High Peak (UK Parliament constituency)

High Peak is a parliamentary constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Robert Largan, a Conservative.[n 2]

High Peak
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of High Peak in Derbyshire
Location of Derbyshire within England
County	Derbyshire
Electorate	72,178 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Buxton, Glossop, New Mills
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of Parliament	Robert Largan (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	North Derbyshire

The constituency is in north west Derbyshire and based in the heart of the Peak District, including the towns of Buxton, Glossop and New Mills.

Since the 1966 general election, the seat has been somewhat of a bellwether, with only three exceptions: at the February and October 1974 general elections the seat was won by the Conservative Party when the Labour Party won the most seats nationally, and at the 2017 general election when the seat was won by Labour but the Conservatives won the most seats nationally.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Borough of Glossop, and the Sessional Divisions of Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, and Glossop.

1918–1950: The Boroughs of Buxton and Glossop, the Urban District of New Mills, the Rural Districts of Glossop Dale and Hayfield, and parts of the Rural Districts of Bakewell and Chapel-en-le-Frith.

1950–1983: The Boroughs of Buxton and Glossop, the Urban Districts of New Mills and Whaley Bridge, and the Rural District of Chapel-en-le-Frith.

1983–2010: The Borough of High Peak, and the District of West Derbyshire wards of Bradwell, Hathersage and Tideswell.

2010–present: The Borough of High Peak.

The constituency covers much of northern Derbyshire and represents most of the west of the Peak District which encircles Buxton and Glossop.[2] Crowden, Tintwistle and Woodhead (formerly within the boundaries of Cheshire and in the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency) were brought into the seat in the boundary changes for the 1983 general election. The constituency boundaries became co-terminous with the local government district at the 2010 general election.

Constituency profile

Areas around the Hope Valley have a Conservative majority, whereas the north western part of the constituency, in Glossop (especially the Manchester overspill estate of Gamesley), Hadfield and Tintwistle, are more Labour-inclined. Buxton is often divided between the two main parties. The seat has considerable connections with Manchester (and the Hope Valley with Sheffield), rather than the East Midlands.

History

The seat was created in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Since 1910, the seat has returned mostly Conservative MPs apart from during three periods. A Labour MP was elected for the first time in 1966, but was unseated at the next general election. Labour gained the seat at the 1997 general election and retained it at the following two general elections during the Blair ministry, but it was regained by the Conservatives at the 2010 general election. It was regained by Labour at the 2017 general election when Ruth George gained the seat, the first time Labour had won the High Peak seat without winning the overall general election in its history.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1885	William Sidebottom[4]	Conservative
	1900	Oswald Partington[5]	Liberal
	December 1910	Samuel Hill-Wood[6]	Unionist
	1929	Alfred Law[7]	Unionist
	1939 by-election	Hugh Molson[8]	Conservative
	1961 by-election	David Walder[9]	Conservative
	1966	Peter Jackson[10]	Labour
	1970	Spencer Le Marchant[11]	Conservative
	1983	Christopher Hawkins[12]	Conservative
	1992	Charles Hendry[13]	Conservative
	1997	Tom Levitt[14]	Labour
	2010	Andrew Bingham[15]	Conservative
	2017	Ruth George	Labour
	2019	Robert Largan	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: High Peak[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Largan	24,844	45.9	0.5
	Labour	Ruth George	24,254	44.8	4.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Lomax	2,750	5.1	0.1
	Brexit Party	Alan Graves	1,177	2.2	2.2
	Green	Robert Hodgetts-Haley	1,148	2.1	2.1
Majority			590	1.1	N/A
Turnout			54,173	72.9	0.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	2.7

General election 2017: High Peak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ruth George[17]	26,753	49.7	14.4
	Conservative	Andrew Bingham[18]	24,431	45.4	0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Lawley[19]	2,669	5.0	0.3
Majority			2,322	4.3	N/A
Turnout			54,018	73.75	4.25[20]
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	7.0

General election 2015: High Peak[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bingham	22,836	45.0	4.1
	Labour	Caitlin Bisknell	17,942	35.3	3.7
	UKIP	Ian Guiver	5,811	11.4	8.0
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Worrall	2,389	4.7	17.1
	Green	Charlotte Farrell	1,811	3.6	1.8
Majority			4,894	9.6	0.3
Turnout			50,789	69.5	0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.2

General election 2010: High Peak[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bingham	20,587	40.9	+3.6
	Labour	Caitlin Bisknell	15,910	31.6	−9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Alistair Stevens	10,993	21.8	+2.4
	UKIP	Sylvia Hall	1,690	3.4	+1.2
	Green	Peter Allen	922	1.8	N/A
	Independent	Lance Dowson	161	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Tony Alves	74	0.1	N/A
Majority			4,677	9.3
Turnout			50,337	69.9	+3.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.55

