Lancaster (UK Parliament constituency)

This article is about the historic constituency. For the modern constituency, see Lancaster and Fleetwood (UK Parliament constituency).

Lancaster was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until the constituency was disenfranchised for corruption in 1867.

Lancaster
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Lancaster in Lancashire, showing boundaries used from 1974–1983
County	Lancashire
1885–1997
Seats	One
Created from	North Lancashire
Replaced by	Lancaster and Wyre, Morecambe and Lunesdale, Fylde
1523–1867
Seats	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Lancashire
Replaced by	North Lancashire
1295–1376
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Lancaster was re-established for the 1885 general election as a county constituency. It then returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, with elections held under the first-past-the-post system. This constituency in turn was abolished when it was largely replaced by the new Lancaster and Wyre constituency for the 1997 general election.

History

Lancaster returned Members to Parliament between 1295 and 1331 but is not known to have done so again, on the grounds of the poverty of the town's burgesses, until the election of William Banester in 1523.

Representation was reduced during the protectorate: Lancaster was not represented in the Barebones Parliament and sent only one Member to the first and second Protectorate Parliaments.

The two Member constituency was disenfranchised in 1867 for corruption and representation not restored until 1885 as a one Member constituency. The constituency was finally abolished in 1997 and replaced by the constituency of Lancaster and Wyre.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Borough of Lancaster, the Sessional Divisions of Garstang and Hornby, and part of the Sessional Division of South Lonsdale.

1918–1950: The Boroughs of Lancaster and Morecambe, the Urban Districts of Heysham and Preesall, the Rural District of Garstang, and part of the Rural District of Lancaster.

1950–1983: The Borough of Lancaster, the Urban District of Carnforth, the Rural District of Lunesdale, and in the Rural District of Lancaster the parishes of Ashton with Stodday, Cockerham, Elllel, Heaton with Oxcliffe, Middleton, Overton, Over Wyresdale, Scotforth, and Thurnham.

1983–1997: The City of Lancaster wards of Bulk, Castle, Caton, Ellel, Hornby, John O'Gaunt, Scotforth East, Scotforth West, Skerton Central, Skerton East, and Skerton West, and the Borough of Wyre wards of Brock, Calder, Catterall, Duchy, Garstang, Great Eccleston, Pilling, and Wyresdale.

Members of Parliament

Lancaster borough

1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1523	William Banester	?Lawrence Starkey[1]
1529	Lawrence Starkey	Richard Southworth[1]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Sir John Baker	Sir Nicholas Hare[1]
1547	Sir Thomas Chaloner	Stephen Vaughan died and repl. by Jan 1552 by William Ward[1]
1553 (Mar)	John Caryll	Thomas Carus[1]
1553 (Oct)	Sir Thomas Tresham	Thomas Carus[1]
1554 (Apr)	John Heywood	George Felton[1]
1554 (Nov)	Richard Baker	Richard Weston[1]
1555	Thomas Carus	Thomas Hungate[1]
1558	Sir Clement Heigham	William Rice[1]
1559 (Jan)	Sir Thomas Benger	William Fleetwood[2]
1562–1563	John Hales	William Fleetwood[2]
1571	Henry Sadler	Miles Sandys[2]
1572	Thomas Sadler	Henry Sadler[2]
1584 (Nov)	Henry Sadler	Thomas Gerard[2]
1586	Thomas Gerard	Henry Sadler[2]
1588	Roger Dalton	John Atherton[2]
1593	John Preston	John Awdeley[2][3]
1597 (Oct)	Sir Thomas Hesketh	Edward Hubberd[2]
1601 (Oct)	Sir Jerome Bowes	Sir Carew Reynell [2]
1604	Sir Thomas Hesketh, died and repl. 1605 by Sir Thomas Howard	Thomas Fanshawe
1614	Thomas Fanshawe	William Fanshawe
1621	Sir Humphrey May	Thomas Fanshawe
1624	Sir Humphrey May, sat for Leicester and repl. by John Selden	Thomas Fanshawe
1625	Sir Humphrey May	Sir Thomas Fanshawe
1626	Sir Thomas Fanshawe	Thomas Jermyn
1628	Sir Thomas Fanshawe	Francis Bindlosse
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1867

