Newport (Isle of Wight) (constituency)
Former parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newport was a parliamentary borough located in Newport (Isle of Wight), which was abolished in for the 1885 general election. It was occasionally referred to by the alternative name of Medina.
| Newport | |
|---|---|
| Former borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
| County | Isle of Wight |
| Major settlements | Newport |
| 1584–1885 | |
| Seats | 1584–1868: Two 1868–1885: One |
| Created from | Hampshire |
| Replaced by | Isle of Wight |
| 1295–1298 | |
| Seats | Two |
| Type of constituency | Borough constituency |
| Replaced by | Hampshire |
(Prior to the Reform Act 1832 there was also a separate Newport parliamentary borough in Cornwall.)
History
The borough was first represented in the parliament of 1295, and returned two members of parliament (MPs) from 1584 to 1868. At the 1868 election the Second Reform Act reduced its representation to a single seat, and under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the constituency was abolished altogether with effect from the 1885 general election. Newport's re-enfranchisement in 1584, like that of the other Isle of Wight boroughs (Newtown and Yarmouth) seems to have been at the urging of the new Governor of the island, Sir George Carey, a relative of the Queen. In token of thanks, the borough granted him for life the right to nominate one of the two MPs – which seems to have been the reward he expected and the motive for his petition to the Queen in the first place.
Between 1807 and 1811 its two seats were held by two future Prime Ministers: Arthur Wellesley, later to become the Duke of Wellington (who also found himself elected to two other seats at the same time), and Henry Temple (later Lord Palmerston), who would go on to become one of the United Kingdom's most notable Prime Ministers. Palmerston's late father had been unable to convert his Irish title into a United Kingdom peerage, therefore the young politician was able to enter the Commons. The local patron arranging the deal was Sir Leonard Holmes, who made it a condition that they never visited the borough.
The borough was also represented by two other future Prime Ministers in the 1820s. George Canning was MP for Newport when appointed Prime Minister in 1827; however, under the law as it then stood a minister accepting office automatically vacated his seat and had to stand for re-election to the Commons, and Canning chose to stand at Seaford, a government pocket borough in Sussex, rather than fight Newport again. In the by-election that followed at Newport, the vacancy was filled by the election of the Honourable William Lamb, later 2nd Viscount Melbourne, whose father had also represented the borough in the 1790s. However, Lamb remained MP for Newport for only two weeks before also being elected for Bletchingley, which he preferred to represent.
Before the Great Reform Act 1832, the right to vote was vested in the mayor and corporation (consisting of 11 aldermen and 12 burgesses). For much of the previous century the borough was "managed" for the government by the Holmes family,[1] meaning that ministers could generally secure the election of their favoured candidates, but often only at the expense of considerable "gratuities" to the voters – in 1754, this apparently amounted to a payment of £600 for each candidate. The borough consisted of the parish of Newport and of Castle Hold in the parish of St Nicholas, thereby excluding that part of the town which extended over the boundary into Carisbrooke parish; this gave the borough a population of 4,398 in 1831. The 1832 reforms extended the borough to take in the rest of the town, raising the population to 6,700, though the electorate was still only 421.
Newport's representation was reduced from two members to one by the Second Reform Act for the 1868 general election, and abolished altogether in 1885, leaving the town represented as part of the Isle of Wight county constituency.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1584–1660
MPs 1660–1868
MPs 1868–1885
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1868 | Charles Wykeham Martin | Liberal | |
| 1870 | Charles Clifford | Liberal | |
| 1885 | constituency abolished | ||
Election results
Elections in the 1830s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tory | Spencer Perceval | Unopposed | |||
| Tory | Horace Twiss | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 24 | ||||
| Tory hold | |||||
| Tory hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tory | William Mount | Unopposed | |||
| Tory | James Joseph Hope-Vere | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 24 | ||||
| Tory hold | |||||
| Tory hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | John Heywood Hawkins | 216 | 36.4 | ||
| Whig | William Henry Ord | 216 | 36.4 | ||
| Tory | James Willoughby Gordon | 161 | 27.2 | ||
| Majority | 55 | 9.2 | |||
| Turnout | 365 | 86.7 | |||
| Registered electors | 421 | ||||
| Whig gain from Tory | |||||
| Whig gain from Tory | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | William Henry Ord | 233 | 26.0 | −10.4 | |
| Whig | John Heywood Hawkins | 230 | 25.6 | −10.8 | |
| Conservative | James Willoughby Gordon | 229 | 25.5 | +11.9 | |
| Conservative | William Hamilton | 205 | 22.9 | +9.3 | |
| Majority | 1 | 0.1 | −9.1 | ||
