Grantham (UK Parliament constituency)

Grantham was a Parliamentary constituency in Lincolnshire, England.

Grantham
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	Lincolnshire
Major settlements	Grantham
1918–1997
Seats	One
Replaced by	Sleaford & North Hykeham, and Grantham & Stamford
1885–1918
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
1468–1885
Seats	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

The constituency was created in 1468 as a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until the union with Scotland, and then to the Parliament of Great Britain until the Act of Union 1800 established the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The parliamentary borough had its representation reduced to one MP in 1885, and was finally abolished in 1918, the name transferring to a new county division which elected one MP. The county constituency was abolished for the 1997 election, and the area formerly covered by this constituency is now mostly in Sleaford and North Hykeham. Grantham became part of the new constituency of Grantham and Stamford.

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies proposes to re-establish the seat in its revised proposal.^[1]

Boundaries

The constituency was based on Grantham, a market town on the River Witham.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1468–1640

Year	First member	Second member
1491	John Mordaunt
1510–1523	No names known [2]
1529	William Hussey	Francis Hall[2]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Sir Edward Warner	Edmund Hall[2]
1547
1553 (Mar)		Thomas Hussey[2]
1553 (Oct)		James Wallis[2]
1554 (Apr)	Thomas Hussey	Richard Disney[2]
1554 (Nov)	Roger Johnson	Richard Sharpe[2]
1555	George Williams	William Porter[2]
1558	Henry Savile	Anthony Thorold[2]
1559 (Jan)	Thomas Randolph	William More[3]
1562–3	Roger Manners	William Cooke[3]
1571	William Killigrew	Arthur Hall[3]
1572	John Vaughan	Arthur Hall[3][4]
1584 (Nov)	Arthur Hall	William Thorold[3]
1586 (Oct)	Sir Henry Bagenall, sat for Anglesey, repl. by William Ashby	Robert Markham[3]
1588–9	Richard More	William Armyn[3]
1593	Thomas Horsman	Francis Neale[3]
1597 (Oct)
1601 (Oct)	Oliver Manners	Thomas Horsman[3]
1604	Sir George Manners	Sir Thomas Horsman
1614	Sir George Reynell	Richard Tufton
1621	Sir William Armyne	Sir Clement Cotterell
1624	Sir George Manners
1625		Sir William Airmine
1626	John Wingfield	Edward Stirmin
1628–1629	Thomas Hatcher	Alexander Moor

MPs 1640–1885

Election			First Member[5]	First Party	Second Member[5]	Second Party
		April 1640	Sir Edward Bashe		Henry Pelham
		November 1640	Thomas Hussey	Royalist	Henry Pelham	Parliamentarian
		1641	Sir William Airmine	Parliamentarian
		December 1648			Pelham excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
		1653	Grantham was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
		1654	William Bury		Grantham had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
		1656	William Ellys
		January 1659	Thomas Skipwith		Sir William Ellys
		May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
		April 1660	Thomas Skipwith		Sir John Newton
		1661	Sir William Thorold
		1678	Sir Robert Markham
		1679	Sir William Ellys
		1685	Thomas Harrington		John Thorold
		1689	Sir John Brownlow		Sir William Ellys
		1697	Sir John Thorold
		Jan. 1701	Thomas Baptist Manners
		Nov. 1701	Richard Ellys
		1705	Marquess of Granby
		1711	Sir John Thorold
		1713			Sir John Brownlow
		1715	Edward Rolt		John Heathcote
		1722	Francis Fisher		The Viscount Tyrconnel
		1727	Sir Michael Newton
		1741			Marquess of Granby
		1743	Sir John Cust
		1754			Lord George Manners
		1770	Francis Cust
		1774	Sir Brownlow Cust
		1776	Peregrine Cust
		1780	Francis Cockayne-Cust		George Manners-Sutton	Tory[6]
		1792	Philip Yorke
		1793	Simon Yorke	Tory[6]
		1802	Thomas Thoroton		Sir William Earle Welby, Bt
		1806			Russell Manners	Whig[6]
		1807			Sir William Earle Welby, Bt	Tory[6]
		1812	Robert Percy Smith
		1818	Edward Cust	Tory[6]
		March 1820			James Hughes	Whig[6]
	July 1820	Sir Montague Cholmeley, 1st Bt	Whig[6]
		1826	Frederick Tollemache	Tory[6]	Montague Cholmeley	Whig[6]
		1830	Glynne Welby
		1831			James Hughes
		1832			Hon. Algernon Tollemache	Tory[6]
		1834		Conservative[6]		Conservative[6]
		1837			Hon. Frederick Tollemache
		1852			Lord Montagu Graham	Conservative
		1857	William Welby	Conservative	Hon. Frederick Tollemache	Peelite[7][8][9]
		1859				Liberal
		1865			John Thorold	Conservative
		1868 by-election	Edmund Turnor
		1868	Sir Hugh Cholmeley, Bt	Liberal	Hon. Frederick Tollemache	Liberal
		1874			Henry Cockayne-Cust	Conservative
		1880	John William Mellor		Charles Savile Roundell	Liberal
		1885	representation reduced to one member

