Penrith (UK Parliament constituency)

Penrith was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Penrith in Cumberland, England. It 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.

Penrith
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	East Cumberland
Replaced by	North Cumberland and Penrith and Cockermouth

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

Year		Member	Party
	1885	Henry Howard	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1886	James Lowther	Conservative
	1905		Speaker
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Penrith ^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Howard	3,921	53.2
	Conservative	James Lowther	3,448	46.8
Majority			473	6.4
Turnout			7,369	80.8
Registered electors			9,123
	Liberal win (new seat)

Lawson

General election 1886: Penrith ^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	3,676	54.8	+8.0
	Liberal	Wilfrid Lawson	3,032	45.2	−8.0
Majority			644	9.6	N/A
Turnout			6,708	73.5	−7.3
Registered electors			9,123
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.0

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Penrith ^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	3,549	50.9	−3.9
	Liberal	Thomas Sadler Douglas	3,424	49.1	+3.9
Majority			125	1.8	−7.8
Turnout			6,973	79.8	+6.3
Registered electors			8,733
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.9

General election 1895: Penrith ^[1][3][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	3,868	54.2	+3.3
	Liberal	Thomas Sadler Douglas	3,268	45.8	−3.3
Majority			600	8.4	+6.6
Turnout			7,136	80.1	+0.3
Registered electors			8,914
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Penrith ^[1][3][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Lowther

General election 1906: Penrith ^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	James Lowther	Unopposed
	Speaker hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Penrith ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	James Lowther	Unopposed
	Speaker hold

General election December 1910: Penrith ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	James Lowther	Unopposed
	Speaker hold

References

1. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
2. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
3. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

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

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Carlisle	Constituency represented by the speaker 1905–1918	Succeeded by Penrith and Cockermouth