Sleaford (UK Parliament constituency)

Sleaford
Sleaford
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	Lincolnshire
Major settlements	Sleaford
1885–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Mid Lincolnshire
Replaced by	Grantham and Rutland and Stamford

Sleaford was a county constituency in Lincolnshire, centred on the town of Sleaford. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, when the former Mid Lincolnshire constituency was divided under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. It was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[1]	Party
	1885	Henry Chaplin	Conservative
	1906	Arnold Lupton	Liberal
	January 1910	Edmund Royds	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	4,761	57.9
	Liberal	Charles Sharpe	3,460	42.1
Majority			1,301	15.8
Turnout			8,221	83.4
Registered electors			9,863
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Chaplin was appointed President of the Board of Agriculture, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 26 Sep 1889: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	4,386	58.8	*N/A*
	Liberal	Francis Otter	3,078	41.2	New
Majority			1,308	17.6	N/A
Turnout			7,464	76.2	N/A
Registered electors			9,793
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	4,157	56.1	*N/A*
	Liberal	William Shearburn Fox	3,250	43.9	N/A
Majority			907	12.2	N/A
Turnout			7,407	77.7	N/A
Registered electors			9,528
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Chaplin was appointed President of the Local Government Board, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 6 Jul 1895: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1895: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	4,653	63.4	+7.3
	Liberal	William Shearburn Fox	2,687	36.6	−7.3
Majority			1,966	26.8	+14.6
Turnout			7,340	75.9	−1.8
Registered electors			9,671
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.3

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	4,228	60.3	−3.1
	Liberal	Charles Emmanuel Reinhardt	2,785	39.7	+3.1
Majority			1,443	20.6	−6.2
Turnout			7,013	71.1	−4.8
Registered electors			9,870
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.1

General election 1906: Sleaford ^[2]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arnold Lupton	4,355	51.7	+12.0
	Conservative	Henry Chaplin	4,062	48.3	−12.0
Majority			293	3.4	N/A
Turnout			8,417	84.2	+13.1
Registered electors			10,000
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.0

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Sleaford ^[2]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edmund Royds	5,265	56.8	+8.5
	Liberal	Arnold Lupton	4,000	43.2	−8.5
Majority			1,265	13.6	N/A
Turnout			9,265	89.2	+5.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.5

General election December 1910: Sleaford ^[2]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edmund Royds	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Unionist: Edmund Royds
Liberal: Robert Pattinson^[7]

References

^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 341. ISBN 9781349022984.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The Liberal Year Book, 1907
^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
^ ^a ^b ^c Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
^ Grantham Journal, 21 March 1914