Elections in the 2000s

Historical election results for High Peak

General election 2005: High Peak[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Levitt	19,809	39.6	−7.0
	Conservative	Andrew Bingham	19,074	38.2	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Marc Godwin	10,000	20.0	+3.9
	UKIP	Michael Schwarz	1,106	2.2	N/A
Majority			735	1.5
Turnout			49,989	66.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.95

General election 2001: High Peak[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Levitt	22,430	46.6	−4.2
	Conservative	Simon Chapman	17,941	37.3	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Ashenden	7,743	16.1	+4.9
Majority			4,489	9.3
Turnout			48,114	65.2	−13.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: High Peak[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Levitt	29,052	50.8
	Conservative	Charles Hendry	20,261	35.5
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Barber	6,420	11.2
	Referendum	Colin Hanson-Orr	1,420	2.5
Majority			8,791	15.4
Turnout			57,153	78.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1992: High Peak[28][29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Hendry	27,538	46.0	+0.3
	Labour	Tom Levitt	22,719	37.9	+9.1
	Liberal Democrats	Simon P. Molloy	8,861	14.8	−10.8
	Green	Roger Floyd	794	1.3	+1.3
Majority			4,819	8.0	−8.9
Turnout			59,912	84.6	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: High Peak[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Hawkins	25,715	45.67	−0.7
	Labour	Jean McCrindle	16,199	28.8	+2.7
	SDP	John Oldham	14,389	25.6	−2.0
Majority			9,516	16.9	−1.9
Turnout			56,303	80.5	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: High Peak[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Hawkins	24,534	46.4	−0.1
	SDP	David Marquand	14,594	27.6	+10.7
	Labour	David Wilcox	13,755	26.0	−10.6
Majority			9,940	18.8	+9.0
Turnout			52,883	78.5	−3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: High Peak[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Le Marchant	22,532	46.5
	Labour	David Bookbinder	17,777	36.7
	Liberal	D. Brown	8,200	16.9
Majority			4,755	9.8
Turnout				81.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: High Peak[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Le Marchant	19,043	41.4
	Labour	David Bookbinder	17,041	37.1
	Liberal	Christopher Walmsley	9,875	21.5
Majority			2,002	4.4
Turnout				80.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: High Peak[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Le Marchant	19,231	39.8
	Labour	Peter Jackson	16,956	35.1
	Liberal	Nora Scott	12,117	25.1
Majority			2,275	4.7
Turnout				85.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: High Peak[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Le Marchant	19,558	43.7
	Labour	Peter Jackson	18,054	40.4
	Liberal	Dennis Wrigley	7,119	15.9
Majority			1,504	3.4
Turnout				80.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: High Peak[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Jackson	16,938	41.3
	Conservative	David Walder	16,124	39.3
	Liberal	Dennis Wrigley	7,990	19.5
Majority			814	2.0
Turnout				84.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1964: High Peak[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Walder	15,753	38.1
	Labour	John Roper	14,416	34.9
	Liberal	Dennis Wrigley	11,147	27.0
Majority			1,337	3.2
Turnout				85.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

1961 High Peak by-election[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Walder	13,069	37.4	-8.6
	Labour	Wilfred McCormack Halsall	11,201	32.1	-1.9
	Liberal	Dennis Wrigley	10,674	30.5	+10.5
Majority			1,868	5.3	-6.8
Turnout			34,944
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: High Peak[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Molson	18,738	46.0
	Labour	Bernard Conlan	13,827	34.0
	Liberal	Stephen R. Cawley	8,138	20.0
Majority			4,911	12.1
Turnout				82.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: High Peak[40][41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Molson	19,094	48.4
	Labour	Neil McBride	13,652	34.6
	Liberal	Stephen R. Cawley	6,712	17.0
Majority			5,442	13.8
Turnout				79.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: High Peak[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Molson	21,305	49.0
	Labour	Wilfred McCormack Halsall	18,127	41.7
	Liberal	Stephen R. Cawley	4,070	9.4
Majority			3,178	7.3
Turnout				85.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: High Peak[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Molson	19,740	45.7
	Labour	Wilfred McCormack Halsall	16,933	39.2
	Liberal	Tom Stuttard Rothwell	6,539	15.1
Majority			2,807	6.5
Turnout				85.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: High Peak[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Molson	18,113	45.5
	Labour	Wilfred McCormack Halsall	15,454	38.8
	Liberal	Tom Stuttard Rothwell	6,230	15.7
Majority			2,659	6.7
Turnout				77.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

At the 1939 High Peak by-election, Hugh Molson was elected unopposed.

