Skipton (UK Parliament constituency)

Skipton was a county constituency centred on the town of Skipton in Yorkshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Skipton
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Riding of Yorkshire
Major settlements	Skipton
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Skipton & Ripon, Pendle, Ribble Valley Westmorland & Lonsdale and Keighley[1]
Created from	Northern West Riding of Yorkshire

It was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished nearly a hundred years later, for the 1983 general election. It was then partly replaced by the new Skipton and Ripon constituency.

Boundaries

1885–1918: Part of the Wapentake of Skipton and Ewecross.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Barnoldswick, Earby, and Skipton, and the Rural Districts of Bowland, Sedbergh, Settle, and Skipton.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Barnoldswick, Earby, and Skipton, the Rural Districts of Bowland, Sedbergh, and Settle, and the Rural District of Skipton except the parishes of Steeton with Eastburn, and Sutton.

In 1974 the rural district of Sedbergh became part of the new county of Cumbria.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Mathew Wilson	Liberal
	1886	Walter Morrison	Liberal Unionist
	1892	Charles Savile Roundell	Liberal
	1895	Walter Morrison	Liberal Unionist
	1900	Frederick Whitley-Thomson	Liberal
	1906	William Clough	Liberal
	1918	Richard Roundell	Conservative
	1924	Ernest Bird	Conservative
	1933 by-election	George Rickards	Conservative
	1944 by-election	Hugh Lawson	Common Wealth
	1945	Burnaby Drayson	Conservative
	1979	John Watson	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Skipton & Ripon

Elections

Skipton election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Skipton[2][3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Mathew Wilson	5,059	54.2	N/A
	Conservative	Samuel Lister	4,269	45.8	N/A
Majority			790	8.4	N/A
Turnout			9,328	86.4	N/A
Registered electors			10,796
	Liberal win (new seat)

Morrison

General election 1886: Skipton[2][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	4,423	50.8	+5.0
	Liberal	Mathew Wilson	4,289	49.2	−5.0
Majority			134	1.6	N/A
Turnout			8,712	80.7	−5.7
Registered electors			10,796
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 1890s

Roundell

General election 1892: Skipton[2][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Roundell	4,700	50.5	+1.3
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	4,608	49.5	−1.3
Majority			92	1.0	N/A
Turnout			9,308	77.0	−3.7
Registered electors			12,087
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+1.3

Farrer

General election 1895: Skipton[5][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	4,902	50.7	+1.2
	Liberal	James Anson Farrer	4,763	49.3	−1.2
Majority			139	1.4	N/A
Turnout			9,665	87.1	+10.1
Registered electors			11,096
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Skipton[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Whitley-Thomson	5,139	50.7	+1.4
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	5,007	49.3	−1.4
Majority			132	1.4	N/A
Turnout			10,146	85.5	−1.6
Registered electors			11,865
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+1.4

Clough

General election 1906: Skipton[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Clough	5,834	51.0	+0.3
	Conservative	Richard Roundell	5,601	49.0	−0.3
Majority			233	2.0	+0.6
Turnout			11,435	90.0	+4.5
Registered electors			12,707
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Skipton[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Clough	6,579	52.0	+1.0
	Conservative	Richard Roundell	6,071	48.0	−1.0
Majority			508	4.0	+2.0
Turnout			12,650	91.2	+1.2
Registered electors			13,864
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.0

General election December 1910: Skipton[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Clough	6,151	50.2	−1.8
	Conservative	Richard Roundell	6,100	49.8	+1.8
Majority			51	0.4	−3.6
Turnout			12,251	88.4	−2.8
Registered electors			13,864
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.8

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;

• Liberal: William Clough
• Unionist: Richard Roundell

General election 1918: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Richard Roundell	12,599	55.0	+5.2
	Liberal	William Anderton Brigg	10,318	45.0	−5.2
Majority			2,281	10.0	N/A
Turnout			22,917	64.2	−24.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.2
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Verney

General election 1922: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Richard Roundell	13,251	41.7	-13.3
	Liberal	Harry Verney	10,228	32.3	-12.7
	Labour	Tom Snowden	8,229	26.0	New
Majority			3,023	9.4	-0.6
Turnout			23,479	85.2	+21.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	-0.3

General election 1923: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Richard Roundell	12,676	39.9	-1.8
	Liberal	Harry Verney	11,285	35.6	+3.3
	Labour	George Willey	7,767	24.5	-1.5
Majority			1,391	4.3	-5.1
Turnout			31,728	83.6	-1.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	-2.6

General election 1924: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Ernest Roy Bird	14,924	46.0	+6.1
	Liberal	Thomas Woffenden	8,947	27.5	-8.1
	Labour	George Willey	8,626	26.5	+2.0
Majority			5,977	18.5	+14.2
Turnout			32,497	83.8	+0.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	+7.1

