Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)

Stamford was a constituency in the county of Lincolnshire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1868 when this was reduced to one.

Stamford
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1295–1885
Seats	one
Created from	Lincolnshire
Replaced by	Stamford
Seats	two (until 1868), one (1868–1885)

Stamford (or South Kesteven) division of Lincolnshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	Stamford
Replaced by	Rutland and Stamford

Boundaries

The parliamentary borough was based upon the town of Stamford in the Parts of Kesteven (a traditional sub-division of the county of Lincolnshire).

When the borough constituency was abolished in 1885, the Stamford (or South Kesteven) division of Lincolnshire was created. This included the town of Stamford and surrounding territory. The county division was a considerably larger constituency than the borough one had been.

From the 1885 general election until the dissolution before the 1918 election the constituency was surrounded by to the north Sleaford; to the east Spalding; to the south east Wisbech; to the south North Northamptonshire; to the south west Rutland; to the west Melton and to the north west Newark. The constituency of Grantham was an enclave wholly surrounded by Stamford.

History

The Victoria County History of the County of Lincoln includes some information about the representation of Stamford in early times.

Stamford, on the other hand, which had sent Nicholas de Burton and Clement de Melton to the Parliament of 1295, only exercised what its burghers probably regarded as an onerous privilege once in the reign of Edward II when in 1322 it elected Eustace Malherbe and Hugh de Thurleby.

A further paragraph relates the position before and after the borough began to send representatives regularly in 1467.

Stamford for some 150 years after the reign of Edward II apparently forbore to exercise its onerous privilege of returning members. In the seventeenth century it was afflicted with the usual controversy prevalent in small communities as to where the right of election lay, and the Committee of Privileges reported in 1661 'That the right of election was in such freemen only as paid scot and lot'.

Sedgwick explained in The House of Commons 1715-1754 that before 1727 the Bertie and Cecil families each nominated one member. From 1727 the Cecil interest controlled both seats. An attempt was made by Savile Cust in 1734 to establish an electoral interest in the borough,^[1] but when this failed the Cecils were left with a secure pocket borough.

Namier and Brooke in The House of Commons 1754-1790 confirmed that before the Reform Act 1832 the right of election was in the inhabitants of the parliamentary borough paying scot and lot, a local tax. They estimated the number of voters at about 500 (unchanged from Sedgwick's estimate for the earlier part of the century). In 1754–1790, despite the comparatively large electorate, the constituency was under the control of the Earl of Exeter (the head of the senior branch of the House of Cecil) and elections were uncontested formalities.

The Reform Act replaced the scot and lot franchise with an occupation franchise, which slightly reduced the size of the electorate. This was because the value of the property occupation of which conferred a vote, was higher than that for houses upon which scot and lot became payable.

The area was strongly Tory or Conservative in politics. From 1801 until 1918 it only twice elected an MP from other parties (a Whig in 1831 and a Liberal in 1880). Elections before the 1874 United Kingdom general election were usually uncontested.

The borough had some distinguished representatives in the 19th century. It returned two of the three members of the triumvirate which attempted to lead the protectionist Tories in the House of Commons. The Marquess of Granby had little to commend himself as a political leader, apart from the social prestige of being the heir to the Duke of Rutland. He was briefly sole leader in 1848 before the triumvirate was created in the following year and continued until his resignation in 1851. John Charles Herries had at least held senior ministerial office. Both the Stamford MPs were easily eclipsed by the rising star of their colleague Benjamin Disraeli.

A more significant historical figure was Lord Robert Cecil (Viscount Cranborne 1865–1868) who represented the borough between 1853 and 1868. As the Marquess of Salisbury he was the leading figure in the Conservative Party from the death of Disraeli in 1881 until he retired as Prime Minister in 1902.

Another leading Conservative with connections to the borough was Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt the party leader in the House of Commons 1876-1885 (from 1881 at the same time as Salisbury was leader in the House of Lords). Northcote was a Stamford MP from 1858 to 1866.

Under the Reform Act 1867 the borough electorate was expanded, but it lost one seat in Parliament from the 1868 United Kingdom general election.

The Representation of the People Act 1884 further expanded the electorate. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 abolished the borough constituency but created an expanded county division of the same name. These changes took effect with the 1885 United Kingdom general election.

Under the Representation of the People Act 1918 the electorate was again expanded, but the Stamford area was combined with the county of Rutland in a new Rutland and Stamford constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1322

• 1295: Nicholas de Burton, Clement de Melton
• 1322: Eustace Malherbe, Hugh de Thurleby

After this date no members were returned for a considerable period.

