Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)

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Windsor
County constituency

Windsor shown within Berkshire, and Berkshire shown within England
Created: 1424, 1997
MP: Adam Afriyie
Party: Conservative
Type: House of Commons
County: Berkshire
EP constituency: South East England

Windsor is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency covers the town of Windsor and various portions of the surrounding area, in Berkshire. It should be noted that from 1974 the local government county boundary changed to add to Berkshire part of the territory north of the Thames. The Eton and Slough areas thus became eligible to be joined with Windsor in a Berkshire county constituency.

Before 1868: The parliamentary borough of Windsor (sometimes known as New Windsor to distinguish it from the nearby settlement of Old Windsor) was based upon a town in the eastern part of the county of Berkshire in South East England, which grew up around Windsor Castle.

1868-1918: The boundaries of the parliamentary borough were extended by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict., c. 46). The north boundary of the constituency was on the River Thames, which was then the border between Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. In 1868-1885 the constituency was surrounded to the north by the Buckinghamshire seat. The rest of the borough was adjacent to the Berkshire county constituency. Between 1885-1918 the seat to the north of the Thames was the Wycombe division of Buckinghamshire and the other neighbouring constituency was the Wokingham division of Berkshire.

1918-1950: The parliamentary borough was abolished and replaced by a county division named after Windsor. The local government areas (as they existed in 1918) which comprised the constituency were the Municipal Boroughs of New Windsor, and Maidenhead, with the Rural Districts of Cookham, Easthampstead, Windsor and a part of Wokingham.

1950-1974: The constituency was reduced in size by the Representation of the People Act 1948, so it comprised the Municipal Boroughs of New Windsor and Maidenhead, with the Rural Districts of Cookham and Windsor. In 1974 much the same area (by then about to become part of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead established that year), was included in a new constituency named Windsor and Maidenhead.

1997 to the next general election: When the Windsor constituency was re-created it no longer linked the town of the same name with Maidenhead to the west, for parliamentary purposes. Instead the town of Windsor was joined with Eton and part of Slough north of the Thames. The Parliamentary Constituemcies (England) Order 1995 (SI 1995/1626) defined the constituency. It included, from the Borough of Bracknell Forest, the wards of Ascot, Cranbourne and St Mary's. The Borough of Slough contributed Foxborough ward. The remainder of the seat, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, comprised the wards of Bray, Castle, Clewer North, Clewer South, Datchet, Eton North and South, Eton West, Horton and Wraysbury, Old Windsor, Park, Sunningdale and South Ascot, Sunninghill and Trinity.

In 1998 there was a small re-alignment of county boundaries in the north east corner of Berkshire. This transferred to Berks one polling district from Surrey (being a part of that local government county located in the historic county of Middlesex) and another from Buckinghamshire. Some constituency boundaries were re-defined by The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) (Miscellaneous Changes) Order 1998 (SI 1998/3152). The new Slough ward of Colnbrook and Poyle (since re-named Colnbrook with Poyle) was added to Windsor constituency. This change probably involved less than a thousand electors (as the third polling district in the new ward was taken from Foxborough ward, which was already in the constituency).

From the next general election: Under The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007 (SI 2007/1681), the constituency will comprise:-

From the Borough of Bracknell Forest: Ascot, Binfield with Warfield, Warfield Harvest Rise, and Winkfield and Cranbourne wards.

From the Borough of Slough: Colnbrook with Poyle ward.

From the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead: Ascot and Cheapside, Castle Without, Clewer East, Clewer North, Clewer South, Datchet, Eton and Castle, Eton Wick, Horton and Wraysbury, Old Windsor, Park, Sunningdale, Sunninghill and South Ascot wards.

[edit] History

Windsor has had parliamentary representation for centuries, first sending a member in 1301, and continuously from 1424. It elected two Members of Parliament until 1868, when the constituency was reformed and its representation reduced to one MP. In 1974, the constituency was abolished and a similar one, Windsor and Maidenhead was created. However, in 1997 the constituency was recreated.