General election 1929: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Ernest Roy Bird	16,588	39.5	-6.5
	Labour	John Davies	13,088	31.2	+4.7
	Liberal	Thomas Woffenden	12,320	29.3	+1.8
Majority			3,500	8.3	-10.2
Turnout			41,996	83.4	-0.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	-5.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Roy Bird	28,013	68.2	+28.7
	Labour	John Davies	13,053	31.8	+0.6
Majority			14,960	26.4	+18.1
Turnout			41,066	80.3	-3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

1933 Skipton by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Rickards	18,136	43.0	-25.2
	Labour	John Davies	14,157	33.5	+1.7
	Liberal	Robert Denby	9,219	21.8	+21.8
	Communist	James Rushton	704	1.7	+1.7
Majority			3,979	9.5	-16.9
Turnout			42,216	82.7	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-13.5

General election 1935: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Rickards	22,847	56.2	-12.0
	Labour	John Davies	17,788	43.8	+12.0
Majority			5,059	12.4	-14.0
Turnout			40,635	79.6	-1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1939/40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: George Rickards
• Labour: John Davies[8]

Elections in the 1940s

1944 Skipton by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Common Wealth	Hugh Lawson	12,222	44.8	New
	Conservative	Harry Riddiough	12,001	44.0	-12.2
	Independent Labour	Joseph Toole	3,029	11.1	New
Majority			221	0.8	N/A
Turnout			27,252	54.9	-24.7
	Common Wealth gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1945: Skipton[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	17,905	41.5	-14.7
	Labour	John Davies	15,704	36.4	-7.7
	Liberal	Eric Townsend	9,546	22.1	New
Majority			2,201	5.1	-7.3
Turnout			43,155	80.1	+0.5
	Conservative gain from Common Wealth		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Skipton[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	22,254	49.2	+7.7
	Labour	Thomas J. Roberts	16,290	36.0	-0.4
	Liberal	Eric Arthur Greenwood	6,689	14.8	-7.3
Majority			5,964	13.2	+8.1
Turnout			45,233	88.9	+8.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Skipton[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	26,024	59.0	+9.8
	Labour	Edgar Hewitt	18,064	41.0	+5.0
Majority			7,960	18.0	+4.8
Turnout			44,088	86.1	-2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Skipton[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	25,101	61.2	+2.2
	Labour	Vincent P. Richardson	15,919	38.8	−2.2
Majority			9,182	22.4	+4.3
Turnout			41,020	82.5	-3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

General election 1959: Skipton[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	20,278	48.3	−12.9
	Labour	Frank Hooley	11,178	26.6	−12.2
	Liberal	Claire Graham	10,543	25.1	New
Majority			9,100	21.7	-0.7
Turnout			41,999	85.7	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Skipton[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	18,561	46.2	−2.1
	Labour	Roderick MacSween	11,715	29.2	+2.6
	Liberal	Wilfrid E.H. Pickard	9,886	24.6	−0.5
Majority			8,846	17.0	-3.7
Turnout			40,162	84.0	-1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.5

General election 1966: Skipton[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	17,532	45.1	−1.1
	Labour	Gordon A. Knott	13,276	34.1	+4.9
	Liberal	Wilfrid E.H. Pickard	8,104	20.8	−3.8
Majority			4,256	11.0	-6.0
Turnout			38,912	82.0	-2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Skipton[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	20,817	51.3	+6.2
	Labour	Kenneth Targett	12,011	29.6	−4.5
	Liberal	Jean Y.L. Burns	7,733	19.1	−1.7
Majority			8,806	21.7	+10.7
Turnout			40,561	78.6	-3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.4

General election February 1974: Skipton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	19,301	43.3	−8.0
	Liberal	Claire Brooks	17,185	38.6	+19.5
	Labour	Terry Wheeler	8,079	18.1	−11.5
Majority			2,116	4.7	-17.0
Turnout			44,565	85.6	+7.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Skipton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Burnaby Drayson	17,882	41.3	−2.0
	Liberal	Claire Brooks	17,232	39.9	+1.3
	Labour	C.G. Burks	8,109	18.8	+0.7
Majority			590	1.4	-3.3
Turnout			43,223	82.1	-3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Skipton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Grenville Bernard Watson	23,177	51.2	+9.9
	Liberal	Claire Brooks	17,484	38.6	−1.3
	Labour	Brian Michael Selby	4,632	10.2	−8.6
Majority			5,693	12.6	+11.2
Turnout			45,293	84.1	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.6

References

1. "'Skipton', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
2. Liberal Year Book, 1908
3. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
4. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
5. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
8. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
9. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
10. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)