Doncaster (UK Parliament constituency)

Doncaster was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Doncaster in England. It was created in 1885 and abolished in 1983.

Doncaster
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Riding of Yorkshire, then South Yorkshire
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Doncaster Central and Don Valley[1]
Created from	Southern West Riding of Yorkshire

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Doncaster, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Lower Strafforth and Tickhill, and Upper Strafforth and Tickhill.

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Doncaster, and the Urban Districts of Adwick-le-Street and Bentley-with-Arksey.

1950–1983: The County Borough of Doncaster.

The area formerly covered by this constituency is now mostly in the Doncaster Central and Doncaster North constituencies.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Walter Shirley Shirley	Liberal
	1888 by-election	Hon. Henry Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Liberal Unionist
	1892	Charles James Fleming	Liberal
	1895	Frederick Fison	Conservative
	1906	Charles Norris Nicholson	Liberal
	1918	Reginald Nicholson	Liberal
	1922	Wilfred Paling	Labour
	1931	Hugh Molson	Conservative
	1935	Alfred Short	Labour
	1938 by-election	John Morgan	Labour
	1941 by-election	Evelyn Walkden	Labour
	1950	Ray Gunter	Labour
	1951	Anthony Barber	Conservative
	1964	Harold Walker	Labour
1983		constituency abolished: see Doncaster Central & Doncaster North

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Walker	22,184	48.9	-2.4
	Conservative	P. Beard	19,208	42.4	+8.3
	Liberal	Gerald Broadhead	3,646	8.0	-6.7
	National Front	M. Day	300	0.7	New
Majority			2,976	6.5	-10.7
Turnout			45,338	75.0	+2.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Walker	22,177	51.3	+3.4
	Conservative	J. Wilkinson	14,747	34.1	-2.4
	Liberal	W. J. Davidson	6,336	14.7	-0.9
Majority			7,430	17.2	+5.8
Turnout			43,260	72.8	-8.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Walker	23,041	47.9	-2.8
	Conservative	K. I. Tunnicliffe	17,565	36.5	-6.9
	Liberal	W. J. Davidson	7,590	15.6	+9.7
Majority			5,476	11.4	+4.1
Turnout			48,196	81.7	+6.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1970: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Walker	22,658	50.7	-6.0
	Conservative	Peter Davies	19,431	43.4	+0.1
	Liberal	Tom Blades	2,648	5.9	New
Majority			3,227	7.3	-6.1
Turnout			44,737	74.8	-6.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Walker	25,777	56.7	+6.8
	Conservative	J. M. Whittaker	19,689	43.3	-4.3
Majority			6,088	13.4	+11.1
Turnout			45,466	81.2	-1.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Walker	23,845	49.9	+3.5
	Conservative	Anthony Barber	22,732	47.6	-6.0
	Independent	Gerald Broadhead	1,201	2.5	New
Majority			1,113	2.3	N/A
Turnout			47,778	82.7	-1.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Barber	26,521	53.6	+1.8
	Labour	Ted Garrett	22,935	46.4	-1.9
Majority			3,586	7.3	+3.8
Turnout			49,456	84.5	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Barber	24,598	51.8	+1.4
	Labour	Ray Gunter	22,938	48.3	-1.3
Majority			1,660	3.5	+2.7
Turnout			47,536	81.8	-4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Barber	25,005	50.4	+1.3
	Labour	Ray Gunter	24,621	49.6	-1.3
Majority			384	0.8	-1.0
Turnout			49,626	86.2	+0.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1950: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ray Gunter	24,449	50.9	-19.3
	Conservative	Anthony Barber	23,571	49.1	+19.3
Majority			878	1.8	-38.6
Turnout			48,020	85.6	+11.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Evelyn Walkden	40,050	70.2	+12.6
	Conservative	Henry Archibald Taylor	16,999	29.8	-12.6
Majority			23,051	40.4	+25.2
Turnout			57,049	74.5	-3.2
	Labour hold		Swing

In the 1941 Doncaster by-election, Evelyn Walkden was elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1930s

