Mid Northamptonshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Northamptonshire was a county constituency in Northamptonshire, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

Mid Northamptonshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	South Northamptonshire, North Northamptonshire
Replaced by	Northampton, Daventry, Kettering and Wellingborough

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Northampton, the Sessional Divisions of Little Bowden and Northampton, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Daventry (the parishes of Ashby St. Ledgers, Barby, Claycoton Crick, Elkington, Kilsby, Lilboume, Long Buckley, Stanford, Watford, West Haddon, Winwick, and Yelvertoft) and Kettering (the parishes of Draughton, Faxton, Glendon, Harrington, Loddington, Mawsley, Orton, Rothwell, and Thorpe Malsor). ^[1]

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Charles Spencer	Liberal
	1895	Sir James Pender	Conservative
	1900	Charles Spencer	Liberal
	1906	Harry Manfield	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

Decades:

1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Mid Northamptonshire ^[2][3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	5,446	55.6
	Conservative	Pickering Phipps	4,347	44.4
Majority			1,099	11.2
Turnout			9,793	86.6
Registered electors			11,306
	Liberal win (new seat)

Spencer was appointed Groom in Waiting, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 12 Feb 1886: Mid Northamptonshire ^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Spencer'	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1886: Mid Northamptonshire ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	4,887	55.4	−0.2
	Liberal Unionist	William Cornwallis Cartwright	3,931	44.6	+0.2
Majority			956	10.8	−0.4
Turnout			8,818	78.0	−8.6
Registered electors			11,306
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.2

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Mid Northamptonshire ^[3][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	4,731	52.4	−3.0
	Conservative	James Pender	4,300	47.6	+3.0
Majority			431	4.8	−6.0
Turnout			9,031	83.6	+5.6
Registered electors			10,808
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.0

Spencer is appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, requiring a by-election.

1892 Mid Northamptonshire by-election^[3][6][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Pender

General election 1895: Mid Northamptonshire ^[3][6][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Pender	5,084	51.4	+3.8
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	4,802	48.6	−3.8
Majority			282	2.8	N/A
Turnout			9,886	84.4	+0.8
Registered electors			11,714
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.8

Elections in the 1900s

Spencer

General election 1900: Mid Northamptonshire ^[3][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	5,399	54.0	+5.4
	Conservative	James Pender	4,605	46.0	−5.4
Majority			794	8.0	N/A
Turnout			10,004	82.2	−2.2
Registered electors			12,175
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.4

Peel

General election 1906: Mid Northamptonshire ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Manfield	6,307	55.5	+1.5
	Conservative	Robert Francis Peel	5,067	44.5	−1.5
Majority			1,240	11.0	+3.0
Turnout			11,374	84.6	+2.4
Registered electors			13,450
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.5

Elections in the 1910s

Manfield

General election January 1910: Mid Northamptonshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Manfield	6,559	52.2	−3.3
	Conservative	Guy Paget	6,003	47.8	+3.3
Majority			556	4.4	−6.6
Turnout			12,562	88.5	+3.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.3

General election December 1910: Mid Northamptonshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Manfield	6,281	51.0	−1.2
	Conservative	Guy Paget	6,031	49.0	+1.2
Majority			250	2.0	−2.4
Turnout			12,312	85.8	−1.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.2

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;

• Liberal: Harry Manfield
• Unionist: Guy Paget^[8]

References

1. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 48 & 49 Victoria. Ch. 23: Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Schedule 7". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1885. pp. 166–167. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
3. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
5. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
6. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
7. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
8. Birmingham Daily Post 9 Mar 1914

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 3)