Rutland and Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)

Rutland and Stamford is a county constituency comprising the area of Lincolnshire centred on the town of Stamford; the county of Rutland; and also parts of rural Leicestershire, making it a very unusual parliamentary constituency in that it spans three counties. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, using the first-past-the-post voting system. Since the 2024 general election, the Member of Parliament for Rutland and Stamford is Alicia Kearns.

Rutland and Stamford
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Rutland and Stamford in the East Midlands
County	Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and Rutland
Electorate	70,864 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Oakham, Stamford and Uppingham
Current constituency
Created	2024
Member of Parliament	Alicia Kearns (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Rutland & Melton Grantham & Stamford
1918–1983
Created from	Rutland and Stamford
Replaced by	Rutland & Melton Stamford & Spalding

History

The constituency was originally created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election. It was succeeded by the Rutland and Melton and Stamford and Spalding constituencies.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election.^[2]

Boundaries

Historic

1918–1950: The administrative county of Rutland, the Municipal Borough of Stamford, the Urban District of Bourne, the Rural Districts of Bourne and Uffington, and part of the Rural District of Grantham.

1950–1983: The administrative county of Rutland, the Municipal Borough of Stamford, the Urban District of Bourne, the Rural District of South Kesteven, and parts of the Rural Districts of East Kesteven and West Kesteven.

Current

The re-established constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The District of Harborough wards of: Billesdon & Tilton; Nevill; Thurnby & Houghton.
• The District of Rutland.
• The District of South Kesteven wards of: Casewick; Castle; Dole Wood; Glen; Isaac Newton; Stamford All Saints; Stamford St. George’s; Stamford St. John’s; Stamford St. Mary’s.^[3][4]

It includes the following areas:

• The County of Rutland and the parts of Harborough District, including Thurnby, from the abolished constituency of Rutland and Melton
• The town of Stamford and surrounding areas from Grantham and Stamford, which has been largely replaced by Grantham and Bourne.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1983

Rutland and Stamford prior to 1918

Election		Member	Party[5]
	1918	Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	Conservative
	1922	Charles Harvey Dixon	Conservative
	1923 by-election	Neville Smith-Carington	Conservative
	1933 by-election	Lord Willoughby de Eresby	Conservative
	1950	Sir Roger Conant	Conservative
	1959	Kenneth Lewis	Conservative
	1983	Constituency abolished. See Rutland & Melton and Stamford & Spalding

In 1983 Rutland became part of the Rutland and Melton constituency along with Melton borough and part of Harborough District in Leicestershire.

MPs since 2024

Rutland & Melton and Grantham & Stamford prior to 2024

Election		Member	Party
	2024	Alicia Kearns	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Rutland and Stamford^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alicia Kearns	21,248	43.7	−19.6
	Labour	Joe Wood	10,854	22.3	+7.6
	Reform UK	Chris Clowes	7,008	14.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	James Moore	6,252	12.9	−2.9
	Green	Emma Baker	2,806	5.8	+2.2
	Rejoin EU	Joanna Burrows	409	0.8	N/A
Majority			10,394	21.4	N/A
Turnout			48,577	67.9
Registered electors			71,711
	Conservative win (new seat)

Reform UK removed Ginny Ball as its candidate in March 2024 after "exposure of a range of racist comments on her social media feed".^[7]

Elections 1918–1983

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	8,838	53.6
	Labour	Fleming Eccles	7,639	46.4
Majority			1,199	7.2
Turnout			16,477	61.8
Registered electors			26,647
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Harvey Dixon	10,278	46.8	−6.8
	Labour	Fleming Eccles	7,236	32.9	−13.5
	National Farmers' Union	Edward Clark	4,471	20.3	New
Majority			3,042	13.9	+6.7
Turnout			21,985	81.2	+19.4
Registered electors			27,074
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.4

1923 Rutland and Stamford by-election^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Neville Smith-Carington	11,196	57.1	+10.3
	Labour	Arthur Sells	8,406	42.9	+10.0
Majority			2,790	14.2	+0.3
Turnout			19,602	71.5	−9.7
Registered electors			27,409
	Unionist hold		Swing	+0.2

