Dover (UK Parliament constituency) – Wikipedia

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UK Parliament constituency since 1369

Dover is a constituency in Kent, England represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Dover was considered a Cinque Ports constituency from 1386 to 1832.

Constituency profile[edit]

The seat includes most of Dover District. It comprises the towns of Deal, Dover, Walmer and surrounding villages in a productive chalkland, long-cultivated area adjoining the Strait of Dover. Since 1983 it has excluded the northern part of the District in and around the historically important Cinque Port of Sandwich with its golf links and accessible shore, which was then transferred to the South Thanet seat.

Since 1945 Dover has been a Labour/Conservative swing seat. In local elections, most of its rural villages and the two small towns favour the Conservative Party, whereas Dover favours the Labour Party, as well as the former mixed mining and agricultural villages in the local coal belt (East Kent coalfield), such as Aylesham. Labour’s vote held on very solidly here in 2005, but the seat went Conservative in the 2010 election on a swing of 10.4% compared with a 4.9% swing nationally.

Cinque Port Seat[edit]

Dover’s representation was originally as a Cinque Port constituency. In the sixteenth and seventeenth the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports nominated one member as with other Cinque Ports, but this was outlawed by an act of Parliament in 1689.[2] There was still some residual influence but there was also a local independent element in the borough with two local leading families, the Papillons and Furneses, starting to send MPs. By the mid eighteenth century it had come more under government influence through the influence of the Earl of Hardwicke, although government control was often more fragile than it seemed.[3]

Dover lost its status as a Cinque Port seat, becoming a borough seat under the 1832 Reform Act.

Boundaries[edit]

Map

Map of current boundaries

1918–1950: The Boroughs of Dover and Deal, the Urban District of Walmer, and the Rural Districts of Dover and Eastry.

1950–1983: The Boroughs of Dover, Deal, and Sandwich, the Rural District of Dover, and the Rural District of Eastry except the parishes included in the Isle of Thanet constituency.

1983–2010: The District of Dover wards of Aylesham, Barton, Buckland, Capel-le-Ferne, Castle, Cornilo, Eastry, Eythorne, Lower Walmer, Lydden and Temple Ewell, Maxton and Elms Vale, Middle Deal, Mill Hill, Mongeham, Noninstone, North Deal, Pineham, Priory, Ringwould, River, St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe, St Radigund’s, Shepherdswell with Coldred, Tower Hamlets, Town and Pier, and Upper Walmer.

2010–present: The District of Dover wards of Aylesham, Buckland, Capel-le-Ferne, Castle, Eastry, Eythorne and Shepherdswell, Lydden and Temple Ewell, Maxton, Elms Vale and Priory, Middle Deal and Sholden, Mill Hill, North Deal, Ringwould, River, St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe, St Radigund’s, Tower Hamlets, Town and Pier, Walmer, and Whitfield.

From 2010, the MP was Charlie Elphicke, elected as a member of the Conservative Party. On 3 November 2017, Elphicke was suspended by the Conservative Party after “serious allegations” were made against him, and then sat as an Independent until 12 December 2018 when he had the Conservative Whip restored ahead of a party vote on a no-confidence motion against Theresa May.[4][5] In July 2019, the whip was withdrawn again after he was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service with three counts of sexual assault against two women.[6][7][8] Charlie Elphicke stood down as an MP shortly before the 2019 UK General Election, with his wife, Natalie Elphicke standing as the Conservative Party candidate in his place. Natalie Elphicke was elected as the MP for Dover at the 2019 UK General Election, increasing on her husband’s majority.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Cinque Port/Parliamentary Borough 1386–1918[edit]

MPs 1386–1660[edit]

No parliament called between 1629 and 1640

MPs 1660–1885[edit]

MPs 1885–1918[edit]

County constituency 1918–present[edit]

Elections in the 19th century[edit]

Elections in the 1830s[edit]

Elections in the 1840s[edit]

Elections in the 1850s[edit]

Elections in the 1860s[edit]

Elections in the 1870s[edit]

Elections in the 1880s[edit]

Elections in the 1890s[edit]

Elections in the 20th century[edit]

Elections in the 1900s[edit]

Elections in the 1910s[edit]

Elections in the 1920s[edit]

Elections in the 1930s[edit]

Election in the 1940s[edit]

Elections in the 1950s[edit]

Elections in the 1960s[edit]

