Mid Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

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Mid Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.

Mid Somerset
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
18681885
Seatstwo
Created fromEast Somerset
West Somerset
Replaced byEast Somerset
South Somerset
Wells

It was created for the 1868 general election,[1] and abolished for the 1885 general election, when Somerset was divided into several new single-member constituencies: Bridgwater, Frome, East Somerset, North Somerset, South Somerset, Wellington and Wells.

Members of Parliament

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Year 1st Member 1st Party 2nd Member 2nd Party
1868 Richard Paget Conservative Ralph Neville-Grenville[2] Conservative
1878 by-election William Gore-Langton[3][2] Conservative
1885 by-election John Wingfield Digby[2] Conservative
1885 constituency abolished

Election results

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Elections in the 1860s

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General election 1868: Mid Somerset[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Paget 3,692 32.1
Conservative Ralph Neville-Grenville 3,636 31.6
Liberal Francis Tagart[5] 2,151 18.7
Liberal Edward Augustus Freeman[6] 2,018 17.6
Majority 1,485 12.9
Turnout 5,749 (est) 68.7 (est)
Registered electors 8,364
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1870s

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General election 1874: Mid Somerset[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ralph Neville-Grenville Unopposed
Conservative Richard Paget Unopposed
Registered electors 8,571
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Neville-Grenville resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 19 Mar 1878: Mid Somerset[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Gore-Langton Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

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General election 1880: Mid Somerset[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Gore-Langton Unopposed
Conservative Richard Paget Unopposed
Registered electors 8,470
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Gore-Langton resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 4 Mar 1885: Mid Somerset[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Wingfield Digby Unopposed
Conservative hold

References

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  1. ^ "Parliamentary representation". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Somerset Mid 1868-1885". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Mid Somerset". Hansard. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 452. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  5. ^ "The Liberal Candidates for Mid-Somerset". Western Gazette. 30 October 1868. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 17 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Mid Somerset Election". Western Gazette. 25 December 1868. p. 4. Retrieved 17 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.