MPs 1885–1997

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1885	John William Mellor	Liberal
	1886	Malcolm Low	Conservative
	1892	Henry Lopes
	1900	Arthur Priestley	Liberal
	1918	Edmund Royds	Coalition Conservative
	1922	Robert Pattinson	Liberal
	1923	Victor Warrender	Conservative
	1942 by-election	Denis Kendall	Independent
	1950	Eric Smith	Conservative
	1951	Joseph Godber
	1979	Douglas Hogg
	1997	constituency abolished: see Grantham and Stamford

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Grantham (2 seats)^[6][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Glynne Welby	547	39.0
	Whig	Montague Cholmeley	469	33.5
	Tory	Frederick Tollemache	385	27.5
Turnout			864	c. 86.4
Registered electors			c. 1,000
Majority			78	5.5
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			84	6.0
	Whig hold		Swing

General election 1831: Grantham (2 seats)^[6][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Glynne Welby	426	28.5	−10.5
	Whig	James Hughes	408	27.3	−6.2
	Tory	Algernon Tollemache	378	25.3	N/A
	Tory	Felix Tollemache	283	18.9	N/A
Turnout			842	c. 84.2	c. −2.2
Registered electors			c. 1,000
Majority			18	1.2	−4.3
	Tory hold
Majority			30	2.0	−4.0
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Grantham (2 seats)^[6][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Algernon Tollemache	388	41.6	+16.3
	Tory	Glynne Welby	303	32.5	+4.0
	Whig	Montague Cholmeley	241	25.9	−1.4
Majority			62	6.6	+5.4
Turnout			650	93.1	c. +8.9
Registered electors			698
	Tory hold		Swing	+8.5
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	+2.4

General election 1835: Grantham (2 seats)^[6][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Algernon Tollemache	351	41.2	−0.4
	Conservative	Glynne Welby	351	41.2	+8.7
	Whig	George Frederick Holt[12]	149	17.5	−8.4
Majority			202	23.7	+17.1
Turnout			559	83.8	−9.3
Registered electors			667
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.5

General election 1837: Grantham (2 seats)^[6][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Glynne Welby	398	39.9	−1.3
	Conservative	Frederick Tollemache	308	30.9	−10.3
	Whig	Robert Turner	291	29.2	+11.7
Majority			17	1.7	−22.0
Turnout			582	87.0	+3.2
Registered electors			669
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.1

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Glynne Welby	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Tollemache	Unopposed
Registered electors			691
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Glynne Welby	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Tollemache	Unopposed
Registered electors			760
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Glynne Welby	483	40.7	N/A
	Conservative	Montagu Graham	375	31.6	N/A
	Peelite	Frederick Tollemache[13][14]	329	27.7	N/A
Majority			46	3.9	N/A
Turnout			594 (est)	76.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			774
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Welby	472	40.2	−0.5
	Peelite	Frederick Tollemache	393	33.5	+5.8
	Conservative	Montagu Graham	308	26.3	−5.3
Turnout			587 (est)	79.3 (est)	+2.6
Registered electors			740
Majority			79	6.7	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.7
Majority			85	7.2	N/A
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.8

General election 1859: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Welby	Unopposed
	Liberal	Frederick Tollemache	Unopposed
Registered electors			743
	Conservative hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Thorold	432	37.5	N/A
	Conservative	William Welby	404	35.1	N/A
	Liberal	Frederick Tollemache	315	27.4	N/A
Majority			89	7.7	N/A
Turnout			733 (est)	97.1 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			755
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Welby resigned in order to contest the 1868 by-election in South Lincolnshire, causing a by-election.

