Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christchurch County constituency
Christchurch shown within Dorset, and Dorset shown within England
Created:	1571, 1983
MP:	Christopher Chope
Party:	Conservative
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Dorset
EP constituency:	South West England

Christchurch is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Centred on the town of Christchurch in Dorset, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

The constituency was created in 1983, from parts of the previously existing Christchurch and Lymington, Dorset North and New Forest constituencies. It has generally been a strongly Conservative seat, with the exception of a 1993 by-election when it was won by the Liberal Democrats.

An earlier Christchurch constituency, a parliamentary borough, existed from 1571 until 1918.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 Members of Parliament 2.1 Parliamentary borough (1571-1918) 2.1.1 1571-1640 2.1.2 1640-1832 2.1.3 1832-1918 2.2 County constituency (1983-present) 2.3 Notes 3 Election results 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Boundaries

The current (2007) boundary includes Verwood and Three Legged Cross, West Moors, St Leonards and St Ives, Ferndown and West Parley, as well as the Borough of Christchurch.

The Boundary Commission for England's Fifth Report, laid before Parliament on 26 February 2007, proposes that Verwood and Three Legged Cross be transferred to the North Dorset constituency, and that Longham and Stapehill be transferred from North Dorset into the Christchurch constituency.

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] Parliamentary borough (1571-1918)

[edit] 1571-1640

• 1588-1589: Sampson Lennard
• 1597-1601: Simon Willis
• 1604-1611: Richard Martin
• 1604-1611: Nicholas Hyde
• 1621-1622: Sir George Hastings
• 1621-1622: Nathaniel Tomkins

[edit] 1640-1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
November 1640		Henry Tulse			Matthew Davis	Royalist
1642	Tulse died September(?) 1642 - seat left vacant
March 1643				Davis disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1645		Richard Edwards	Parliamentarian		John Kemp	Parliamentarian
December 1648				Kemp not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
1653	Christchurch was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		John Bulkeley			Henry Tulse
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
March 1660		John Hildesley			Henry Tulse
1661		Humphrey Weld
February 1679		Sir Thomas Clarges
August 1679					George Fulford
1685					Anthony Ettrick
1689		Francis Gwyn			William Ettrick
1695		Viscount Cornbury
1701		Francis Gwyn
1710		(Sir) Peter Mews [1]
1717					Francis Gwyn [2]
1724					Edward Prideaux Gwyn
1726		Jacob Banks
1727		Joseph Hinxman			Charles Wither
1732					Philip Lloyd
1734					Edward Hooper
1740		(Sir) Charles Armand Powlett [3]
1748					Sir Thomas Robinson
1751		Harry Powlett
1754		Hon. John Mordaunt
1761		Hon. Thomas Robinson			James Harris	Whig
1770		James Harris (junior)	Whig
1774		Hon. Thomas Villiers Hyde [4]	Tory
1780		Sir James Harris	Whig
1781					(Sir) John Frederick [5]
1788		Hans Sloane	Tory
1790					George Rose
1796		William Stewart Rose
1800		William Chamberlayne
1802		William Sturges Bourne	Tory
1812		William Edward Tomline
March 1818					Sir George Henry Rose	Tory
June 1818		William Sturges Bourne	Tory
1826		George Pitt Rose
1832	Representation reduced to one member

[edit] 1832-1918

Year		Member	Party
	1832	Sir George William Tapps-Gervis, Bt	Conservative
	1837	Sir George Henry Rose	Conservative
	1844	Hon. Edward Alfred John Harris	Conservative
	1837	John Edward Walcott	Conservative
	1868	Edmund Haviland Burke	Liberal
	1874	Sir Henry Drummond Wolff	Conservative
	1880	Horace Davey, later The Baron Davey	Liberal
	1885	Charles Edward Baring Young	Conservative
	1892	Abel Henry Smith	Conservative
	1900	Kenneth Robert Balfour	Conservative
	1906	Arthur Acland Allen	Liberal
	1910	Henry Page Croft, later The 1st Baron Croft	Conservative
	1917		National
1918		constituency abolished - see the Bournemouth, and New Forest and Christchurch constituencies

[edit] County constituency (1983-present)

Year		Member	Party
	1983	Robert James Adley	Conservative
	1993	Diana Margaret Maddock, later The Baroness Maddock	Liberal Democrat
	1997	Christopher Robert Chope	Conservative

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Knighted July 1712
2. ^ Gwyn was re-elected in 1722, but had also been elected for Wells, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Christchurch
3. ^ Knighted (KB), 1749
4. ^ Styled Lord Hyde from June 1776
5. ^ Succeeded to a baronetcy, April 1783

[edit] Election results

General Election 2005: Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Chope	28,208	54.7	−0.4
	Liberal Democrat	Leslie Coman	12,649	24.5	−3.3
	Labour	Jim King	8,051	15.6	+0.5
	UK Independence	David Hughes	2,657	5.2	+3.2
Majority			15,559	30.2
Turnout			51,565	69.6	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

General Election 2001: Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Chope	27,306	55.1	+8.7
	Liberal Democrat	Dorothy Webb	13,762	27.8	-14.8
	Labour	Judith Begg	7,506	15.1	+8.2
	UK Independence	Margaret Strange	993	2.0	+0.9
Majority			13,544	27.3
Turnout			49,567	67.5	-11.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset

[edit] References

• The BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services, 1983)
• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [2]
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page

v • d • e Constituencies in South West England Conservative Bournemouth East • Bournemouth West • Bridgwater • Christchurch • Cotswold • Devizes • East Devon • Forest of Dean • North Dorset • North Wiltshire • Poole • Salisbury • South West Devon • Tewkesbury • Tiverton and Honiton • Torridge and West Devon • Totnes • Wells • West Dorset • Westbury • Weston-super-Mare • Woodspring Liberal Democrat Bath • Bristol West • Cheltenham • Falmouth and Camborne • Mid Dorset and North Poole • North Cornwall • North Devon • Northavon • Somerton and Frome • South East Cornwall • St Ives • Taunton • Teignbridge • Torbay • Truro and St Austell • Yeovil Labour Bristol East • Bristol North West • Bristol South • Exeter • Gloucester • Kingswood • North Swindon • Plymouth Devonport • Plymouth Sutton • South Dorset • South Swindon • Stroud • Wansdyke South West England European constituency Conservative (3) • UKIP (2) • Liberal Democrats (1) • Labour (1)