The pre-1832 franchise of the borough was held by inhabitants paying scot and lot (a local tax). On 2 May 1689 the House of Commons had decided that the electorate should be limited to the members of Windsor Corporation. This was disputed after the next election, in 1690, when the Mayor submitted two returns of different members. The House of Commons reversed the decision of the previous Parliament and confirmed the scot and lot franchise.

There were 278 electors in 1712. Namier and Brooke estimated that, in 1754-1790, there were about 300 electors. In 1832 a new property based franchise replaced the scot and lot qualification. Under the new system, there were 507 registered electors in 1832.

The early political history of the area was strongly influenced by the monarch and members of his or her family. Windsor Castle has been an important royal residence throughout the history of the constituency.

During part of the eighteenth century the Duke of Cumberland (son of King George II) and the Beauclerk family (descended from King Charles II) had political interests in the borough.

King George III became personally involved in the hotly contested 1780 general election. George encouraged local landowner Peniston Portlock Powney to stand by paying him £2,500 from the King's personal account. The King wished to defeat Admiral Keppel, one of the incumbent members. The monarch went so far as to canvass tradesmen who dealt with the royal household. After this royal interference in the election, Keppel only lost by 16 votes. Namier and Brooke suggest the Windsor electorate had an independent streak and were difficult to manage.

The borough representatives before the Reform Act 1832 included soldiers and people connected with the Royal Household, such as Sir Richard Hussey Vivian (MP 1826-1831) and Sir Herbert Taylor (MP 1820-1823). The constituency also returned politicians prominent in national politics, like the Duke of Wellington's elder brother the Earl of Mornington in the 1780s and 1790s or the future Prime Minister Edward Stanley (subsequently the Earl of Derby) in the early 1830s).

The Ramsbottom family filled one seat from 1806 until 1845. The borough had been loyal to the King's Pittite/Tory ministers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but became more favourable to the Whig interest after John Ramsbottom (MP 1810-1845) was elected.

By the 1860s the monarch had ceased to interfere in local affairs. The borough fell under the patronage of Colonel R. Richardson-Gardner. Richardson-Gardner was a local landowner, who caused some animosity when following the 1868 general election he evicted tenants who did not support him at the polls. This was the last Parliamentary election the Conservatives lost in Windsor.

Despite (or perhaps because of) his methods, Richardson-Gardner was elected to Parliament in 1874. Successive Conservative MPs, before the First World War, had considerable influence in the constituency; especially when they subscribed generously to local institutions such as a hospital.

The county division created in 1918 combined the town of Windsor, with territory to its west, south and east which had formerly been in the Wokingham division. The incumbent MP for Wokingham up to 1918, Ernest Gardner, was the first representative of the expanded Windsor constituency. The Conservative Party retained the seat continuously, until 1974 when a Windsor constituency temporarily disappeared from the House of Commons.

The re-created constituency, from 1997, has remained reliably Conservative. Despite some Liberal Democrat strength in local elections, particularly in the town of Windsor itself, affluent villages and small towns such as Ascot, Sunninghill and Sunningdale have continued to contribute to Conservative majorities.

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] Burgesses in the English Parliament 1510-1707

As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or (in the sixteenth century) is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.

The Roman numerals after some names are those used in The House of Commons 1509-1558 and The House of Commons 1558-1603 to distinguish a member from another politician of the same name.