Year		First member[4]	First party		Second member[4]	Second party
April 1640		Roger Kirkby			John Harrison
November 1640		Thomas Fanshawe	Royalist		John Harrison	Royalist
September 1642	Fanshawe disabled from sitting – seat vacant
September 1643				Harrison disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645		Thomas Fell			Sir Robert Bindlosse
December 1648				Bindlosse excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653	Lancaster was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Major Henry Porter		Lancaster had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659		Henry Porter, junior			Colonel William West
May 1659		Thomas Fell		One seat vacant
April 1660		Sir Gilbert Gerard			William West
1661		Richard Kirkby			Sir John Harrison
1669					Richard Harrison
1679					William Spencer
1685		Roger Kirkby			Henry Crispe
January 1689		Curwen Rawlinson			Thomas Preston
November 1689		Roger Kirkby
1697					Fitton Gerard
1698					Robert Heysham
1702		Sir William Lowther
1705		William Heysham
1715					Dodding Bradyll	Whig[5]
1716		William Heysham, junior
1722					Sir Thomas Lowther
1727		Christopher Tower
1734		Robert Fenwick
1745					Francis Reynolds
1747		Edward Marton
1758		(Sir) George Warren[6]
1773					Lord Richard Cavendish
1780		Wilson Braddyll			Abraham Rawlinson
1784		Captain Francis Reynolds
1786		Sir George Warren
1790					John Dent
1796		Richard Penn
1802		Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton	Whig
1806		John Fenton-Cawthorne	Tory[7]
1807		Peter Patten
1812		John Fenton-Cawthorne	Tory[7]		Gabriel Doveton	Whig[7]
1818		John Gladstone	Tory[7]
1820		John Fenton-Cawthorne	Tory[7]
1824					Thomas Greene	Tory[7]
1831		Patrick Maxwell Stewart	Whig[7]
1834						Conservative[7]
1837		George Marton	Conservative[7]
1847		Samuel Gregson[8]	Whig[9][10]			Peelite[11][12][9][13][14]
1848		Robert Baynes Armstrong[15]	Radical[16][17][18][19]
1852					Samuel Gregson	Whig[9][10]
1853		Thomas Greene	Peelite[11][12][9][13][14]
1857		William Garnett	Conservative
1859						Liberal
1864		Edward Matthew Fenwick	Liberal
1865					Henry Schneider	Liberal
1867	Constituency disfranchised for corruption [20]

Lancaster county constituency

1885–1997

Election		Member[4]	Party
1885		Constituency re-created
	1885	George Marton	Conservative
	1886	James Williamson	Liberal
	1895	William Foster	Conservative
	1900	Norval Helme	Liberal
	1918	Archibald Hunter	Coalition Conservative
	1922	John Singleton	Conservative
	1923	John O'Neill	Liberal
	1924	Gerald Strickland	Conservative
	1928 by-election	Robert Tomlinson	Liberal
	1929	Herwald Ramsbotham	Conservative
	1941 by-election	Fitzroy Maclean	Conservative
	1959	Humphry Berkeley	Conservative
	1966	Stan Henig	Labour
	1970	Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Lancaster and Wyre

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Lancaster^[7][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Thomas Greene	363	50.8
	Tory	John Fenton-Cawthorne	239	33.5
	Whig	Robert Hyde Greg	112	15.7
Majority			127	17.8
Turnout			390	9.8
Registered electors			c. 4,000
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

Fenton-Cawthorne's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 14 March 1831: Lancaster^[7][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Patrick Maxwell Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 4,000
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1831: Lancaster^[7][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Thomas Greene	Unopposed
	Whig	Patrick Maxwell Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 4,000
	Tory hold
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1832: Lancaster^[7][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Thomas Greene	Unopposed
	Whig	Patrick Maxwell Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,109
	Tory hold
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Lancaster^[7][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Thomas Greene	Unopposed
	Whig	Patrick Maxwell Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,207
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Lancaster^[7][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Thomas Greene	614	31.6
	Conservative	George Marton	527	27.2
	Whig	Patrick Maxwell Stewart	453	23.3
	Whig	William Rathbone Greg	347	17.9
Majority			74	3.9
Turnout			989	85.2
Registered electors			1,161
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Whig

