was abolished with effect from the general election of 1885. The constituency was mostly included in the new Berkshire North or Abingdon county constituency, but Benson and the other parts of the extended borough on the Oxfordshire side of the Thames were placed in the Oxfordshire South or Henley division of that county.

Electoral system: The block vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

Percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.

Sources (unless otherwise indicated): (1754–1784) Namier and Brooke; (1790–1831) Stooks Smith; (1832–1880) Craig. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information or differs from the other sources this is indicated in a note after the result.

Swing: Positive swing is from Whig/Liberal to Tory/Conservative. Negative swing is from Tory/Conservative to Whig/Liberal.

• Wallingford History Gateway