Elections in the 1970s[edit]

Elections in the 1980s[edit]

Elections in the 1990s[edit]

Elections in the 21st century[edit]

Elections in the 2000s[edit]

Elections in the 2010s[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England”. 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ^ Note 2, Page 121,Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin’s Press, 1957)
  3. ^ Pages 121 to 124,Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin’s Press, 1957)
  4. ^ a b Khan, Shehab (3 November 2017). “Charlie Elphicke: Tory MP suspended and reported to police over ‘serious’ allegations”. The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. ^ “Anger as accused MPs get whip restored for May vote”. BBC News. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  6. ^ “MP charged with three sexual assaults”. Crown Prosecution Service. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  7. ^ “Tory MP Charlie Elphicke Charged With Three Counts Of Sexual Assault, Huffington Post”. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  8. ^ Francis, Paul (22 July 2019). “Dover MP Charlie Elphicke has party whip withdrawn”. Kent Online. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w “History of Parliament”. History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  10. ^ Wedgwood, Josiah C. (1936). History Of Parliament (1439-1509). p. 779.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p “History of Parliament”. History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j “History of Parliament”. History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  13. ^ Dictionary of National Biography, later editions, and Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
  14. ^ a b c d Leigh Rayment’s Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with “D” (part 3)
  15. ^ On petition Spragge’s election was declared void
  16. ^ Created Baron Aylmer (in the Peerage of Ireland), 1718
  17. ^ Knighted 1761
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 161–163. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
  19. ^ Thomson was re-elected in 1832 but had also been elected for Manchester, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Dover
  20. ^ Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1836. p. 75.
  21. ^ “General Election”. Naval & Military Gazette and Weekly Chronicle of the United Service. 29 July 1837. p. 12. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ^ “Dover Election”. Canterbury Journal, Kentish Times and Farmers’ Gazette. 29 July 1837. p. 2. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. ^ “Elections in Kent”. Kentish Gazette. 1 August 1837. p. 2. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ “Ralph Bernal”. Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  25. ^ Malcolmson, A. P. W. (2006). The Pursuit of the Heiress: Aristocratic Marriage in Ireland 1740-1840 (Illustrated ed.). Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 176. ISBN 9781903688656. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  26. ^ “The Brazil Controversy”. The Spectator. 18 February 1865. p. 13. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  27. ^ Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael A.; Rubinstein, Hilary L., eds. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-4039-3910-4. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  28. ^ Hawkins, Angus (2015). Victorian Political Culture: ‘Habits of Heart & Mind’. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-19-872848-1. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  29. ^ “Dover”. Cheltenham Chronicle. 31 March 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  30. ^ a b c Fisher, David R. “Dover”. The History of Parliament. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  32. ^ “Dover”. South Eastern Gazette. 24 March 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  33. ^ “Representation of Dover”. Kentish Gazette. 13 October 1868. p. 6. Retrieved 8 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  34. ^ “To the freeman and electors of the Borough of Dover”. Dover Express. 5 September 1873. p. 2. Retrieved 29 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  35. ^ “Dover”. London Evening Standard. 27 January 1874. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 29 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  36. ^ “The Town Clerk’s Office”. Wellington Journal. 14 February 1880. p. 7. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  37. ^ “This Evening’s News”. The Pall Mall Gazette. 31 March 1880. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  39. ^ “The Home Rule Question”. Bristol Mercury. 1 January 1886. p. 8. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  40. ^ Lorraine (8 September 2013). “Ramsay MacDonald – Dover’s MP that never was”. The Dover Historian. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  41. ^ a b c d e f g British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  42. ^ The Times’ Guide to the House of Commons. 1950.
  43. ^ The Times’ Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
  44. ^ “Election Data 1983”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  45. ^ “Election Data 1987”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  46. ^ “Election Data 1992”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  47. ^ “Politics Resources”. Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  48. ^ “Election Data 1997”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  49. ^ “Election Data 2001”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  50. ^ “Election Data 2005”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  51. ^ “Election Data 2010”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  52. ^ “Election Data 2015”. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  53. ^ “Jolyon Trimingham for Dover and Deal”. Kent Green Party. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  54. ^ “Introducing Kent’s general election candidates”. 12 May 2017.
  55. ^ “Dover parliamentary constituency – Election 2019”. BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2019.

Sources[edit]

  • Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
  • The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
  • F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
  • F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949 (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)