MPs 1467–1640

• 1543(?): William Cecil^{[note 1]}

Year	First member	Second member
1485	Christopher Browne[2]
1489	Christopher Browne[2]
1495	Christopher Browne[2]
1510	David Cecil	Francis Browne[3]
1512	David Cecil	William Hussey[3]
1515	David Cecil	George Kirkham[3]
1523	David Cecil	Maurice Johnson[3]
1529	John Hardgrave	Maurice Johnson[3]
1536	Henry Lacy	Maurice Johnson[3]
1539	Richard Cecil	Kenelm Digby[3]
1542	Henry Lacy	John Allen[3]
1545	Henry Lacy	Leonard Irby[3]
1547	William Cecil	John Allen[3]
1553 (Mar)	Richard Cooke	Robert Lacy[3]
1553 (Oct)	Thomas Heneage	John Allen[3]
1554 (Apr)	John Allen	Roland Durrant[3]
1554 (Nov)	John Fenton	Henry Lee [3][4]
1555	Francis Yaxley[5]	Francis Thorneff[3]
1558	Francis Thorneff	John Houghton[3]
1559	William Cooke	John Houghton[6]
1562–1563	Thomas Cecil	Francis Thorneff[6]
1571	Thomas Cecil	Michael Lewis[6]
1572	Thomas Cecil	Francis Harington[6]
1584	Robert Wingfield	George Lynne[6]
1586	William Cecil, Lord Burghley	Robert Wingfield[6]
1588–1589	William Cecil,Lord Burghley	Robert Wingfield
1593	Robert Wingfield	Richard Shute[6]
1597	Robert Wingfield	Thomas Balgaye[6][7]
1601	Robert Wingfield	Edward Watson[6]
1604	Sir Robert Wingfield	Henry Hall
1614	Richard Cecil	John Jay
1621	Sir Richard Cecil	John Wingfield
1624	Sir George Goring Goring, sat for Lewes and replaced by Edward Ayscough	John St Amand
1625	Montagu Bertie	John St Amand
1626	Montagu Bertie	Brian Palmes
1628–1629	Thomas Hatton	Sir Edward Bashe
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened

MPs 1640–1868

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		April 1640	Thomas Hatton		Thomas Hatcher
		November 1640	Geoffrey Palmer	Royalist	Thomas Hatcher	Parliamentarian
		September 1642	Palmer disabled to sit - seat vacant
		1645	John Weaver
		December 1648			Hatcher excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
		1653	Stamford was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
		1654	John Weaver		Stamford had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
		1656
		January 1659			Christopher Clapham
		May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
		April 1660	John Hatcher		Francis Wingfield
		1661	William Stafford		William Montagu
		1665	Hon. Peregrine Bertie	Tory
		1677			Henry Noel	Tory
		1678			Hon. Charles Bertie	Tory
		1679	Sir Richard Cust, Bt.		William Hyde
		1685	Hon. Peregrine Bertie	Tory	Hon. Charles Bertie
		1689	William Hyde
		1694	Hon. Philip Bertie
		1698	Hon. William Cecil
		1705	Charles Cecil
		1711			Charles Bertie	Tory
		March 1722	Hon. Brownlow Cecil
		October 1722	William Noel
		1727			Robert Shirley
		1734			John Proby
		June 1747	John Proby, junior[note 2]		Lord Burghley[note 3]
		December 1747			Robert Barbor	Non partisan
		1754	John Harvey-Thursby	Non partisan
		1761	John Chaplin	Non partisan	George Bridges Brudenell	Non partisan
		1765 by-election	George René Aufrère	Non partisan
		1768			Lieutenant-General (Sir) George Howard[note 4]	Non partisan
		1774	Henry Cecil	Non partisan
		1790	The Earl of Carysfort[note 5]	Non partisan
		1796 by-election			Lieutenant-General John Leland[note 6]	Tory[8]
		1801 by-election	Lieutenant-General Albemarle Bertie	Tory[8]
		1808 by-election			Evan Foulkes	Tory[8]
		1809 by-election	Charles Chaplin	Tory[8]
		1812	The Lord Henniker[note 5]	Tory[8]
		1818	Lord Thomas Cecil	Tory[8]	Captain the Hon. William Percy	Tory[8]
		1826			Thomas Chaplin	Tory[8]
		1831			Charles Tennyson	Whig[8]
		1832	Thomas Chaplin	Tory[8]	George Finch	Tory[8]
		1834		Conservative[8]		Conservative[8]
		1837			Marquess of Granby	Conservative[8]
		1838 by-election	Sir George Clerk, Bt	Conservative[8]
		1847	Rt Hon. John Charles Herries	Conservative
		1852			Sir Frederic Thesiger	Conservative
		1853 by-election	Lord Robert Cecil[note 7]	Conservative
		March 1858 by-election			John Inglis	Conservative
		July 1858 by-election			Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt	Conservative
		1866 by-election			Sir John Dalrymple-Hay, Bt	Conservative
		May 1868 by-election	Viscount Ingestre	Conservative
		June 1868 by-election	William Unwin Heygate	Conservative
		1868	Reform Act 1867: Constituency reduced to one seat.