By-election, 27 April 1868: Grantham (1 seat)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edmund Turnor	374	55.6	−17.0
	Liberal	Hugh Cholmeley	299	44.4	+17.0
Majority			75	11.2	+3.5
Turnout			673	89.1	−8.0
Registered electors			755
	Conservative hold		Swing	−17.0

General election 1868: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Tollemache	Unopposed
	Liberal	Hugh Cholmeley	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,018
	Liberal hold
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Cholmeley	1,055	36.1	N/A
	Conservative	Henry Cockayne-Cust	965	33.1	New
	Liberal	John William Mellor	899	30.8	N/A
Turnout			1,942 (est)	88.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			2,199
Majority			90	3.0	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			66	2.3	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Grantham (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Mellor	1,329	30.3	−0.5
	Liberal	Charles Savile Roundell	1,304	29.8	−6.3
	Conservative	Henry Cockayne-Cust	915	20.9	+4.3
	Conservative	Charles Brinsley Marlay[15]	835	19.1	+2.5
Majority			389	8.9	+5.9
Turnout			2,192 (est)	91.7 (est)	+3.4
Registered electors			2,390
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.4
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	−2.4

General election 1885: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Mellor	1,377	54.9	−5.2
	Conservative	Alfred Welby	1,131	45.1	+5.1
Majority			246	9.8	+0.9
Turnout			2,508	87.0	−4.7 (est)
Registered electors			2,883
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.1

Mellor was appointed Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces, requiring a by-election.

1886 Grantham by-election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Mellor	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1886: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Low	1,197	50.8	+5.7
	Liberal	John William Mellor	1,161	49.2	−5.7
Majority			36	1.6	N/A
Turnout			2,358	81.8	−5.2
Registered electors			2,883
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.7

Elections in the 1890s

Henry Lopes

General election 1892: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Lopes	1,296	50.6	−0.2
	Liberal	Thomas Chatfeild Clarke[17]	1,263	49.4	+0.2
Majority			33	1.2	−0.4
Turnout			2,559	95.0	+13.2
Registered electors			2,693
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.2

Samuel Waddy

General election 1895: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Lopes	1,507	56.4	+5.8
	Liberal	Samuel Danks Waddy	1,167	43.6	−5.8
Majority			340	12.8	+11.6
Turnout			2,674	92.3	−2.7
Registered electors			2,896
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.8

Elections in the 1900s

Priestley

General election 1900: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Priestley	1,347	50.7	+7.1
	Conservative	Henry Lopes	1,309	49.3	−7.1
Majority			38	1.4	N/A
Turnout			2,656	87.2	−5.1
Registered electors			3,046
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.1

General election 1906: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Priestley	1,663	51.7	+1.0
	Conservative	Henry Brassey	1,554	48.3	−1.0
Majority			109	3.4	+2.0
Turnout			3,217	95.1	+7.9
Registered electors			3,383
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.0

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Priestley	1,848	52.0	+0.3
	Conservative	Geoffrey Henry Julian Skeffington Smyth	1,703	48.0	−0.3
Majority			145	4.0	+0.6
Turnout			3,551	97.4	+2.3
Registered electors			3,647
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3

General election December 1910: Grantham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Priestley	1,730	50.5	−1.5
	Conservative	Herbert Guy Snowden	1,697	49.5	+1.5
Majority			33	1.0	−3.0
Turnout			3,427	94.0	−3.4
Registered electors			3,647
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.5

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Ernest Bennett
• Unionist: Herbert Guy Snowden

General election 1918: Grantham^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Edmund Royds	9,972	48.4	−1.1
	Liberal	Robert Pattinson	8,701	42.2	−8.3
	Independent Labour and Agriculturalist	William Bilton Harris	1,927	9.4	New
Majority			1,271	6.2	N/A
Turnout			20,600	58.1	−35.9
Registered electors			35,462
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.6
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Grantham^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Pattinson	11,723	41.4	−0.8
	Unionist	Edmund Royds	11,295	39.8	−8.6
	Labour	John Henry Jones	5,332	18.8	New
Majority			428	1.6	N/A
Turnout			28,350	79.5	+21.4
Registered electors			35,655
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+3.9

General election 1923: Grantham ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Victor Warrender	12,552	43.5	+3.7
	Liberal	Robert Pattinson	10,819	37.6	−3.8
	Labour	Montague William Moore	5,440	18.9	+0.1
Majority			1,733	5.9	N/A
Turnout			28,811	79.1	−0.4
Registered electors			36,444
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.8

General election 1924: Grantham^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Victor Warrender	14,746	49.5	+6.0
	Liberal	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	7,730	26.0	−11.6
	Labour	Montague William Moore	7,279	24.5	+5.6
Majority			7,016	23.5	+17.6
Turnout			29,755	80.4	+1.3
Registered electors			37,021
	Unionist hold		Swing	+8.8