| Turnout | c. 449 | c. 89.7 | c. +3.0 | ||
| Registered electors | 500 | ||||
| Whig hold | Swing | −10.5 | |||
| Whig hold | Swing | −10.7 | |||
Ord was appointed as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | William Henry Ord | Unopposed | |||
| Whig hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | John Heywood Hawkins | 265 | 26.3 | +0.7 | |
| Whig | William John Blake | 263 | 26.1 | +0.1 | |
| Conservative | Charles Wykeham Martin | 244 | 24.2 | −1.3 | |
| Conservative | William Hamilton | 236 | 23.4 | +0.5 | |
| Majority | 19 | 1.9 | +1.8 | ||
| Turnout | 506 | 79.9 | c. −9.8 | ||
| Registered electors | 633 | ||||
| Whig hold | Swing | +0.6 | |||
| Whig hold | Swing | +0.3 | |||
Elections in the 1840s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Charles Wykeham Martin | 254 | 26.4 | +2.2 | |
| Conservative | William Hamilton | 252 | 26.2 | +2.8 | |
| Whig | Thomas Gisborne | 229 | 23.8 | −2.5 | |
| Whig | William John Blake | 226 | 23.5 | −2.6 | |
| Majority | 23 | 2.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 485 | 64.7 | −15.2 | ||
| Registered electors | 750 | ||||
| Conservative gain from Whig | Swing | +2.4 | |||
| Conservative gain from Whig | Swing | +2.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peelite | William Plowden | 262 | 26.1 | −0.1 | |
| Peelite | Charles Wykeham Martin | 252 | 25.1 | −1.3 | |
| Whig | William John Blake | 250 | 25.0 | +1.5 | |
| Whig | Charles Crompton[23][24] | 238 | 23.8 | — | |
| Majority | 2 | 0.1 | −2.3 | ||
| Turnout | 501 (est) | 77.6 (est) | +12.9 | ||
| Registered electors | 646 | ||||
| Peelite gain from Conservative | Swing | −0.4 | |||
| Peelite gain from Conservative | Swing | −1.0 | |||
Elections in the 1850s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radical | William Biggs | 310 | 27.4 | +2.4 | |
| Radical | William Nathaniel Massey | 306 | 27.1 | +3.3 | |
| Peelite | Charles Wykeham Martin | 257 | 22.7 | −2.4 | |
| Peelite | William Plowden | 257 | 22.7 | −3.4 | |
| Majority | 49 | 4.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 565 (est) | 79.9 (est) | +2.3 | ||
| Registered electors | 707 | ||||
| Radical gain from Peelite | Swing | +2.7 | |||
| Radical gain from Peelite | Swing | +3.1 | |||
Biggs resigned, causing a by-election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Robert Kennard | 289 | 54.3 | +8.9 | |
| Radical | Charles Seely[25][26][27][28][29] | 243 | 45.7 | −8.8 | |
| Majority | 46 | 8.6 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 532 | 81.3 | +1.4 | ||
| Registered electors | 654 | ||||
| Conservative gain from Radical | Swing | +8.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | Charles Edward Mangles | 305 | 26.8 | −0.6 | |
| Whig | Charles Buxton | 294 | 25.8 | −1.3 | |
| Conservative | Robert Kennard | 283 | 24.8 | +2.1 | |
| Conservative | William Anderson Rose[30] | 257 | 22.6 | −0.1 | |
| Majority | 11 | 1.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 570 (est) | 87.1 (est) | +7.2 | ||
| Registered electors | 654 | ||||
| Whig gain from Radical | Swing | −0.8 | |||
| Whig gain from Radical | Swing | −1.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Robert Kennard | 319 | 37.1 | +12.3 | |
| Conservative | Philip Lybbe Powys | 312 | 36.3 | +13.7 | |
| Liberal | Robert Charles[31] | 228 | 26.5 | −26.1 | |
| Majority | 84 | 9.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 544 (est) | 84.0 (est) | −3.1 | ||
| Registered electors | 647 | ||||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +12.7 | |||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +13.4 | |||
Elections in the 1860s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Charles Wykeham Martin | 309 | 36.5 | +10.0 | |
| Conservative | Robert Kennard | 307 | 36.3 | −0.8 | |
| Conservative | Auberon Herbert | 230 | 27.2 | −9.1 | |
| Majority | 79 | 9.3 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 578 (est) | 89.8 (est) | +5.8 | ||
| Registered electors | 643 | ||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +10.0 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −2.9 | |||
Seat reduced to one member
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Charles Wykeham Martin | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 965 | ||||
| Liberal hold | |||||
Elections in the 1870s
Martin's death caused a by-election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Charles Clifford | 437 | 55.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Henry Martyn Kennard[32] | 351 | 44.5 | New | |
| Majority | 86 | 11.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 788 | 81.7 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 965 | ||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Charles Clifford | 522 | 52.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Henry Robert Twyford | 475 | 47.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 47 | 4.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 997 | 85.5 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 1,166 | ||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1880s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Charles Clifford | 618 | 52.5 | +0.1 | |
| Conservative | Henry Robert Twyford | 560 | 47.5 | −0.1 | |
| Majority | 58 | 5.0 | +0.2 | ||
| Turnout | 1,178 | 86.5 | +1.0 | ||
| Registered electors | 1,362 | ||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.1 | |||