Elected Assembled Dissolved First Member Second Member
1510 21 January 1510 23 February 1510 John Welles William Pury
1512 4 February 1512 4 March 1514 John Welles Thomas Rider
1515 5 February 1515 22 December 1515 John Welles Thomas Rider
1523 15 April 1523 13 August 1523 unknown unknown
1529 3 November 1529 14 April 1536 Thomas Ward I William Symonds
1536 8 June 1536 18 July 1536 unknown unknown
1539 28 April 1539 24 July 1540 unknown unknown
1542 16 January 1542 28 March 1544 Richard Ward I William Symonds
1545 23 November 1545 31 January 1547 unknown unknown
1547 4 November 1547 15 April 1552 Richard Ward I Edward Weldon [1]
By January 1552 Thomas Little
1553 1 March 1553 31 March 1553 Richard Ward I Richard Amyce
1553 5 October 1553 5 December 1553 Richard Ward I Thomas Good
1554 2 April 1554 3 May 1554 Richard Ward I Thomas Butler II
1554 12 November 1554 16 January 1555 Richard Ward I William Norris
1555 21 October 1555 9 December 1555 Richard Ward I William Norris
14 January 1558 20 January 1558 17 November 1558 William Hanley William Norris
5 January 1559 23 January 1559 8 May 1559 Thomas Weldon Roger Amyce
1562 or 1563 11 January 1563 2 January 1567 Richard Gallys John Gresham
1571 2 April 1571 29 May 1571 John Thomson Humphrey Michell
12 April 1572 8 May 1572 19 April 1583 Edmund Dockwra Richard Gallys [1]
1576 Humphrey Michell
16 November 1584 23 November 1584 14 September 1585 Henry Neville John Croke III
28 September 1586 13 October 1586 23 March 1587 Henry Neville George Woodward
10 October 1588 4 February 1589 29 March 1589 Henry Neville [2] Edward Hake
26 October 1588 Edward Neville I
1593 18 February 1593 10 April 1593 Henry Neville Edward Neville II
16 October 1597 24 October 1597 9 February 1598 Julius Caesar John Norris
1 October 1601 27 October 1601 19 December 1601 Julius Caesar (Sir) John Norris
1604 19 March 1604 9 February 1611 unknown unknown
1614 5 April 1614 7 June 1614 unknown unknown
1620 or 1621 16 January 1621 8 February 1622 unknown unknown
1623 or 1624 12 February 1624 27 March 1625 unknown unknown
1625 17 May 1625 12 August 1625 unknown unknown
1626 6 February 1626 15 June 1626 unknown unknown
1628 17 March 1628 10 March 1629 unknown unknown
1640 13 April 1640 5 May 1640 unknown unknown
1640 3 November 1640 5 December 1648 unknown unknown
6 December 1648 a 20 April 1653 b
1653 c 4 July 1653 12 December 1653 unrepresented unrepresented
1654 d 3 September 1654 22 January 1655 unrepresented unrepresented
1656 e 17 September 1656 4 February 1658 unrepresented unrepresented
1658 or 1659 27 January 1659 22 April 1659 unknown unknown
N/A f 7 May 1659 20 February 1660 unknown unknown
21 February 1660 16 March 1660
3 April 1660 25 April 1660 29 December 1660 Alexander Baker Roger Palmer
9 April 1661 8 May 1661 24 January 1679 Sir Richard Braham [3] Thomas Higgons
19 February 1677 Sir Francis Winnington
27 February 1679 6 March 1679 12 July 1679 Sir John Ernle John Powney
5 April 1679 Richard Winwood Samuel Starkey
29 August 1679 21 October 1680 18 January 1681 John Powney John Carey
4 November 1680 Samuel Starkey Richard Winwood
1681 21 March 1681 28 March 1681 Samuel Starkey Richard Winwood
28 March 1685 19 May 1685 2 June 1687 William Chiffinch Richard Graham
11 January 1689 22 January 1689 6 February 1690 Henry Powle Sir Christopher Wren
23 May 1689 Sir Algernon May
6 March 1690 20 March 1690 11 October 1695 Sir Algernon May Baptist May
17 May 1690 Sir Charles Porter William Adderley [4]
20 November 1693 Sir William Scawen
23 October 1695 22 November 1695 6 July 1698 Sir William Scawen The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge
21 August 1698 24 August 1698 19 December 1700 The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Richard Topham
3 January 1701 6 February 1701 11 November 1701 The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Richard Topham
21 November 1701 30 December 1701 2 July 1702 The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Richard Topham
16 August 1702 20 August 1702 5 April 1705 The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Richard Topham
8 May 1705 14 June 1705 1707 g The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Richard Topham

Notes:-

  • a Date of Pride's Purge, which converted the Long Parliament into the Rump Parliament.
  • b Date when Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament by force.
  • c Date when the members of the nominated or Barebones Parliament were selected. The parliamentary borough of Windsor was not represented in this body.
  • d Date when the members of the First Protectorate Parliament were elected. The parliamentary borough of Windsor was not represented in this body. Windsor formed part of the county constituency of Berkshire for this Parliament.
  • e Date when the members of the Second Protectorate Parliament were elected. The parliamentary borough of Windsor was not represented in this body. Windsor formed part of the county constituency of Berkshire for this Parliament.
  • f The Rump Parliament was recalled and subsequently Pride's Purge was reversed, allowing the full Long Parliament to meet until it agreed to dissolve itself.
  • g The MPs of the last Parliament of England and 45 members co-opted from the former Parliament of Scotland, became the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain which assembled on 23 October 1707 (see below for the members in that Parliament).