1938 Doncaster by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morgan	31,735	61.3	+3.7
	Liberal National	Alex Monteith	20,027	38.7	-3.7
Majority			11,708	22.6	+7.4
Turnout			51,762	75.4	-2.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1935: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alfred Short	29,963	57.6	+12.5
	Conservative	Hugh Molson	22,011	42.4	-2.7
Majority			7,952	15.2	N/A
Turnout			51,974	77.7	0.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1931: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Molson	27,705	54.9	+30.5
	Labour	Wilfred Paling	22,363	45.1	-10.9
Majority			4,842	9.8	N/A
Turnout			50,068	77.7	-0.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wilfred Paling	25,245	56.0	+3.3
	Unionist	Ernest Albert Phillips	11,016	24.4	−22.9
	Liberal	J. T. Clarke	8,842	19.6	New
Majority			14,279	31.6	+26.2
Turnout			45,103	77.6	+0.6
Registered electors			58,213
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.1

General election 1924: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wilfred Paling	16,496	52.7	−7.9
	Unionist	A. S. Matthews	14,800	47.3	+7.9
Majority			1,696	5.4	−15.8
Turnout			31,296	77.0	+8.6
Registered electors			40,633
	Labour hold		Swing	−7.9

General election 1923: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wilfred Paling	16,198	60.6	+14.1
	Unionist	William St Andrew Warde-Aldam	10,514	39.4	+10.7
Majority			5,684	21.2	+3.4
Turnout			26,712	68.4	−9.0
Registered electors			39,027
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.7

General election 1922: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wilfred Paling	13,437	46.5	+21.5
	Unionist	Robert Calverley Allington Bewicke-Copley	8,279	28.7	New
	National Liberal	Reginald Nicholson	7,161	24.8	−50.2
Majority			5,158	17.8	N/A
Turnout			28,877	77.4	+18.8
Registered electors			37,310
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+35.9

Elections in the 1910s

R. Nicholson

General election 1918: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Reginald Nicholson	15,431	75.0	+17.0
	Labour	Robert Morley	5,153	25.0	New
Majority			10,278	50.0	+34.0
Turnout			20,584	58.6	−15.5
Registered electors			35,114
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

C.N. Nicholson

General election December 1910: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Nicholson	9,240	58.0	−2.1
	Conservative	Charles Warwick Whitworth	6,696	42.0	+2.1
Majority			2,544	16.0	−4.2
Turnout			15,936	74.1	−8.4
Registered electors			21,511
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.1

General election January 1910: Doncaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Nicholson	10,654	60.1	−2.2
	Conservative	Charles Warwick Whitworth	7,085	39.9	+2.2
Majority			3,569	20.2	−4.4
Turnout			17,739	82.5	+2.4
Registered electors			21,511
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.2

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Doncaster[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Nicholson	9,315	62.3	+13.7
	Conservative	Frederick Fison	5,646	37.7	−13.7
Majority			3,669	24.6	N/A
Turnout			14,961	80.1	+2.3
Registered electors			18,682
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.7

General election 1900: Doncaster[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Fison	6,512	51.4	+0.8
	Liberal	A. W. Black	6,147	48.6	−0.8
Majority			365	2.8	+1.6
Turnout			12,659	77.8	−6.8
Registered electors			16,276
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Doncaster[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Fison	6,098	50.6	+1.8
	Liberal	Joseph Walton	5,957	49.4	−1.8
Majority			141	1.2	N/A
Turnout			12,055	84.6	+6.2
Registered electors			14,247
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.8

General election 1892: Doncaster[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Fleming	5,831	51.2	−0.2
	Liberal Unionist	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	5,552	48.8	+0.2
Majority			279	2.4	−0.4
Turnout			11,383	78.4	+3.5
Registered electors			14,521
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.2

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 23 Feb 1888: Doncaster[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	5,634	51.0	+2.4
	Liberal	Joseph Balfour	5,423	49.0	−2.4
Majority			211	2.0	N/A
Turnout			11,057	83.4	+8.5
Registered electors			13,252
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.4

General election 1886: Doncaster[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Shirley	5,060	51.4	−3.3
	Liberal Unionist	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	4,792	48.6	+3.3
Majority			268	2.8	−6.6
Turnout			9,852	74.9	−4.0
Registered electors			13,157
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.3

General election 1885: Doncaster[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Shirley	5,680	54.7	N/A
	Conservative	Alfred Gathorne-Hardy[3]	4,700	45.3	N/A
Majority			980	9.4	N/A
Turnout			10,380	78.9	N/A
Registered electors			13,157
	Liberal win (new seat)

References

1. "'Doncaster', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
2. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
3. "Failures". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 24 Mar 1885. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)
• Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources (Election results since 1951)