Prestwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Prestwich was a constituency in the county of Lancashire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was represented by one Member of Parliament. The constituency was abolished in 1918.

Prestwich
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Middleton and Prestwich
Created from	South East Lancashire

Boundaries

The constituency of South-East Lancashire, Prestwich Division was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, with the official title. It consisted of an area of the parliamentary county of Lancashire between the boroughs of Salford and Oldham. It consisted of the following civil parishes and townships:[1]

• Blackley
• Chadderton
• Crompton
• Crumpsall
• Droylsden
• Failsworth
• Great Heaton
• Little Heaton
• Moston
• Prestwich
• Royton
• And the part of the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne not included in the municipal borough.

The electorate also consisted of the freeholders of the municipal boroughs of Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham who were entitled to vote in the county.

Abolition

The constituency was abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1918, with its area divided between four new constuencies:[2]

• Blackley, Crumpsall, and Moston (which had been added to the City of Manchester in 1890) became the Parliamentary Borough of Manchester Blackley.
• Chadderton, Great Heaton, Little Heaton and Prestwich became part of Middleton and Prestwich Division
• Droylsden and Failsworth were included in Mossley Division
• Crompton and Royton, along with five other urban districts, formed Royton Division.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Abel Buckley	Liberal
	1886	Robert Mowbray	Conservative
	1895	Frederick Cawley	Liberal
	1918 (January)	Oswald Cawley	Liberal
	1918 (October)	Austin Hopkinson	Liberal
1918 (December)		constituency abolished

Elections

Decades:

1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Abel Buckley	5,414	53.6
	Conservative	Robert Mowbray	4,686	46.4
Majority			728	7.2
Turnout			10,100	90.5
Registered electors			11,156
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Mowbray	4,843	50.7	+4.3
	Liberal	Abel Buckley	4,704	49.3	-4.3
Majority			139	1.4	N/A
Turnout			9,547	85.6	-4.9
Registered electors			11,156
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.3

Elections in the 1890s

Agnew

General election 1892: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Mowbray	5,718	50.7	0.0
	Liberal	William Agnew	5,563	49.3	0.0
Majority			155	1.4	0.0
Turnout			11,281	87.9	+2.1
Registered electors			12,827
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.0

Cawley

General election 1895: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cawley	6,039	50.4	+1.1
	Conservative	Robert Mowbray	5,938	49.6	-1.1
Majority			101	0.8	N/A
Turnout			11,977	86.7	-1.2
Registered electors			13,812
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cawley	7,127	52.7	+2.3
	Conservative	Sir Henry Houldsworth, 2nd Baronet	6,406	47.3	-2.3
Majority			721	5.4	+4.6
Turnout			13,533	86.0	-0.7
Registered electors			15,732
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.3

Cawley

General election 1906: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cawley	10,187	62.8	+10.1
	Conservative	W T Hedges	6,024	37.2	-10.1
Majority			4,163	25.6	+20.2
Turnout			16,211	84.1	-1.9
Registered electors			19,267
	Liberal hold		Swing	+10.1

Elections in the 1910s

Potter

General election January 1910: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cawley	11,564	58.6	-4.2
	Conservative	Cyril Potter	8,180	41.4	+4.2
Majority			3,384	17.2	-8.4
Turnout			19,744	89.2	+5.1
Registered electors			22,123
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.2

Cawley

General election December 1910: Prestwich[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cawley	10,355	59.0	+0.4
	Conservative	Frederick Brocklehurst	7,189	41.0	-0.4
Majority			3,166	18.0	+0.8
Turnout			17,544	79.3	-9.9
Registered electors			22,123
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.4

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: Frederick Cawley
• Unionist: Frederick Brocklehurst

Cawley

January 1918 Prestwich by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Oswald Cawley	8,520	75.1	+16.1
	Co-operative Party	Henry May	2,832	24.9	New
Majority			5,688	50.2	+32.2
Turnout			11,352	42.8	-36.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

October 1918 Prestwich by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Austin Hopkinson	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

See also

• Prestwich-cum-Oldham

References

1. Seventh Schedule: Counties at Large: Number of Members and Names and Contents of Divisions, Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, (1885 c.23)
2. Ninth Schedule - Part II, Parliamentary Counties: England, excluding Monmouthshire, Representation of the People Act 1918 (1918 c.64)
3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig

External links

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)