General election 1929: Grantham ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Victor Warrender	16,121	40.8	−8.7
	Liberal	R Hamilton Brown	12,023	30.4	+4.4
	Labour	Montague William Moore	11,340	28.7	+4.2
Majority			4,098	10.4	−13.1
Turnout			39,484	81.9	+1.5
Registered electors			48,216
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Grantham^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Victor Warrender	27,164	69.2	+28.4
	Labour	Montague William Moore	12,115	30.8	+2.1
Majority			15,049	38.4	+28.0
Turnout			39,279	79.5	−2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Grantham^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Victor Warrender	22,194	58.1	−11.1
	Labour	Montague William Moore	16,009	41.9	+11.1
Majority			6,185	16.2	−22.2
Turnout			38,203	74.2	−5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Victor Warrender
• Labour: Montague William Moore^[20]

Elections in the 1940s

1942 Grantham by-election^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Denis Kendall	11,758	50.8	New
	Conservative	Arthur Longmore	11,391	49.2	−8.9
Majority			367	1.6	N/A
Turnout			23,149	42.6	−31.6
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1945: Grantham ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Denis Kendall	27,719	58.2	N/A
	Conservative	George Arthur Worth	12,206	25.6	−32.5
	Labour	Thomas Sansby Bavin	7,728	16.2	−25.7
Majority			15,513	32.6	N/A
Turnout			47,653	75.9	+1.7
	Independent hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Smith	19,195	41.33
	Labour	Albert Edward Millett	14,457	31.13
	Independent	Denis Kendall	12,792	27.54
Majority			4,738	10.20	N/A
Turnout			46,444
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

General election 1951: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	20,712	43.47
	Labour	Albert Edward Millett	18,540	38.91
	Liberal	Denis Kendall	8,396	17.62	New
Majority			2,172	4.56
Turnout			47,648
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	24,188	50.8	+7.3
	Labour	Woodrow Wyatt	21,813	45.8	+6.9
	Liberal	Reginald Clifford Gaul	1,624	3.4	−14.2
Majority			2,375	5.0	+0.4
Turnout			47,625
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Grantham ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	27,482	56.8	+6.0
	Labour	Thomas Skeffington-Lodge	20,867	43.2	−2.6
Majority			6,615	13.6	+8.6
Turnout			48,349	81.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Grantham ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	27,634	55.9	−0.9
	Labour	Peter Horton	21,770	44.1	+0.9
Majority			5,864	11.8	−1.8
Turnout			49,404	78.8	−3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	24,748	47.7	−8.2
	Labour	Mary Large	22,590	43.6	+0.5
	Liberal	David C. Howie	4,503	8.7	New
Majority			2,158	4.1	−7.7
Turnout			51,841	80.6	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	33,070	58.7	+11.0
	Labour	W. Frank Higgins	23,296	41.3	−2.3
Majority			9,774	17.4	+13.3
Turnout			56,366
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	31,910	50.44
	Labour	SM Smedley	20,567	32.51
	Independent Liberal	WT Bailey	10,781	17.04	New
Majority			11,343	17.93
Turnout			63,258	81.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Godber	27,738	47.66
	Labour	SM Smedley	19,708	33.86
	Liberal	WT Bailey	10,752	18.47
Majority			8,030	13.80
Turnout			58,198	74.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Grantham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Hogg	36,697	55.52
	Labour	V Bell	18,547	28.06
	Liberal	WT Bailey	10,852	16.42
Majority			18,150	27.46
Turnout			66,096	78.24
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Grantham^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Hogg	31,692	57.47
	Liberal	Simon Titley	12,781	23.17
	Labour	Terence Savage	10,677	19.36
Majority			18,911	34.30
Turnout			55,150	73.49
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1987: Grantham^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Hogg	33,988	57.06
	Liberal	James Heppell	12,685	21.29
	Labour	Maurice Gent	12,197	20.48
	Green	Patricia Hewis	700	1.18	New
Majority			21,303	35.77
Turnout			59,570	74.99
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Grantham^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Hogg	37,194	56.2	−0.9
	Labour Co-op	Steven Taggart	17,606	26.6	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	James Heppell	9,882	14.9	−6.4
	Liberal	John D. Hiley	1,500	2.3	New
Majority			19,588	29.6	−6.2
Turnout			66,182	79.2	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.5

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire