Newton (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Newtown (UK Parliament constituency).

Newton
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Lancashire
1559–1832
Number of members	Two
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Replaced by	Makerfield, Warrington North, St Helens North

Newton was a parliamentary borough in the county of Lancashire, in England. It was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1559 to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until its abolition in 1832.

In 1885 a county constituency with the same name was created and represented by one Member of Parliament. This seat was abolished in 1983.

Parliamentary borough

The borough consisted of the parish of Newton-le-Willows in the Makerfield district of South Lancashire. It was first enfranchised in 1558 (though the Parliament so summoned did not meet until the following year), and was a rotten borough from its inception: Newton was barely more than a village even at this stage, and so entirely dominated by the local landowner that its first return of members described it bluntly as "the borough of Sir Thomas Langton, knight, baron of Newton within his Fee of Markerfylde". By 1831, just before its abolition, the population of the borough had reached only 2,139, and contained 285 houses.

The right to vote was exercised by all freeholders of property in the borough valued at forty shillings or more, or by one representative of joint tenants of any such freeholds; Newton was the only borough where the forty-shilling freehold franchise (which applied in the counties) was the sole qualification to vote. In 1797, the borough's last contested election, 76 electors cast their votes; by 1831 it was estimated that the electorate had fallen to about 52. (As elsewhere, each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled and votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings.)

In practice, however, the townsmen of Newton had no say in choosing their representatives: as the owners of the majority of the qualifying freeholds, the lords of the manor exercised total control. During most of the Elizabethan period, Langton seems to have allowed the Duchy of Lancaster to nominate many of the members, which may have been a quid pro quo for Newton's being enfranchised in the first place, but later patrons could regard its parliamentary seats as their personal property. Langton's heir sold the manor to the Fleetwood family in 1594, the sale explicitly including the right of "the nomination, election and appointment" of the two burgesses representing the borough in Parliament, one of the earliest recorded instances of the right to elect MPs being bought and sold. By the first half of the next century it had passed to the Leghs, who owned it for the rest of its existence.

By the time of the Great Reform Act of 1832, Newton was one of the most notorious of all England's pocket boroughs, mainly because the Legh control was more complete than that of the patrons in most other constituencies. It was one of the 56 boroughs to be totally disenfranchised by the Reform Act.

County constituency

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 created a new Newton constituency, as one of twenty-three divisions of the parliamentary county of Lancashire.

Boundaries 1885 - 1918

The constituency, officially designated as South-West Lancashire, Newton Division consisted of a number of townships and parishes around Newton le Willows namely:

• Ashton in Makerfield
• Billinge Chapel End
• Billinge Higher End
• Part of Eccleston
• Rainhill
• Winstanley

The electorate also included the freeholders of the municipal boroughs of St Helens and Warrington who were entitled to vote in the county.

Boundaries 1918 - 1950

The Representation of the People Act 1918 reorganised constituencies throughout the United Kingdom. Boundaries were adjusted and seats were defined in terms of the districts created by the Local Government Act 1894. According to the schedules of the Act, the Lancashire, Newton Division comprised:

• Golborne Urban District
• Haydock Urban District
• Newton in Makerfield Urban District
• Leigh Rural District (except the civil parish of Astley)
• Warrington Rural District

Boundaries 1950 - 1983

The Representation of the People Act 1948 redistributed parliamentary seats, with the constituencies first being used in the general election of 1950. The term "county constituency" was introduced in place of "division". Newton County Constituency was redefined as consisting of the following districts:

• Golborne Urban District
• Haydock Urban District
• Irlam Urban District
• Newton-le-Willows Urban District
• Warrington Rural District

The changes reflected the fact that Leigh Rural District had been abolished in 1933, Newton in Makerfield Urban district had been renamed Newton le Willows in 1939. Irlam was transferred from the neighbouring Stretford constituency.

The boundaries were unchanged at the next redistribution of seats in 1970. Although local government was reorganised in 1972, boundaries were unchanged until 1983.

Abolition

The constituency was abolished by the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983, which reorganised seats on the lines of the 1974 counties and districts. The bulk of the seat formed part of the new Makerfield County Constituency. Irlam was included in the Worsley County Constituency, while part of Golborne became part of Warrington North Borough Constituency. The town of Newton itself was incorporated into the St Helens North Borough Constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1559–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1559 (Jan)	Sir George Howard	Richard Chetwode
1562/3	Francis Alford	Ralph Browne
1571	Anthony Mildmay	Richard Stoneley
1572	John Gresham	John Savile
1584	Robert Langton	Edward Savage
1586 (Oct)	Robert Langton	Edward Savage
1588 (Oct)	Edmund Trafford	Robert Langton
1593	Edmund Trafford	Robert Langton
1597	William Cope	Geoffrey Osbaldeston
1601 (Oct)	Thomas Langton	Richard Ashton
1604	Sir John Luke	Richard Ashton
1614	William Ashton	Roger Charnock
1620/1 (Jan)	Sir George Wright	Richard Kippax
1624	Thomas Charnock	Edmund Breres
1625	Miles Fleetwood	Sir Henry Edmonds
1626	Miles Fleetwood	Sir Henry Edmonds
1627/8	Sir Henry Holcroft	Sir Francis Onslow
1629–1640	No parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)	Sir Richard Wynn, 2nd Baronet, sat for Andover	William Sherman
1640 (Nov)	William Ashurst	Peter Legh, died after duel and repl. by Sir Roger Palmer, disabled 1644 and repl. by Peter Brooke
1645	William Ashurst	Peter Brooke
1653–1658	Newton not represented in Barebones and First and Second Protectorate Parliaments
1659	William Brereton	Peter Legh

