Westmorland (UK Parliament constituency)

Westmorland was a constituency covering the county of Westmorland in the North of England, which returned Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency had two separate periods of existence.


 * Until 1885
 * It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. For the string of elections from 1885 general election it split in two: Appleby and Kendal, both of which had been parliamentary boroughs but were reconstituted as county constituencies.


 * 1918–1983
 * The constituency was recreated as a single-seater for the 1918 general election and abolished for the 1983 general election.

In the boundary changes in 1983 the southern part of the constituency became part of the new seat of Westmorland and Lonsdale and the northern area was transferred to Penrith and The Border

Boundaries
The 1918 – 1983 seat corresponded to the county of Westmorland even after the abolition of the administrative county in 1974.

Members of Parliament

 * Constituency created (1290)

Election results 1290–1885
Election results taken from the History of Parliament Trust series.

Elections in the 18th century

 * Lowther appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in Ireland

Elections in the 1840s
William Lowther was appointed Postmaster General of the United Kingdom and called to the House of Lords as Baron Lowther, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s
Thompson's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s
Lowther's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s
Taylour succeeded to the peerage, becoming Marquess of Headfort and causing a by-election at which his son was elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1930s
General Election 1939/40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
 * Conservative: Oliver Stanley
 * Labour: R S Armstrong
 * Liberal: Geoffrey Acland