MPs 1868–1918

Election		Member	Party
	1868	Sir John Dalrymple-Hay, Bt	Conservative
	1880	Marston Clarke Buszard	Liberal
1885: Borough constituency abolished. Name transferred to county division.
	1885	John Lawrance	Conservative
	1890 by-election	Henry Cust	Conservative
	1895	William Younger	Conservative
	1906	Lord John Joicey-Cecil	Conservative
	1910	Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	Conservative
	1918	Constituency abolished

Notes

1. Cecil's diary records that he was elected an MP in 1543, but the parliamentary records are incomplete. Neale has suggested that he was probably elected for Stamford, which was certainly his constituency from 1547
2. Created The Lord Carysfort (in the Peerage of Ireland, January 1752
3. Burghley was also elected for Rutland, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Stamford
4. Knighted (KB), 1774; General from 1777, Field Marshal from 1793
5. In the Peerage of Ireland
6. Later a General
7. Styled Viscount Cranborne from 1865

Election notes

The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.

Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Namier and Brooke 1754–1790, Stooks Smith 1790-1832 and Craig from the 1832 United Kingdom general election. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information or differs from the other sources this is indicated in a note after the result.

Elections before 1715

Dates of parliaments 1660–1715

Summoned	Elected	Opened	Dismissed
16 March 1660	1660	25 April 1660	29 December 1660
18 February 1661	1661	8 May 1661	24 January 1679
25 January 1679	1679	6 March 1679	12 July 1679
24 July 1679	1679–1680	21 October 1680	18 January 1681
20 January 1681	1681	21 March 1681	28 March 1681
14 February 1685	1685	19 May 1685	2 July 1687
29 December 1688	1688–1689	22 January 1689	6 February 1690
6 February 1690	1690	20 March 1690	11 October 1695
12 October 1695	1695	22 November 1695	6 July 1698
13 July 1698	1698	24 August 1698	19 December 1700
26 December 1700	1700–1701	6 February 1701	11 November 1701
3 November 1701	1701	30 December 1701	2 July 1702
2 July 1702	1702	20 August 1702	5 April 1705
1705	7 May – 6 June 1705	14 June 1705	see Note
1707	see Note	23 October 1707	3 April 1708
1708	30 April – 7 July 1708	8 July 1708	21 September 1710
1710	2 October – 16 November 1710	25 November 1710	8 August 1713
1713	22 August – 12 November 1713	12 November 1713	15 January 1715

Note:-

• The MPs of the Parliament of England (elected 1705) and 45 members co-opted from the former Parliament of Scotland, became the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain in 1707.

Election results 1715–1800

1710s – 1720s – 1730s – 1740s – 1750s – 1760s – 1770s – 1780s – 1790s

Elections in the 1710s

General election 2 February 1715: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Charles Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Charles Bertie	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1720s

General election 24 March 1722: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Brownlow Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Charles Bertie	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

• Succession of Cecil as 8th Earl of Exeter

By-election 24 October 1722: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	William Noel	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing	N/A

General election 19 August 1727: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	William Noel	Elected	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Robert Shirley	Elected	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Charles Bertie	Defeated	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1730s

General election 25 April 1734: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	William Noel	339	32.60	N/A
	Nonpartisan	John Proby	316	30.38	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Savile Cust	205	19.71	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Thomas Fonnereau	180	17.31	N/A
Turnout			1,040	N/A	N/A

• Seat vacated when Noel was appointed to an office

By-election 13 February 1738: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	William Noel	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1740s

General election 6 May 1741: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	William Noel	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	John Proby	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 29 June 1747: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Brownlow Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	John Proby	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

• Seat vacated when Burghley chose to sit for Rutland

By-election 8 December 1747: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Robert Barbor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1750s

General election 16 April 1754: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	John Harvey-Thursby	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Robert Barbor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1760s

General election 30 March 1761: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	John Chaplin	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	George Bridges Brudenell	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

• Death of Chaplin

By-election 21 January 1765: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George René Aufrère	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing	N/A

