List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies

This is a list of former Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom, organised by date of abolition. It is intended for UK Parliamentary constituencies which have been abolished, including those which were later revived, but does not include constituencies which were merely renamed.

The date of creation of a constituency, in some cases, goes back to English and Welsh seats in the Parliament of England and the Scottish constituencies in the Parliament of Great Britain.

In some cases constituencies in the unreformed House of Commons first received a summons to send representatives to Parliament at a date considerably earlier than the one from which they always received a summoned. Where this state of affairs is apparent it is mentioned in a note.

No account is taken, in this article, of the temporary redistribution of constituencies used for the First and Second Protectorate Parliaments in the 1650s. "See First Protectorate Parliament for a list of those constituencies."

The Fifth Periodical Review, conducted by the Boundary Commissions in each nation of the UK, has been completed. A number of constituencies have been abolished, and these changes will be implemented for the next UK general election.

"For a list of constituencies recommended for creating during this current review see Constituencies in the next United Kingdom general election"

See also: Number of Westminster MPs.

Constituencies abolished in 2005

The Scottish UK Parliamentary constituencies were reorganised following the creation of the Scottish Parliament, in order to remove the traditional over-representation put in place to compensate for the lack of national representation.

Constituencies abolished in 1983

The Boundary Commissions' Third Periodical Review was completed in 1983, fourteen years after the previous review. It proposed wider changes than the two earlier reviews and abolished a large number of constituencies, although many constituencies were simply renamed to conform to local government districts created in 1974.

Constituencies abolished in 1950

The Boundary Commissions completed their Initial Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in 1947. This recommended a number of changes in order that the populations of constituencies ordinarily varied no more than 25% from an electoral quota.

Constituencies abolished in 1918

The Representation of the People Act 1918, in addition to finally enfranchising women, provided for a redistribution of seats with the aim of equalising electorates, particularly where these had changed significantly since 1885. Many smaller seats were abolished, while some larger ones were divided.

Constituencies abolished in 1868

The 1867 Reform Act disenfranchised the remaining boroughs with populations under 10,000 and subdivided some county constituencies.

Constituencies abolished 1529-1821

The disenfranchisement of boroughs was almost unknown in the unreformed House of Commons. Apart from a few special cases in the sixteenth century and the temporary redistribution of constituencies for the First and Second Protectorate Parliaments in the 1650s, no borough was disenfranchised until Grampound. The Cornish borough was abolished in 1821 in an effort to avoid the more sweeping reforms which later occurred in the 1832 Reform Act.

Constituencies abolished between 1378 and 1441

There were a number of boroughs known to have been represented in the Parliaments before 1378 but which were not enfranchised by 1442. They were seldom if at all represented afterwards, until they were restored to the list of those regularly in receipt of writs of summons in later years.

Constituencies abolished between 1302 and 1307

There were a number of boroughs known to have been represented in the Parliaments before 1302 but which were not enfranchised by 1307. They were seldom if at all represented afterwards, until they were restored to the list of those regularly in receipt of writs of summons in later years.

ee also

*List of Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom
*Irish House of Commons
*
*

References

* "The House of Commons 1509-1558", by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
*F. W. S. Craig, "British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987"
*F. W. S. Craig, "Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972" (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), Political Reference Publications, Chichester, Sussex, 1972
* Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England (London: Royal Historical Society - Volume I 1979, Volume II 1991).
* [http://www.leighrayment.com/commons.htm Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page - constituencies and their MPs since 1660]
* [http://www.aceproject.org/main/english/bd/bdy_gb.htm Administration and Cost of Elections Project - The United Kingdom Redistribution Process]