[edit] MPs 1707-1868

Election Member Member
1707 John, Viscount Fitzhardinge Richard Topham
1708 John, Viscount Fitzhardinge Richard Topham
1710 William Paul[5]
Samuel Masham[6]
Charles Aldworth
Richard Topham
1713 Charles Aldworth Christopher Wren
1715 Robert Gayer[7]
Sir Henry Ashurst, Bt
Christopher Wren[7]
Samuel Travers
1722 Charles, Earl of Burford[8]
Lord Vere Beauclerk
William, Earl of Inchiquin
1727 Lord Vere Beauclerk George, Viscount Malpas[9]
Lord Sidney Beauclerk
1734 Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Sidney Beauclerk
1741 Henry Fox Lord Sidney Beauclerk [10]
Lord George Beauclerk
1747 Rt Hon. Henry Fox Lord George Beauclerk
1754 Rt Hon. Henry Fox Hon. John Fitzwilliam
1761 Hon. John Fitzwilliam Hon. Augustus Keppel
1768 Hon. Augustus Keppel Lord George Beauclerk [11]
Richard Tonson [12]
Hon. John Hussey-Montagu
1774 Hon. Augustus Keppel Hon. John Hussey-Montagu
1780 Hon. John Hussey-Montagu Peniston Portlock Powney
1784 Hon. John Hussey-Montagu [13]
The Earl of Mornington
Peniston Portlock Powney
Year First member First party Second member Second party
1790 Peniston Portlock Powney [14] Tory The Earl of Mornington [15] Non Partisan
1794 William Grant Tory
1796 Henry Isherwood [16] Tory Hon. Robert Fulke Greville Tory
1797 Sir William Johnston, Bt Tory
1802 John Williams [17] Tory
1804 Arthur Vansittart Tory
1806 Edward Disbrowe [18] Tory Richard Ramsbottom [19] Tory
1810 John Ramsbottom, junior
later John Ramsbottom
Non Partisan
1812 Whig
1819 The Lord Graves [15] Tory
1820 Sir Herbert Taylor [20] Tory
1823 Edward Cromwell Disbrowe Non Partisan
1826 Sir Richard Hussey Vivian [21] Non Partisan
1830 Whig
1831 Rt Hon. Edward Stanley Whig
1832 Sir Samuel John Brooke Pechell, Bt Whig
1835 Sir John Edmund de Beauvoir [22] Radical
1835 Sir John Elley [23] Conservative
1837 Robert Gordon Whig
1841 Richard Neville Conservative
1845 George Alexander Reid [24] Conservative
1847 Lord John Hay [25] Whig
1850 John Hatchell Whig
1852 Charles William Grenfell Whig
1852 Lord Charles Wellesley [26] Conservative
1855 Samson Ricardo Whig
1857 William Vansittart [27] Conservative
1859 George William Hope [28] Conservative
1863 Richard Vyse Conservative
1865 Sir Henry Ainslie Hoare, Bt [29] Liberal Henry Du Pré Labouchere [29] Liberal
1866 Charles Edwards Liberal Roger Eykyn Liberal

[edit] MPs 1868-1974

Election Member Party
1868 reduced to one member
1868 Roger Eykyn Liberal
1874 Robert Richardson-Gardner Conservative
1890 Sir Francis Tress Barry, Bt Conservative
1906 James Francis Mason Conservative
1918 Ernest Gardner Coalition Conservative
1922 Sir Annesley Ashworth Somerville Conservative
1942 Sir Charles Edward Mott-Radclyffe Conservative
1970 Alan Glyn Conservative
1974 constituency abolished: see Windsor & Maidenhead

[edit] MPs 1997-present

Election Member Party
1997 constituency recreated
1997 Michael Trend Conservative
2005 Adam Afriyie Conservative