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Lancaster^[22][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Greene	699	37.5	+5.9
	Conservative	George Marton	594	31.8	+4.6
	Whig	John Armstrong[23]	572	30.7	−10.5
Majority			22	1.1	−2.8
Turnout			933 (est)	72.0 (est)	c. −13.2
Registered electors			1,296
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.9

General election 1847: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Samuel Gregson	724	35.0	+4.3
	Peelite	Thomas Greene	721	34.9	−2.6
	Conservative	Edward Dodson Salisbury[24]	621	30.1	−1.7
Turnout			1,033 (est)	75.0 (est)	+3.0
Registered electors			1,377
Majority			103	4.9	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.6
Majority			100	4.8	+3.7
	Peelite hold		Swing	−0.9

Gregson's election was declared void on petition due to bribery, causing a by-election.^[25]

By-election, 9 March 1848: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Robert Baynes Armstrong	636	50.6	+15.6
	Conservative	Edward Stanley[26]	620	49.4	−15.6
Majority			16	1.2	N/A
Turnout			1,256	91.2	+16.2
Registered electors			1,377
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	+15.6

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Samuel Gregson	699	30.0	−5.0
	Radical	Robert Baynes Armstrong	690	29.6	N/A
	Peelite	Thomas Greene	509	21.8	−13.1
	Conservative	John Ellis[27]	432	18.5	−11.6
Turnout			1,165 (est)	83.6 (est)	+8.6
Registered electors			1,393
Majority			9	0.4	+0.3
	Whig hold		Swing	+0.4
Majority			181	7.8	N/A
	Radical gain from Peelite		Swing	N/A

Armstrong's election was declared void due to corruption and bribery, causing a by-election.^[28]

By-election, 12 April 1853: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Thomas Greene	686	55.3	+33.5
	Radical	John Armstrong[14]	554	44.7	+15.1
Majority			132	10.6	N/A
Turnout			1,240	87.3 (est)	+3.7
Registered electors			1,420
	Peelite gain from Radical		Swing	+9.2

General election 1857: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Samuel Gregson	827	38.7	+8.7
	Conservative	William Garnett	773	36.2	+26.9
	Conservative	Robert Gladstone[29]	537	25.1	+15.8
Majority			54	2.5	+2.1
Turnout			1,069 (est)	80.5 (est)	−3.1
Registered electors			1,328
	Whig hold		Swing	−25.7
	Conservative gain from Radical		Swing	+15.6

General election 1859: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Garnett	660	29.1	−7.1
	Liberal	Samuel Gregson	641	28.3	+8.9
	Conservative	William Allen Francis Saunders[30]	509	22.4	−2.7
	Liberal	Edward Matthew Fenwick	459	20.2	+0.8
Turnout			1,135 (est)	88.1 (est)	+7.6
Registered electors			1,288
Majority			19	0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.0
Majority			132	5.9	+3.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.9

Elections in the 1860s

Garnett resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 April 1864: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Matthew Fenwick	682	56.5	+8.0
	Conservative	William Allen Francis Saunders[31]	525	43.5	−8.0
Majority			157	13.0	+7.2
Turnout			1,207	86.6	−1.5
Registered electors			1,394
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.0

Gregson's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 20 February 1865: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Schneider	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: Lancaster^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Matthew Fenwick	713	34.5	+14.3
	Liberal	Henry Schneider	687	33.3	+5.0
	Conservative	Edward Lawrence[32]	665	32.2	−19.3
Majority			22	1.1	−4.8
Turnout			1,365 (est)	93.2 (est)	+5.1
Registered electors			1,465
	Liberal hold		Swing	+12.0
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.3

Extensive bribery caused both members to be unseated on 23 April 1866, and the seat to lose its right to return a member of Parliament under the Reform Act 1867. It was incorporated into North Lancashire.^[33]

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Lancaster ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Marton	4,387	55.4
	Liberal	James Carlile McCoan[35]	3,530	44.6
Majority			857	10.8
Turnout			7,917	88.3
Registered electors			8,961
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Lancaster ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Williamson	3,886	51.3	+6.7
	Conservative	George Marton	3,691	48.7	−6.7
Majority			195	2.6	N/A
Turnout			7,577	84.6	−3.7
Registered electors			8,961
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.7