General election 1935: High Peak[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alfred Law	19,145	53.9
	Labour	R. W. Wright	9,559	26.9
	Liberal	Leonard Radcliffe	6,831	19.2
Majority			9,586	27.00
Turnout				72.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: High Peak[46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alfred Law	27,577	74.1
	Labour	George Bagnall	9,640	25.9
Majority			17,937	48.2
Turnout			37,217
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: High Peak [46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alfred Law	16,406	43.1	−10.2
	Liberal	Robert McDougall	11,083	29.1	−17.6
	Labour	George Bagnall	10,567	27.8	N/A
Majority			5,323	14.0	+7.4
Turnout			38,056	80.9	+4.1
Registered electors			47,066
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.7

General election 1924: High Peak[46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Samuel Hill-Wood	14,560	53.3	+8.7
	Liberal	Robert McDougall	12,772	46.7	+12.1
Majority			1,788	6.6	−3.4
Turnout			27,332	76.8	−1.4
Registered electors			35,588
	Unionist hold		Swing	−1.7

General election 1923: High Peak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Samuel Hill-Wood	12,162	44.6	−7.9
	Liberal	Robert McDougall	9,432	34.6	+14.2
	Labour	Frank Anderson	5,684	20.8	−6.3
Majority			2,730	10.0	−15.4
Turnout			27,278	78.2	−4.7
Registered electors			34,896
	Unionist hold		Swing	−11.1

Lady Barlow

General election 1922: High Peak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Samuel Hill-Wood	14,892	52.5	−6.3
	Labour	Frank Anderson	7,698	27.1	N/A
	Liberal	Anna Barlow	5,802	20.4	−20.8
Majority			7,194	25.4	+7.8
Turnout			28,392	82.9	+20.6
Registered electors			34,242
	Unionist hold		Swing	+7.3

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1880s

Sidebottom

General election 1885: High Peak [47][48][49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Sidebottom	4,199	50.1	N/A
	Liberal	John Frederick Cheetham	4,190	49.9	N/A
Majority			9	0.2	N/A
Turnout			8,389	89.1	N/A
Registered electors			9,414
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: High Peak [47][48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Sidebottom	4,162	51.0	+0.9
	Liberal	Herbert Rhodes[50]	4,001	49.0	−0.9
Majority			161	2.0	+1.8
Turnout			8,163	86.7	−2.4
Registered electors			9,414
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

Elections in the 1890s

Cheetham

General election 1892: High Peak [47][48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Sidebottom	4,609	52.1	+1.1
	Liberal	John Frederick Cheetham	4,243	47.9	−1.1
Majority			366	4.2	+2.2
Turnout			8,862	79.6	−7.1
Registered electors			11,122
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

General election 1895: High Peak [47][48][51]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Sidebottom	4,671	52.9	+0.8
	Liberal	Arthur Gibb Symonds	4,164	47.1	−0.8
Majority			507	5.8	+1.6
Turnout			8,835	85.0	+5.4
Registered electors			10,397
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: High Peak [47][48][51]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Oswald Partington	4,591	50.9	+3.8
	Conservative	Samuel Roberts	4,432	49.1	−3.8
Majority			159	1.8	N/A
Turnout			9,023	86.6	+1.6
Registered electors			10,420
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.8

General election 1906: High Peak [47][48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Oswald Partington	5,450	53.9	+3.0
	Conservative	Albert Profumo	4,662	46.1	−3.0
Majority			788	7.8	+6.0
Turnout			10,112	90.7	+4.1
Registered electors			11,154
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.0

Partington

1909 High Peak by-election[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Oswald Partington	5,619	51.6	−2.3
	Conservative	Albert Profumo	5,272	48.4	+2.3
Majority			347	3.2	−4.6
Turnout			10,891	91.1	+0.4
Registered electors			11,951
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.3

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: High Peak [47][52]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Oswald Partington	5,912	50.5	-1.1
	Conservative	Samuel Hill-Wood	5,806	49.5	+1.1
Majority				1.0	-2.2
Turnout				94.4	+3.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.1

General election December 1910: High Peak [47][52]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Hill-Wood	5,813	50.8	+0.3
	Liberal	Oswald Partington	5,629	49.2	-0.3
Turnout			11,442	92.2
Majority			184	1.6	+0.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+0.3

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;

• Unionist: Samuel Hill-Wood
• Liberal: Oswald Partington[53]

General election 1918: High Peak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Samuel Hill-Wood	12,118	58.8	+8.0
	Liberal	Clifford Brookes	8,504	41.2	−8.0
Majority			3,614	17.6	+16.0
Turnout			20,622	62.3	−29.9
Registered electors			33,075
	Unionist hold		Swing	+8.0
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Derbyshire

Notes and references

References

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services.
• Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)
• Politics Resources (Election results from 1931 to the present)

---

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Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.