[edit] Election results from 1997

General Election 2005: Windsor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Adam Afriyie 21,646 49.5 +2.2
Liberal Democrat Antony Wood 11,354 26.0 −0.1
Labour Mark Muller 8,339 19.1 −5.0
UK Independence David Black 1,098 2.5 0.0
Green Derek Wall 1,074 2.5 N/A
Independent (politician) Peter Hooper 182 0.4 N/A
Majority 10,292 23.6 +2.4
Turnout 43,693 64.0 +7.0
Conservative hold Swing +1.22 (LD to C)
Registered Electors 66,827
General Election 2001: Windsor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Trend 19,900 47.3 -0.9
Liberal Democrat Nick Pinfield 11,011 26.1 -2.5
Labour Mark Muller 10,137 24.1 +5.8
UK Independence John Fagan 1,062 2.5 +1.9
Majority 8,889 21.11 +1.58
Turnout 42,110 57.0 -16.4
Conservative hold Swing +1.68 (LD to C)
Registered Electors 69,136
  • From this result the swing figure given is based on the change in the leading two parties vote totals only, ignoring votes cast for other parties.
General Election 1997: Windsor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Trend 24,476 48.2 N/A
Liberal Democrat Chris Fox 14,559 28.7 N/A
Labour Amanda Williams 9,287 18.3 N/A
Referendum Party J. McDermott 1,676 3.3 N/A
Liberal Paul Bradshaw 388 0.8 N/A
UK Independence E. Bigg 302 0.6 N/A
Dynamic R. Parr 93 0.2 N/A
Majority 9,917 19.53 N/A
Turnout 50,781 73.5 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Registered Electors 69,132

[edit] Election results 1690-1974

The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections and general elections from 1868. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.

Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Cruickshanks et al 1690-1715, Sedgwick 1715-1754, Namier and Brooke 1754-1790, Stooks Smith 1790-1832 and from Craig thereafter. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information or differs from the other sources this is indicated in a note after the result. When a candidate is described as Non Partisan for an election this means that the sources used do not give a party label. This does not necessarily mean that the candidate did not regard himself as a member of a party or acted as such in Parliament. Craig's party labels have been varied to take account of the development of parties. Tory candidates are classified as Conservative from the United Kingdom general election, 1835. Whig and Radical candidates are classified separately until the formal establishment of the Liberal Party shortly after the United Kingdom general election, 1859.

1690s1700s1710s1720s1730s1740s1750s1760s1770s1780s1790s1800s1810s1820s1830s1840s1850s1860s1870s1880s1890s1900s1910s1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s

[edit] Elections in the 1690s

General Election 6 March 1690: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Christopher Wren Elected N/A N/A
Non Partisan Baptist May Elected N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Charles Porter Defeated N/A N/A
Non Partisan William Adderley Defeated N/A N/A
Turnout Unknown N/A N/A
  • Note: There is a discrepancy between sources, as The House of Common 1690-1715 indicates that Wren was elected at this election; whereas Leigh Rayment indicates Sir Algernon May was re-elected; both with Baptist May.
  • On petition, Wren and May were unseated and Porter and Adderley were seated on 17 May 1690.
  • Death of Adderley, in June 1693
By-Election 20 November 1693: Windsor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir William Scawen Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
General Election 23 October 1695: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir William Scawen Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 21 July 1698: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Elected N/A N/A
Non Partisan Richard Topham Elected N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir William Scawen Defeated N/A N/A
Turnout Unknown N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1700s

General Election 3 January 1701: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Richard Topham Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 21 November 1701: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Richard Topham Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 16 August 1702: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Richard Topham Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 8 May 1705: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Richard Topham Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 3 May 1708: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig The 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Richard Topham Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1710s

General Election 4 October 1710: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Richard Topham Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory William Paul Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Paul
By-Election 18 May 1711: Windsor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Samuel Masham Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
By-Election 21 January 1712: Windsor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Charles Aldworth 149 78.42 N/A
Whig Topham Foot 41 21.58 N/A
Majority 108 56.84 N/A
Turnout 190 N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
General Election 24 August 1713: Windsor (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Christopher Wren 244 48.51 N/A