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Lancaster ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Williamson	4,755	53.9	+2.6
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Storey	4,075	46.1	−2.6
Majority			680	7.8	+5.2
Turnout			8,830	88.3	+3.7
Registered electors			9,995
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.6

Foster

General election 1895: Lancaster ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Foster	5,028	53.4	+7.3
	Liberal	Isaac Saunders Leadam	4,394	46.6	−7.3
Majority			634	6.8	N/A
Turnout			9,422	87.4	−0.9
Registered electors			10,778
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.3

Elections in the 1900s

Norval Helme

General election 1900: Lancaster ^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Helme	5,113	50.2	+3.6
	Conservative	William Henry Foster	5,069	49.8	−3.6
Majority			44	0.4	N/A
Turnout			10,182	82.6	−4.8
Registered electors			12,334
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.6

General election 1906: Lancaster ^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Helme	6,524	53.6	+3.4
	Conservative	William Henry Foster	5,640	46.4	−3.4
Majority			884	7.2	+6.8
Turnout			12,164	86.4	+3.8
Registered electors			14,085
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.4

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Lancaster ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Helme	7,132	54.1	+0.5
	Conservative	Edward Russell-Taylor	6,048	45.9	−0.5
Majority			1,084	8.2	+1.0
Turnout			13,180	89.1	+2.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election December 1910: Lancaster ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Helme	6,168	50.5	−3.6
	Conservative	Herwald Ramsbotham	6,052	49.5	+3.6
Majority			116	1.0	−7.2
Turnout			12,220	82.6	−6.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

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: Norval Helme
• Unionist:

Hunter

General election 1918: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Archibald Hunter	14,403	59.6	+10.1
	Liberal	Norval Helme	9,778	40.4	−10.1
Majority			4,625	19.2	N/A
Turnout			24,181	65.4	−17.2
Registered electors			36,960
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.1
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Fenner Brockway

General election 1922: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Singleton	19,571	68.4	+8.8
	Labour	Fenner Brockway	9,043	31.6	New
Majority			10,528	36.8	+17.6
Turnout			28,614	79.2	+13.8
Registered electors			36,121
	Unionist hold		Swing	+8.8

General election 1923: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John O'Neill	17,763	59.2	New
	Unionist	John Singleton	12,263	40.8	−27.6
Majority			5,500	18.4	N/A
Turnout			30,026	80.0	+0.8
Registered electors			37,522
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	N/A

Strickland

General election 1924: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gerald Strickland	15,243	47.8	+7.0
	Liberal	John O'Neill	11,085	34.7	−24.5
	Labour	Harold Mostyn Watkins	5,572	17.5	New
Majority			4,158	13.1	N/A
Turnout			31,900	82.9	+2.9
Registered electors			38,466
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+15.8

1928 Lancaster by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Tomlinson	14,689	43.7	+9.0
	Unionist	Herwald Ramsbotham	12,860	38.2	−9.6
	Labour	David R Davies	6,101	18.1	+0.6
Majority			1,829	5.5	N/A
Turnout			33,650	82.7	−0.2
Registered electors			40,705
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+9.3

General election 1929: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Herwald Ramsbotham	17,414	39.3	−8.5
	Liberal	Robert Tomlinson	16,977	38.3	+3.6
	Labour	Reginald Penrith Burnett	9,903	22.4	+4.9
Majority			437	1.0	−12.1
Turnout			44,294	83.9	+1.0
Registered electors			52,774
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	−6.1

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herwald Ramsbotham	32,185	75.7	+36.4
	Labour	Robert Carrington-Willis	10,309	24.2	+1.8
Majority			21,876	50.5	+49.5
Turnout			42,494
	Conservative hold		Swing

• George H Bryans was adopted as Liberal candidate but in October 1931 had a heart attack and withdrew.

