Barkston Ash (UK Parliament constituency)

Barkston Ash
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1983
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Selby
Created from	Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire

Barkston Ash was a parliamentary constituency centred on the village of Barkston Ash in the West Riding of Yorkshire (now part of North Yorkshire). It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and in the main returned Conservative MPs at every general election until its abolition. However, it was briefly represented by the Liberal Joseph Andrews, who won the seat at a by-election in October 1905 after the death of its first MP, Sir Robert Gunter. The Conservatives regained the seat at the 1906 general election.

At the 1983 general election, Barkston Ash was replaced by the Selby constituency. As of the 2010 general election, the modern equivalent of Barkston Ash is Selby and Ainsty.

Boundaries

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the constituency was to consist of-

• the Sessional Divisions of-
  • Lower Barkston Ash
  • Skyrack (except so much as is comprised in the Osgoldcross and Pudsey Divisions)
  • Upper Barkston Ash (except so much as is comprised in the Osgoldcross Division)
  • Wetherby (except the Parishes (which are in the Wapentake of the Ainsty of York) of Tockwith, Bickerton, Thorpe Arch, Bilton, and Walton), and
• the Parishes of Grimston, Kirkby Wharf with North Milford, Newton Kyme with Toulston, Stutton with Hazlewood, Tadcaster West, Towton and Ulleskelf.

1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Garforth and Selby, the Rural Districts of Bishopthorpe, Selby, Tadcaster, and Wetherby, and in the Rural District of Great Ouseburn the civil parishes of Acomb, Hessay, Knapton, Moor Monkton, Nether Poppleton, Rufforth, and Upper Poppleton.

1950-1983: The Urban Districts of Garforth and Selby, the Rural Districts of Selby and Wetherby, part of the Rural District of Tadcaster, and in the Rural District of Nidderdale the civil parishes of Hessay, Knapton, Moor Monkton, Nether Poppleton, Rufforth, and Upper Poppleton.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir Robert Gunter, Bt.	Conservative
	1905 by-election	Joseph Andrews	Liberal
	1906	Colonel George Lane-Fox	Conservative
	1931	Sir Leonard Ropner, Bt.	Conservative
	1964	Michael Alison	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished: see Selby

Elections

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Alison	40,381	56.3	+8.3
	Labour	John Muir	21,670	30.2	-2.2
	Liberal	Philip Pughe-Morgan	7,909	11.0	-8.6
	Ecology	David Corry	1,829	2.6	+2.6
Majority			18,711	26.1
Turnout			71,789	78.1	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.3

General Election 1974 October: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Alison	30,498	48.0	-1.0
	Labour	John Muir	20,557	32.4	+2.4
	Liberal	Duncan Paige	12,483	19.7	-1.4
Majority			9,941	15.6
Turnout			63,538	75.8	-7.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.7

General Election 1974 February: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Alison	33,979	49.0	-10.6
	Labour	John Muir	20,782	30.0	-10.5
	Liberal	Duncan Paige	14,618	21.1	+21.1
Majority			13,197	19.0
Turnout			69,379	83.5	+7.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.1

General Election 1970: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Alison	35,198	59.6	+3.3
	Labour	Keith Grime	23,861	40.4	-3.3
Majority			11,337	19.2
Turnout			59,059	75.6	-4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.3

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Alison	28,183	56.34
	Labour	Stan Cohen	21,841	43.66
Majority			6,342	12.68
Turnout				79.85
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Alison	27,897	58.82
	Labour	Norman Holding	19,533	41.18
Majority			8,364	17.63
Turnout				81.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	26,200	58.42
	Labour	RW Bowes	18,647	41.58
Majority			7,553	16.84
Turnout				82.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	24,194	57.30
	Labour	GW Rhodes	18,027	42.70
Majority			6,167	14.61
Turnout				81.09
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	25,155	57.57
	Labour	HV Wiseman	18,537	42.43
Majority			6,618	15.15
Turnout				85.05
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	25,199	57.50
	Labour	B Hazell	18,626	42.50
Majority			6,573	15.00
Turnout				87.34
	Conservative hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	24,438	50.12
	Labour	B Hazell	24,322	49.88
Majority			116	0.24
Turnout				75.56
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	25,714	60.88
	Labour	F Smithson	16,525	39.12
Majority			9,189	21.75
Turnout				78.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	27,924	65.69
	Labour Co-op	George Saville Woods	14,585	34.31
Majority			13,339	31.38
Turnout				84.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. George Richard Lane-Fox	20,116	52.3
	Labour Co-op	George Saville Woods	18,321	47.7
Majority			1,795	4.6
Turnout			38,437
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Barkston Ash

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Richard Lane-Fox	12,932
	Labour	George Lewis Ward	7,964
	Liberal	John Lambert	5,425
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election January 1906

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Richard Lane-Fox	4,894	53.5	+4.8
	Liberal	Joseph Ormond Andrews	4,246	46.5	-4.8
Majority			548	7.0	9.6
Turnout			9,140	88.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.8

Barkston Ash by-election, 1905 Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Ormond Andrews	4,376	51.3
	Conservative	George Richard Lane-Fox	4,148	48.7
Majority			228	2.6
Turnout			8,524
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in North Yorkshire

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)