• Seat vacated on the appointment of Brudenell to an office

By-election 26 December 1765: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George Bridges Brudenell	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing	N/A

General election 19 March 1768: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George Howard	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	George René Aufrère	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1770s

General election 11 October 1774: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George Howard	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Henry Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1780s

General election 13 September 1780: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George Howard	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Henry Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1 April 1784: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George Howard	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Henry Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1790s

General election 1790: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George Howard	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	John Proby	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1796: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	George Howard	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	John Proby	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

• Death of Howard

By-election October 1796: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John Leland	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

Election results 1801–1918

1800s – 1810s – 1820s – 1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – 1890s – 1900s – 1910s

Elections in the 1800s

• Proby was raised to the peerage as Earl of Carysfort

By-Election 16 February 1801: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Albemarle Bertie	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1802: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John Leland	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Albemarle Bertie	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1806: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John Leland	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Albemarle Bertie	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1807: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John Leland	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Albemarle Bertie	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

• Death of Leland

By-election 30 January 1808: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Evan Foulkes	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold

• Succession of Bertie as the 9th Earl of Lindsey

By-election 27 February 1809: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Charles Chaplin	306	68.3	N/A
	Whig	Jephson Oddy	142	31.7	New
Majority			154	36.6	N/A
Turnout			448		N/A
	Tory hold

• Note (1809): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for two days

Elections in the 1810s

General election 1812: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Evan Foulkes	360	36.5	N/A
	Tory	John Henniker-Major	354	35.9	N/A
	Whig	Gerard Noel	272	27.6	N/A
Majority			82	8.3	N/A
Turnout			986 (626 voted)		N/A
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

Note (1812): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for two days

General election 1818: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Lord Thomas Cecil	328	49.1
	Tory	William Henry Percy	324	48.5
	Whig	Joseph Clayton Jennyns	12	1.8
	Whig	Thomas Best	4	0.6
Majority			312	46.7
Turnout			668 (336 voted)
	Tory hold		Swing
	Tory hold		Swing

Note (1818): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for one day

Elections in the 1820s

General election 1820: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Lord Thomas Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	William Henry Percy	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1826: Stamford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Lord Thomas Cecil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Thomas Chaplin	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Stamford (2 seats)^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Thomas Cecil	467	41.8
	Tory	Thomas Chaplin	335	30.0
	Whig	Charles Tennyson	314	28.1
Majority			21	1.9
Turnout			667	c. 86.6
Registered electors			c. 770
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

Note (1830): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for four days

General election 1831: Stamford (2 seats)^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Thomas Cecil	390	37.2	−4.6
	Whig	Charles Tennyson	356	34.0	+5.9
	Tory	Thomas Chaplin	302	28.8	−1.2
Turnout			666	c. 86.5	c. −0.1
Registered electors			c. 770
Majority			34	3.2	+1.3
	Tory hold		Swing	−3.8
Majority			54	5.2	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory

Note (1831): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for three days

General election 1832: Stamford (2 seats)^[8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Thomas Chaplin	526	40.9	+12.1
	Tory	George Finch	463	36.0	−1.2
	Whig	Arthur Francis Gregory[11]	296	23.0	−11.0
Majority			167	13.0	+9.8
Turnout			766	90.0	c. +3.5
Registered electors			851
	Tory hold		Swing	+7.5
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1835: Stamford (2 seats)^[8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Chaplin	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Finch	Unopposed
Registered electors			755
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Stamford (2 seats)^[8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Thomas Chaplin	201	50.0
	Conservative	Charles Manners	200	49.8
	Whig	Hercules Langford Rowley	1	0.2
Majority			200	49.6
Turnout			201	29.4
Registered electors			684
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Note (1837): Rowley retired before the poll.

• Resignation of Chaplin

By-election, 1 May 1838: Stamford^[8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Clerk	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Stamford (2 seats)^[10][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Clerk	Unopposed
	Conservative	Charles Manners	Unopposed
Registered electors			661
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

• Seat vacated on the appointment of Clerk as Master of the Mint

By-election, 10 February 1845: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Clerk	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Stamford (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Manners	349	40.0	N/A
	Conservative	John Charles Herries	288	33.0	N/A
	Conservative	John Rolt	236	27.0	N/A
Majority			52	6.0	N/A
Turnout			524	85.1	N/A
Registered electors			616
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Note (1847): Stooks Smith has a registered electorate figure of 613, but Craig's figure of 616 is used to calculate turnout.