Ramsbotham

General election 1935: Lancaster^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herwald Ramsbotham	26,632	53.7	−22.0
	Liberal	Robert Tomlinson	13,054	26.3	New
	Labour	Charles Royle	9,938	20.0	−4.2
Majority			13,578	27.4	−23.1
Turnout			49,624	79.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Herwald Ramsbotham
• Liberal: William Ross
• Labour: Albert Farrer

1941 Lancaster by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy MacLean	15,783	56.9	+3.2
	Independent Liberal	William Ross	6,551	23.6	New
	Ind. Labour Party	Fenner Brockway	5,418	19.5	New
Majority			9,232	33.3	+5.9
Turnout			27,752	41.9	−37.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.5

General election 1945: Lancaster ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy Maclean	27,090	49.42
	Labour	Albert Edward Victor Ainsworth Farrer	19,367	35.33
	Liberal	Eric Johnson	8,357	15.25
Majority			7,723	14.09
Turnout			54,814
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy MacLean	18,437	48.27	−1.15
	Labour	Albert Edward Victor Ainsworth Farrer	15,341	40.17	+4.84
	Liberal	Harold Rogerson	4,416	11.56	−3.69
Majority			3,096	8.10	−5.99
Turnout			38,194
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy MacLean	20,555	53.18
	Labour	Dodo Lees	18,099	46.82
Majority			2,456	6.36
Turnout			38,654
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy MacLean	19,873	56.46	+3.28
	Labour	Christopher Sebastian Bravery Attlee	15,324	43.54	−3.28
Majority			4,549	12.92	+6.56
Turnout			35,197
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Humphry Berkeley	20,783	56.67	+1.21
	Labour	Ernest Gardner	15,255	42.33	−1.21
Majority			5,528	15.34	+2.42
Turnout			36,038
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Humphry Berkeley	18,811	53.53	−4.2
	Labour	Ernest Gardner	16,330	46.47	+4.2
Majority			2,481	7.06	−8.28
Turnout			35,141	79.74
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Henig	18,168	52.62	+6.1
	Conservative	Humphry Berkeley	16,357	47.38	−6.1
Majority			1,811	5.24	N/A
Turnout			34,525	79.17
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Kellett	18,584	49.1	+1.7
	Labour	Stanley Henig	16,843	44.5	−8.1
	Liberal	Andrew Paton	2,436	6.4	New
Majority			1,741	4.6	N/A
Turnout			37,863	79.5	+0.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.9

General election February 1974: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Kellett-Bowman	17,666	43.5	−5.6
	Labour	David Owen	15,197	37.4	−7.1
	Liberal	Anthony Walstan Drury	6,898	17.0	+10.6
	Independent Liberal	Philip Edgar Wallace	631	1.6	New
	Independent	Geoffrey Darnton	245	0.6	New
Majority			2,469	6.1	+1.5
Turnout			40,637	82.5	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Lancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Kellett-Bowman	16,540	42.6	−0.9
	Labour	D. Owen	15,119	39.0	+1.6
	Liberal	Michael Mumford	7,161	18.5	+1.5
Majority			1,421	3.7	−2.4
Turnout			38,820	83.2	−0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Lancaster^[38][39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Kellett-Bowman	19,400	47.6	+5.0
	Labour	Ruth Henig	15,174	37.3	−1.7
	Liberal	Michael Mumford	5,949	14.6	−3.9
	National Front	David F. White	196	0.5	New
Majority			4,226	10.3	+6.6
Turnout			40,719	79.5	−3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Lancaster^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Kellett-Bowman	21,050	50.3	+2.7
	Labour	Colin Harkins	10,414	24.9	−12.4
	Liberal	William Booth	10,214	24.4	+9.8
	Independent	Stuart R. Leach	179	0.4	New
Majority			10,636	25.4	+15.0
Turnout			41,857	74.69	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.6

General election 1987: Lancaster^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Kellett-Bowman	21,142	46.7	−3.6
	Labour	Joseph Gallacher	14,689	32.4	+7.5
	Liberal	Claire Brooks	9,003	19.9	−4.5
	Green	Peter Jones	473	1.0	New
Majority			6,453	14.2	−11.2
Turnout			45,307	79.17	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Lancaster^[41][42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elaine Kellett-Bowman	21,084	45.6	−1.1
	Labour	Ruth Henig	18,131	39.2	+6.8
	Liberal Democrats	John C. Humberstone	6,524	14.1	−5.8
	Green	Gina Dowding	433	0.9	−0.1
	Natural Law	Robert Barcis	83	0.2	New
Majority			2,953	6.4	−7.8
Turnout			46,255	78.9	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.9