Parliamentary representation from Westmorland

The historic county of Westmorland in north west England was represented in Parliament from the 13th century. This article provides a list of constituencies constituting the Parliamentary representation from Westmorland.

In 1889 an administrative county of Westmorland was created. In 1974 Westmorland was combined with Cumberland and northern Lancashire to form a new non-metropolitan county of Cumbria.

The first part of this article covers the constituencies wholly or predominantly within the area of the historic county of Westmorland, both before and after the administrative changes of 1974. The second part refers to constituencies mostly in another historic county, which included some territory from the historic county of Westmorland. The summaries section only refers to the constituencies included in the first section of the constituency list.

List of constituencies

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Article names are followed by (UK Parliament constituency). The constituencies which existed in 1707 were those previously represented in the Parliament of England.

Key to abbreviations:-

  • (Type) BC Borough constituency, CC County constituency.
  • (Administrative County in Notes) C shire county of Cumbria (from 1974); W historic/administrative county of Westmorland (to 1974), C2 shire county of Cumbria (from 1974).

Constituencies wholly or predominantly in the historic county

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Constituency Type From To MPs Notes
Appleby BC 1295 1832 2 W: Unrepresented 1654–1659; also called Westmorland North 1885-1918
CC 1885 1918 1
Kendal BC 1832 1885 1 W: also called Westmorland South 1885-1918
CC 1885 1918 1
Westmorland CC 1290 1885 2 W, C
1918 1983 1
Westmorland and Lonsdale CC 1983 * 1 C: Partly in the historic county of Lancashire

Constituencies mostly in another historic county

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Constituency Type From To MPs Notes
Penrith and The Border CC 1950 * 1 C: From 1983 mostly in Cumberland but partly in Westmorland

Periods constituencies represented

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  1290–1295 1295–1654 1654–1659 1659–1832 1832–1885 1885–1918 1918–1983 1983–*
Appleby   1295–1654   1659–1832   1885–1918  
Kendal   1832–1885 1885–1918  
Penrith and The Border   1983–*
Westmorland 1290–1885   1918–1983  
Westmorland and Lonsdale   1983–*

Summaries

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Summary of Constituencies by Type and Period

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Type 1290 1295 1654 1658 1832 1885 1918
Borough - 1 - 1 1 - -
County 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
Total 1 2 1 2 2 2 1

Summary of Members of Parliament by Type and Period

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Type 1290 1295 1654 1658 1832 1885 1918
Borough - 2 - 2 1 - -
County 2 2 2 2 2 2 1
Total 2 4 2 4 3 2 1

See also

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References

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  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
  • The House of Commons 1509-1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
  • The House of Commons 1558-1603, by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981)
  • The House of Commons 1660-1690, by Basil Duke Henning (Secker & Warburg 1983)
  • The House of Commons 1715-1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
  • The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
  • The House of Commons 1790-1820, by R.G. Thorne (Secker & Warburg 1986)
  • The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) out of copyright