Richmond (Yorks) (UK Parliament constituency)
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See also: Richmond Park (UK Parliament constituency)

Richmond (Yorks) County constituency
Richmond (Yorks) shown within North Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire shown within England
Created:	1585
MP:	William Hague
Party:	Conservative
Type:	House of Commons
County:	North Yorkshire
EP constituency:	Yorkshire and the Humber

Richmond (Yorks) is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It has the largest percentage Conservative majority in the country although the numerical majority is surpassed by the larger seat of Buckingham.

Boundaries

The Richmond constituency covers the Richmondshire district and the northern part of the Hambleton district. It is an affluent rural area with a significant commuter population, covering parts of the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, including Wensleydale and Swaledale. It contains the market towns of Northallerton, Richmond, Stokesley and Great Ayton as well as surrounding villages. It also includes the large army base, Catterick Garrison.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in York and North Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England has recommended minor changes to the Richmond constituency, which will come into effect (subject to Parliamentary Approval)at the next general election.

The revised constituency comprises the following:

• the entire district of Richmondshire;
• the Hambleton wards of Bedale, Brompton, Broughton and Greenhow, Cowtons, Crakehall, Great Ayton, Leeming, Leeming Bar, Morton on Swale, Northallerton Broomfield, Northallerton Central, Northallerton North, Osmotherley, Romanby, Rudby, Stokesley, Swainby, and Tanfield.

History

Richmond was one of the seats in the Unreformed House of Commons, first being represented in 1585. In modern times it has been an ultra-safe seat for the Conservative Party, with them having held it continually since at least 1929.

From 1983, the seat was represented by the Conservative cabinet minister Leon Brittan, after boundary changes saw his Cleveland and Whitby seat abolished. He resigned his seat in December 1988 in order to take up the position of Vice-President of the European Commission. The ensuing by-election, held in February 1989, was won by William Hague, this would be the last by-election won by the Conservative Government of 1979-1997. The decision by the remnants of the Social Democratic Party and their former colleagues in the newly-merged Social and Liberal Democrats (who later renamed themselves the Liberal Democrats) to both contest the seat split their vote. The SDP candidate, local farmer Mike Potter, came second, and Hague's majority of 2,634 was considerably smaller than the number of votes for the Social and Liberal Democrat candidate Barbara Peace combined (11,589 votes in third place). Hague has retained the seat at every general election since then and significantly built up the Conservative majority to 17,807.

In 1992 the Labour candidate, David Abrahams was deselected after a series of rows within the local Labour party over his personal life and business interests. It emerged that he used the name David Martin when dealing with tenants in his various rental properties in the Newcastle area;^[1] and that he had claimed that he lived with his wife and son, though he had never been married. Divorcee Anthea Bailey later told a local newspaper she and her 11-year old son had posed as Mr Abrahams' family as part of a business arrangement so that Abrahams could create "the right impression".^[2][3] The Daily Mail suggested that this was done because the constituency in North Yorkshire would be averse to "a confirmed bachelor who enjoys musical theatre".^[4]

At the 2001 general election, Richmond became the Conservatives' safest seat in the UK, both in terms of the actual numerical majority and by percentage. Although the numerical majority was surpassed by Buckingham at the 2005 election, Richmond has a smaller electorate and consequently was able to retain its position of having the second largest percentage majority. With the abolition of Kensington and Chelsea, based on notional 2005 results Richmond is the safest Conservative seat in the country.

Members of Parliament

1585-1640

• 1585: Marmaduke Wyvill
• 1597-1598: Marmaduke Wyvill
• 1604-1611: Sir John Savile
• 1604-1611: Sir Richard Gargrave
• 1621-1622: Sir Talbot Bowes
• 1621-1622: William Bowes

1640-1868

1868-present

Notes

1. ^ Profile: reclusive Labour donor David Abrahams The Times - 26 November, 2007
2. ^ Colin Patterson (2 December 2007). "How Sunday Sun broke first David Abrahams story", Sunday Sun. Retrieved on 2007-12-02. 
3. ^ Profile of David Abrahams BBC News - 27 November, 2007
4. ^ The fantasy world of Labour's dodgy donor, by Richard Pendlebury, Daily Mail, 27th November 2007
5. ^ At the general election of 1727, Wyvill and Bathurst were returned as elected, but on petition they were unseated in favour of Yorke and Darcy, the dispute turning on who had the right to vote
6. ^ Sir Conyers Darcy was re-elected in 1747 but had also been elected for Yorkshire, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Richmond
7. ^ Sir Lawrence Dundas was also elected for Edinburgh, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Richmond
8. ^ Thomas Dundas was also elected for Stirlingshire, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Richmond in this parliament
9. ^ Sir Lawrence Dundas was also elected for Edinburgh, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Richmond
10. ^ Styled Lord Dundas after his father was created an Earl in 1838
11. ^ Later Sir George Elliott

Election results

Notes

References

• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [1]
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• The Constitutional Yearbook for 1913 (London: National Unionist Association, 1913)

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in North Yorkshire