MPs 1660–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
1660		Richard Legh			William Banks
April 1661					John Vaughan
June 1661					Sir Philip Mainwaring
October 1661					The Lord Gorges of Dundalk
1679		Sir John Chicheley			Andrew Fountaine
1685					Peter Legh
1689					Francis Cholmondeley
1690					George Cholmondeley
1691		John Bennet
1695		Legh Banks			Thomas Brotherton
1698		Thomas Legh
1701					Thomas Legh, junior
July 1702		John Grubham Howe
December 1702		Thomas Legh
1703		John Ward
1713					Abraham Blackmore
1715		Sir Francis Leicester			William Shippen
1727		Legh Master
1743					Peter Legh
1747		Sir Thomas Egerton
1754		Randle Wilbraham
1768		Anthony James Keck
1774					Robert Vernon Atherton Gwillym
1780		Thomas Peter Legh			Thomas Davenport, KC
1786					Thomas Brooke
September 1797		Thomas Langford Brooke
December 1797		Peter Patten
1806		Colonel Peter Heron
1807					John Ireland Blackburne
1814		Thomas Legh
1818					Thomas Claughton
1825					Sir Robert Townsend-Farquhar
1826					Thomas Alcock
1830					Thomas Houldsworth
1832	Constituency abolished

MPs 1885–1983

Election		Member	Party
	1885	constituency re-established with one MP
	1885	Richard Assheton Cross	Conservative
	1886 by-election	Thomas Wodehouse Legh	Conservative
	1899 by-election	Richard Pilkington	Conservative
	1906	James Andrew Seddon	Labour
	1910	Roundell Cecil Palmer	Conservative
	1918	Robert Young	Labour
	1931	Reginald Clare Essenhigh	Conservative
	1935	Robert Young	Labour
	1950	Fred Lee	Labour
	Feb 1974	John Evans	Labour
	1983	constituency abolished

Notes

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General Election December 1910: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roundell Cecil Palmer	6,706	50.5	+3.2
	Labour	James Andrew Seddon	6,562	49.5	-3.2
Turnout			13,268	89.6	-3.4
Majority			144	1.0	6.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reginald Clare Essenhigh	16,064	50.60
	Labour	Sir Robert Young	15,683	49.40
Majority			381	1.20
Turnout				85.88

General Election 1935: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sir Robert Young	19,992	58.5
	Conservative	Reginald Clare Essenhigh	14,201	41.5
Majority			5,791	16.9
Turnout			34,193	84.8

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sir Robert Young	25,197	62.0
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	15,465	38.0
Majority			9,732	23.9
Turnout				76.2

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Lee	31,832	59.1
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	22,068	40.1
Majority			9,764	18.1
Turnout				88.0

General Election 1951: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Lee	31,374	58.3
	Conservative	Herbert W Jones	22,476	41.7
Majority			8,898	16.5
Turnout				87.2

General Election 1955: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Lee	29,299	57.9
	Conservative	Norman Alexander Miscampbell	21,344	42.2
Majority			7,955	15.7
Turnout				81.8

General Election 1959: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Lee	31,041	57.4
	Conservative	Norman Alexander Miscampbell	23,065	42.6
Majority			7,976	14.7
Turnout				83.1

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Lee	32,932	56.0
	Conservative	David C Stanley	17,980	30.6
	Liberal	Clifford L Jones	7,919	13.5
Majority			14,952	25.4
Turnout				82.0

General Election 1966: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rt Hon. Frederick Lee	36,901	62.8
	Conservative	Peter H Craig	21,845	37.2
Majority			15,056	25.6
Turnout				78.0

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rt Hon. Frederick Lee	34,873	52.5
	Conservative	John Paul Stanley	25,863	39.0
	Liberal	Robert Magee	5,678	8.6
Majority			9,010	13.6
Turnout				74.0

General Election Feb 1974: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Evans	38,369	49.3
	Conservative	George Barrington Porter	23,599	30.3
	Liberal	Neveille Leather	15,939	20.5
Majority			14,770	19.0
Turnout				82.5

General Election October 1974: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Evans	38,956	53.3
	Conservative	Roger Baldwin	22,484	30.7
	Liberal	Neveille Leather	11,738	16.0
Majority			16,472	22.5
Turnout				76.8

General Election 1979: Newton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Evans	41,466	51.4
	Conservative	T Huntley	30,125	37.3
	Liberal	R Smith	8,471	10.5
	National Front	A Fishwick	641	0.8
Majority			11,341	14.1
Turnout				78.4

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See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons

Sources

• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)
• Frederic A Youngs, Jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 2)