Bridlington (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridlington was a constituency in East Yorkshire, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election. It was named after the town of Bridlington.

Bridlington
Former constituency for the House of Commons
Bridlington in Humberside, showing boundaries used from 1983–1997
County	1950–1974 East Riding of Yorkshire 1974–1996 Humberside 1996–1997 East Riding of Yorkshire
1950–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Beverley and Holderness and East Yorkshire
Created from	Buckrose and Holderness

It returned one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

History

The constituency was created in 1950 from the former seat of Buckrose. It was abolished in 1997 and most of its territory transferred to the East Yorkshire seat.

Boundaries

1950–1955: The Municipal Boroughs of Bridlington and Hedon, the Urban Districts of Driffield, Filey, Hornsea, and Withernsea, and the Rural Districts of Bridlington, Driffield, and Holderness.

1955–1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Bridlington and Hedon, the Urban Districts of Filey, Hornsea, and Withernsea, and the Rural Districts of Bridlington and Holderness.[1] The two Driffield districts were transferred to the new Howden constituency.

1983–1997: The Borough of East Yorkshire wards of Bridlington Bessingby, Bridlington Hilderthorpe, Bridlington Old Town East, Bridlington Old Town West, Bridlington Quay North, Bridlington Quay South, Coastal, Driffield North, Driffield South, Hutton Cranswick, Lowland, Nafferton, Roman, St John, and Viking, and the Borough of Holderness.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[2]	Party
	1950	Richard Wood	Conservative
	1979	John Townend	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	26,124	50.9
	Liberal	George Wadsworth	16,158	31.5
	Labour	Wilfrid Pashby	9,013	17.6
Majority			9,966	19.4
Turnout			5,1295	81.9
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1951: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	30,576	61.09
	Labour	Gerard McQuade	12,931	25.83
	Liberal	Douglas Eugene Moore	6,546	13.08
Majority			17,645	35.26
Turnout			50,053	78.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	25,880	70.92
	Labour	Kathleen M Roberts	10,614	29.08
Majority			15,266	41.84
Turnout			36,494	69.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	27,438	73.20
	Labour	Harry Moor	10,047	26.80
Majority			17,391	46.40
Turnout			37,485	68.15
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	22,729	56.50
	Labour	Kevin MacNamara	9,002	22.38
	Liberal	John J MacCallum	8,494	21.12	New
Majority			13,727	34.12
Turnout			40,225	72.78
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	21,976	54.58
	Labour	John Tomlinson	11,939	29.65
	Liberal	Trevor Silverwood	6,349	15.77
Majority			10,037	24.93
Turnout			40,264	71.47
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	25,053	58.10
	Labour	Harold A. Clarke	11,546	26.79
	Liberal	Trevor Silverwood	6,495	15.07
Majority			13,507	31.31
Turnout			43,094	68.64
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	25,711	51.21
	Liberal	JMS Cherry	14,715	29.31
	Labour	AAW Dix	9,780	19.48
Majority			10,996	21.90
Turnout			50,206	76.91
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Wood	21,901	49.07
	Liberal	JMS Cherry	11,795	26.43
	Labour	AAW Dix	9,946	22.29
	National Front	F Day	987	2.21	New
Majority			10,106	22.64
Turnout			44,629	67.87
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Bridlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Townend	27,988	54.80
	Labour	PJ Doyle	12,693	24.85
	Liberal	D Horsley	10,390	20.34
Majority			15,295	29.95
Turnout			51,071	74.18
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Bridlington[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Townend	31,284	57.79
	SDP	E Martin	14,675	27.11	New
	Labour	M Craven	7,370	13.61
	Ecology	Stephen Tooke	803	1.48	New
Majority			16,609	30.68
Turnout			54,132	70.56
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1987: Bridlington[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Townend	32,351	54.82
	SDP	Edmund Marshall	15,030	25.47
	Labour	Leonard Bird	10,653	18.05
	Green	Richard Myerscough	983	1.67
Majority			17,321	29.35
Turnout			59,017	73.66
	Conservative hold		Swing

Election in the 1990s

General election 1992: Bridlington[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Townend	33,604	50.8	−4.0
	Liberal Democrats	John A. Leeman	17,246	26.1	+0.6
	Labour	Steven M. Hatfield	15,263	23.1	+5.1
Majority			16,358	24.7	−4.6
Turnout			66,113	77.8	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.3

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Humberside

Notes and references

1. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1985-1972. Chichester, Sussex: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-09-4.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 5)
3. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
4. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
5. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
6. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.