Stowmarket (UK Parliament constituency)

Stowmarket was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Stowmarket in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Stowmarket
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
CountySuffolk
Major settlementsStowmarket
1885–1918
SeatsOne
Created fromEast Suffolk and West Suffolk
Replaced byBury St Edmunds

History

The North-Western or Stowmarket Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Western Division of Suffolk and included the towns of Stowmarket and Newmarket. It was abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1918 when the majority of the Division was absorbed into the new Bury St Edmunds Division of West Suffolk, with a small area in the east, including Stowmarket itself, transferred to the Eye Division of East Suffolk.

Boundaries
  • The Municipal Borough of Bury St Edmunds;
  • The Sessional Divisions of Blackbourn, Lackford, and Stowmarket;
  • Parts of the Sessional Divisions of Newmarket, Thedwestry, and Thingoe; and
  • The part of the Municipal Borough of Thetford in the county of Suffolk.[1]

As Bury St Edmunds formed a separate Parliamentary Borough, only non-resident freeholders of the Borough were entitled to vote in this constituency.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1885 Felix Cobbold Liberal
1886 Edward Greene Conservative
1891 by-election Sydney Stern Liberal
1895 Ian Malcolm Conservative
1906 George Hardy Liberal
Jan. 1910 Frank Goldsmith Conservative
1918 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s
Felix Cobbold
General election 1885: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Felix Cobbold 4,606 57.0
Conservative Thomas Thornhill 3,475 43.0
Majority 1,131 14.0
Turnout 8,081 76.3
Registered electors 10,587
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Greene 3,906 53.7 +10.7
Liberal Edward Buxton 3,363 46.3 -10.7
Majority 543 7.4 N/A
Turnout 7,269 68.7 −7.6
Registered electors 10,587
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +10.7

Elections in the 1890s

Green's death caused a by-election.

1891 Stowmarket by-election[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Sydney Stern 4,346 51.3 +5.0
Conservative Edward Greene 4,132 48.7 −5.0
Majority 214 2.6 N/A
Turnout 8,478 74.5 +5.8
Registered electors 11,375
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +5.0
General election 1892: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Sydney Stern 4,630 50.8 +4.5
Conservative Gerald Cadogan 4,486 49.2 −4.5
Majority 144 1.6 N/A
Turnout 9,116 82.5 +13.8
Registered electors 11,045
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +4.5
General election 1895: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Malcolm 5,144 58.2 +9.0
Liberal Henry de Rosenbach Walker 3,701 41.8 −9.0
Majority 1,443 16.4 N/A
Turnout 8,845 80.8 −1.7
Registered electors 10,942
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +9.0

Elections in the 1900s
General election 1900: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Malcolm 4,431 59.1 +0.9
Liberal JC Horobin 3,068 40.9 -0.9
Majority 1,363 18.2 +1.8
Turnout 7,499 70.4 -10.4
Registered electors 10,651
Conservative hold Swing +0.9
George Hardy
General election 1906: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal George Hardy 4,801 51.1 +10.2
Conservative Walter Guinness 4,588 48.9 −10.2
Majority 213 2.2 N/A
Turnout 9,389 85.6 +15.2
Registered electors 10,971
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +10.2

Elections in the 1910s
General election January 1910: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Frank Goldsmith 5,311 53.2 +4.3
Liberal George Hardy 4,666 46.8 -4.3
Majority 645 6.4 N/A
Turnout 9,977 89.2 +3.6
Registered electors 11,190
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +4.3
General election December 1910: Stowmarket[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Frank Goldsmith 4,995 51.0 −2.2
Liberal Robert Leatham Barclay 4,804 49.0 +2.2
Majority 191 2.0 −4.4
Turnout 9,799 87.6 −1.6
Registered electors 11,190
Conservative hold Swing −2.2

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

References
  1. Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
  2. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 393. ISBN 9781349022984.
  3. Page 153 Constitutional Year Book 1915
  4. Bury Free Press 21 Mar 1914

52.19°N 0.99°E / 52.19; 0.99

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