Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)

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Combined English Universities University constituency
Created:	1918
Abolished:	1950
Type:	House of Commons

Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950). It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English Universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London, which were already separately represented.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 Members of Parliament 3 Elections 4 References

[edit] Boundaries

This University constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 and abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948.

The original proposal of the Speaker's Conference, which considered electoral reform before the 1918 legislation was prepared, was to combine all the English and Welsh universities except for Oxford and Cambridge into a three member constituency. However during consideration of the legislation it was agreed that London University alone should continue to return one member. The University of Wales was also given its own seat. The other universities, which were still to be combined, had their proposed representation reduced to two members. (Source: Pugh).

Combined English Universities was not a physical area. Its electorate consisted of the graduates of the Universities included in the seat.

The Universities represented by this constituency were Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (from August 1928) and Sheffield.

The constituency returned two Members of Parliament, elected by the Single Transferable Vote method of Proportional Representation.

[edit] Members of Parliament

This is a list of people who were elected to represent these English Universities in the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1918 and 1950. The elections were not held on the polling dates for general elections in the territorial constituencies. The University constituency elections were held over five days, not on the ordinary polling date, so that plural voting graduates could vote in their place of residence and then visit their University to participate in its election.

• Constituency created (1918)

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		1918	Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher	Coalition Liberal	Sir William Martin Conway	Coalition Conservative
		1922		National Liberal		Conservative
		1923		Liberal
		1926	Sir Alfred Hopkinson	Conservative
		1929	Eleanor Florence Rathbone	Independent
		1931			Sir Reginald Henry Craddock	Conservative
		1937			Thomas Edmund Harvey	Independent Progressive
		1945			Kenneth Martin Lindsay	Independent
		1946	Henry George Strauss	Conservative

• Constituency abolished (1950)

[edit] Elections

There were six contested STV elections. The MPs in 1935 were returned unopposed. By-elections, to fill a single seat, used the first past the post or relative majority electoral system.

General Election 1918: Combined English Universities (2 seats) - 1st Count
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Liberal	Rt Hon. Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher	959	48.09	N/A
	Labour	John Atkinson Hobson	366	18.36	N/A
	Conservative	Herbert Geraint Williams	366	18.36	N/A
	Coalition Conservative	Sir William Martin Conway	303	15.20	N/A
Total Votes			1,994
Quota			665
Turnout			2,357	84.60	N/A

General Election 1918: Combined English Universities (2 seats) - 2nd Count
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Liberal	Rt Hon. Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher	665	N/A	-294
	Coalition Conservative	Sir William Martin Conway	465	N/A	+162
	Labour	John Atkinson Hobson	454	N/A	+88
	Conservative	Herbert Geraint Williams	410	N/A	+44
Total Votes			1,994
Quota			665

General Election 1918: Combined English Universities (2 seats) - 3rd Count
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Liberal	Rt Hon. Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher	665	N/A	..
	Coalition Conservative	Sir William Martin Conway	777	N/A	+312
	Labour	John Atkinson Hobson	481	N/A	+27
	Conservative	Herbert Geraint Williams	..	N/A	-410
	non transferable	N/A	71	N/A	+71
Total Votes			1,994
Quota			665

[edit] References

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan 1977)
• Electoral Reform in War and Peace 1906-18, by Martin Pugh (Routledge & Kegan Paul 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Pess 1979)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)