General election 1923: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Neville Smith-Carington	10,803	51.4	+4.6
	Liberal	Frank Stapledon Hiley	5,203	24.8	New
	Labour	Arthur Sells	5,005	23.8	−9.1
Majority			5,600	26.6	+12.7
Turnout			21,011	76.7	−4.5
Registered electors			27,409
	Unionist hold		Swing	+6.9

General election 1924: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Neville Smith-Carington	13,286	66.7	+15.3
	Labour	H F Wheeler	6,633	33.3	+9.5
Majority			6,653	33.4	+6.8
Turnout			19,919	71.5	−5.2
Registered electors			27,869
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.9

General election 1929: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Neville Smith-Carington	12,607	47.4	−19.3
	Labour	Henry James Jones	7,403	27.9	−5.4
	Liberal	Harry Payne	6,561	24.7	New
Majority			5,204	19.5	−13.9
Turnout			26,571	76.7	+5.2
Registered electors			34,647
	Unionist hold		Swing	−7.0

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Smith-Carington	19,086	71.9	+24.5
	Labour	F E Church	7,446	28.1	+0.2
Majority			11,640	43.8	+24.3
Turnout			26,532	75.3	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

1933 Rutland and Stamford by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	14,605	53.3	−18.6
	Labour	Arnold William Gray	12,818	46.7	+18.6
Majority			1,787	6.6	−37.2
Turnout			27,423	77.2	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	16,799	59.9	−12.0
	Labour	Arnold William Gray	11,238	40.1	+12.0
Majority			5,561	19.8	−24.0
Turnout			28,037	78.4	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
• Labour: Arnold William Gray^[9]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Rutland and Stamford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	15,359	53.7	−6.2
	Labour	Arnold William Gray	13,223	46.3	+6.2
Majority			2,136	7.4	−12.4
Turnout			28,582	72.9	−5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Rutland and Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Conant	16,498	49.6	−4.1
	Labour	Tom Bradley	13,712	41.3	−5.0
	Liberal	Cyril Valentine	3,024	9.1	New
Majority			2,786	8.3	+0.9
Turnout			33,234	83.8	+10.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Rutland and Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Conant	17,850	54.1	+4.5
	Labour	Tom Bradley	15,127	45.9	+4.6
Majority			2,723	8.2	−0.1
Turnout			32,977
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Rutland and Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Conant	17,675	54.3	+0.2
	Labour	Tom Bradley	14,856	45.7	−0.2
Majority			2,819	3.6	−4.6
Turnout			32,531	79.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Rutland and Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	19,078	57.4	+3.1
	Labour	Christopher S B Attlee	14,137	42.6	−3.1
Majority			4,941	14.8	+11.2
Turnout			33,215
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Rutland and Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	18,720	55.5	−1.9
	Labour Co-op	A Victor Butler	14,990	44.5	+1.9
Majority			3,730	11.0	−3.8
Turnout			33,710	79.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Rutland and Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	17,991	53.4	−2.1
	Labour Co-op	A Victor Butler	15,704	46.6	+2.1
Majority			2,287	6.8	−4.2
Turnout			33,695
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Rutland and Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	22,803	60.1	+6.7
	Labour	Henry Toch	15,136	39.9	−6.7
Majority			7,667	20.2	+13.4
Turnout			37,939	75.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Rutland and Stamford^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	21,088	47.25
	Labour	Anthony Byrne	12,203	27.34
	Liberal	David Howie	11,336	25.40	New
Majority			8,885	19.91
Turnout			44,627	82.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Rutland and Stamford^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	19,101	46.2	−1.0
	Labour	Malcolm R.C. Withers	12,111	29.3	+2.0
	Liberal	David Howie	10,113	24.5	−0.9
Majority			6,990	16.9	−3.0
Turnout			41,325	72.0	−10.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Rutland and Stamford^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Lewis	26,198	56.48	+10.28
	Labour	Malcolm R.C. Withers	11,383	24.54	−4.76
	Liberal	Peter Blaine	8,801	18.98	−5.52
Majority			14,815	31.94
Turnout			46,382	78.08
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in the East Midlands
• Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland
• Parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire
• Stamford (UK Parliament list of constituencies)