Elections in the 1850s

• Seat vacated on the appointment of Herries as President of the Board of Control for India

By-election, 6 March 1852: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Herries	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1852: Stamford (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Herries	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederic Thesiger	Unopposed
Registered electors			566
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

• Resignation of Herries due to ill health^[12]

By-election, 22 August 1853: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Stamford (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederic Thesiger	Unopposed
Registered electors			529
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

• Seat vacated on the appointment of Thesiger as Lord Chancellor and his elevation to the peerage as the 1st Baron Chelmsford

By-election, 3 March 1858: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Inglis	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Seat vacated on the appointment of Inglis as Lord Justice Clerk with the Scottish judicial title of Lord Glencorse

By-election, 17 July 1858: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stafford Northcote	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Stamford (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative	Stafford Northcote	Unopposed
Registered electors			539
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

• Lord Robert Cecil became known by the courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne, following the death of his brother in 1865.

General election 1865: Stamford (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative	Stafford Northcote	Unopposed
Registered electors			512
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

• Resignation of Northcote to contest by-election in North Devon

By-election, 8 May 1866: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Dalrymple-Hay	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Seats vacated on the appointment of Cranborne as Secretary of State for India and Hay as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty.

By-election, 12 July 1866: Stamford (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Dalrymple-Hay	Unopposed
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

• Succession of Cranborne as the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

By-election, 4 May 1868: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Chetwynd-Talbot	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Succession of Ingestre as the 19th Earl of Shrewsbury

By-election, 24 June 1868: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Unwin Heygate	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Constituency electorate expanded and representation reduced to one seat, by the Reform Act 1867 with effect from the 1868 United Kingdom general election.

General election 1868: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Dalrymple-Hay	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,094
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Dalrymple-Hay	557	57.7	N/A
	Liberal	Marston Clarke Buszard	411	42.3	New
Majority			146	15.4	N/A
Turnout			968	81.8	N/A
Registered electors			1,183
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

Buszard

General election 1880: Stamford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Marston Clarke Buszard	601	52.2	+9.9
	Conservative	John Dalrymple-Hay	551	47.8	−9.9
Majority			50	4.4	N/A
Turnout			1,152	91.8	+10.0
Registered electors			1,255
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.7

• Electorate expanded by the Representation of the People Act 1884 and parliamentary borough abolished and replaced by a county division (under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885) with substantial boundary changes; with effect from the 1885 United Kingdom general election.

General election 1885: Stamford^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lawrance	4,647	56.9	+9.1
	Liberal	Joseph Stevens Cudlip	3,514	43.1	−9.1
Majority			1,133	13.8	N/A
Turnout			8,161	83.8	−8.0
Registered electors			9,741
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.1

General election 1886: Stamford^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lawrance	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

Lawrance resigned after being appointed a Judge of the Queen's Bench division of the High Court of Justice, causing a by-election.

By-election, 7 March 1890: Stamford^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Cust	4,236	51.7	N/A
	Liberal	Arthur Priestley	3,954	48.3	New
Majority			282	3.4	N/A
Turnout			8,190	77.8	N/A
Registered electors			10,526
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1892: Stamford^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Cust	4,150	50.8	N/A
	Liberal	Arthur Priestley	4,026	49.2	N/A
Majority			124	1.6	N/A
Turnout			8,176	84.0	N/A
Registered electors			9,733
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Stamford^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Younger	4,203	52.4	+1.6
	Liberal	Arthur Priestley	3,814	47.6	−1.6
Majority			389	4.8	+3.2
Turnout			8,017	83.0	−1.0
Registered electors			9,657
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in the 1900s

William Younger

General election 1900: Stamford^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Younger	4,292	55.8	+3.4
	Liberal	Lewis Haslam	3,395	44.2	−3.4
Majority			897	11.6	+6.8
Turnout			7,687	80.6	−1.4
Registered electors			9,534
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.4

General election 1906: Stamford^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Joicey-Cecil	4,559	53.2	−2.6
	Liberal	F. Percy Rawson	4,018	46.9	+2.7
Majority			541	6.3	−5.3
Turnout			8,577	87.7	+7.1
Registered electors			9,782
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	4,666	52.0	−1.2
	Liberal	George Henry Parkin	4,310	48.0	+1.1
Majority			356	4.0	−2.3
Turnout			8,976	89.3	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.2

General election December 1910: Stamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	4,545	51.9	−0.1
	Liberal	George Henry Parkin	4,206	48.1	+0.1
Majority			339	3.8	−0.2
Turnout			8,751	87.0	−2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.1

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:

• Unionist: Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
• Liberal: Frank Raffety^[14]

See also

• Stamford (UK Parliament list of constituencies)