Reading | |
Parliament: | uk |
Year: | 1295 |
Abolished: | 1950 |
Type: | Borough |
Elects Howmany: | Two until 1885, then one until 1950 |
Year2: | 1955 |
Abolished2: | 1974 |
Elects Howmany2: | One |
Type2: | Borough |
Region: | England |
County: | Berkshire |
Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950 and 1955 to 1974. Until 1885, the constituency comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire; after 1885, it was centred on the town but the exact boundaries differed.
From 1295, as a parliamentary borough, Reading elected two members of parliament (MPs). Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, this representation was reduced to a single MP.
Reading was one of the boroughs summoned to send members to the Model Parliament. The boundaries (encompassing the whole of one parish and parts of two others) were effectively unchanged from 1295 to 1918. In 1831, the population of the borough was 15,935, and contained 3,307 houses.
The right to vote was exercised by all inhabitants paying scot and lot, a relatively wide franchise for the period, and almost 2,000 votes were cast at the general election of 1826. Despite this high electorate, the corporation of the town was generally considered in practice to control elections to a large extent. In the second half of the 18th century, Reading was notoriously one of the most corrupt constituencies in England, bribery being both routine and expensive: Namier quotes the accounts kept for Prime Minister Newcastle of the 1754 election, which note that John Dodd, the government's candidate there, had already received £1000 and was promised £500 or £600 more to help him win the seat.[1] (Dodd lost by one vote, but had the result overturned on petition by a partisan vote in the House of Commons, and Newcastle's accounts show a continuing trickle of funds to him to nurse the constituency over the next few years.) A few years later, the nomination to one of Reading's seats was advertised for sale in a London newspaper, though Reading was not mentioned by name and no price was specified; the newspaper's printers were charged by the Commons with a breach of privilege, but the sale of seats remained legal if frowned-upon until 1809.
The Great Reform Act left Reading's representation and boundaries unchanged, and the reformed franchise far from increasing its electorate seems to have reduced it: it was estimated that there were 1,250 voters in 1831, but only 1,001 were registered for the first post-Reform election, that of 1832.The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, coming into effect at the 1885 general election, reduced the representation of the parliamentary borough to a single MP. The single-member Reading constituency continued to exist until it was split in 1950 into the separate constituencies of Reading North and Reading South. These two constituencies were merged back into a single Reading constituency in 1955, but again split apart in 1974; despite its name, the 1955 constituency did not contain the whole of the County Borough of Reading, with one ward being included in both of the Newbury and Wokingham seats.
After 1885, the constituency was marginal, regularly changing hands between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party up to 1918, then between the Conservatives and Labour.
Today the area formerly covered by the Reading constituency is within the constituencies of Reading East and Reading West, which will be replaced by the constituencies of Reading Central, Reading West and Mid Berkshire, and Earley and Woodley at the 2024 general election.
Minor expansion - see map on Vision of Britain website.[3]
Boundaries extended to the south and west (gained from the Newbury and Wokingham Divisions), and to the north of the River Thames with the annexation of the Urban District of Caversham (part of the Henley Division of Oxfordshire) by Reading County Borough.
For the 1950 general election, Reading was abolished as a single-member Parliamentary borough and split between the two new borough constituencies of Reading North and Reading South.
For the 1955 general election, Reading was re-established, replacing Reading North and Reading South and comprising:
The East and Tilehurst wards were included in the Wokingham and Newbury constituencies respectively.
From the 1964 general election, a revision to the County Borough wards resulted in minor changes. The constituency now comprised:
The constituency was abolished once again for the 1974 general election. The Christchurch, Redlands and Whitley wards were included in the re-established constituency of Reading South, with remaining wards being included in Reading North.
Parliament | First member | Second member | |
---|---|---|---|
1369 | William Catour[5] | ||
1371 | William Catour | ||
1378 | David atte Hacche[6] | ||
1385 | John Doublet[7] | ||
1386 | William Stapper | Robert atte Lee[8] | |
1388 (Feb) | David atte Hacche | Richard Bedull | |
1388 (Sep) | John Balet | Nicholas Vachell | |
1390 (Jan) | John Kent | Robert Capellade | |
1390 (Nov) | |||
1391 | Henry Barbour | John Doublet | |
1393 | William Catour | David atte Hacche | |
1394 | William Saville | William Tho... | |
1395 | William Shortwade | John Ede | |
1397 (Jan) | John White | Richard Pernecote | |
1397 (Sep) | Thomas Selham | Robert Godewyn | |
1399 | Roger Hay | John Hunt | |
1401 | |||
1402 | |||
1404 (Jan) | John Kent | William Derby | |
1404 (Oct) | |||
1406 | John Hunt | Philip Richard | |
1407 | John Merehan | William Kenelme | |
1410 | John White | Alexander Colshull | |
1411 | |||
1413 (Feb) | |||
1413 (May) | Richard Farle | ||
1414 (Apr) | John Hastyng | John Clerk | |
1414 (Nov) | Stephen Stapper | John Pernecote | |
1415 | |||
1416 (Mar) | Walter Mustard | Thomas Lavyngton 1 | |
1416 (Oct) | |||
1417 | Alexander Colshull | Thomas Lavyngton | |
1419 | Robert Morys | Richard Cross | |
1420 | Thomas Lavyngton | John Veyr | |
1421 (May) | Thomas Lavyngton | Simon Porter alias Kent | |
1421 (Dec) | John Hunt | William Kyng | |
1422 | Simon Porter alias Kent[9] | ||
1425 | |||
1432 | |||
1433 | |||
1435 | |||
1437 | |||
1447 | |||
1449 (Feb) | |||
1449 (Nov) | |||
1510 | Richard Cleche | William Justice[10] | |
1512 | William Gifford | Richard Smith | |
1515 | Edmund Knightley | John Pownsar | |
1523 | Nicholas Hyde | William Edmonds | |
1529 | Thomas Vachell I | John Raymond | |
1536 | Thomas Vachell I | John Raymond | |
1539 | ?Thomas Vachell I | ?John Raymond | |
1542 | Thomas Vachell I | Richard Justice | |
1545 | Thomas Vachell I | Roger Amyce | |
1547 | William Grey, died May 1551 repl. 1552 by Sir John Mason | John Marshe | |
1553 (Mar) | John Bourne | John Winchcombe | |
1553 (Oct) | Thomas Vachell I | John Bell | |
1554 (Apr) | Robert Bowyer III | John Lovelace | |
1554 (Nov) | John Bourne | Edmund Plowden | |
1555 | Thomas Vachell II | John Bell | |
1558 | Thomas Aldworth | John Bell | |
1558–9 | Thomas Aldworth | Thomas Turner[11] | |
1562–3 | Henry Knollys | Robert Rowbotham | |
1571 | Henry Knollys | John Hastings | |
1572 | Francis Alford | ||
1584 | Robert Harris | ||
1586 | Robert Harris | ||
1588 | Robert Harris | ||
1593 | Humphrey Donatt | Charles Wednester | |
1597 | Francis Moore | ||
1601 | Anthony Blagrave | ||
1604 | Francis Moore | Jerome Bowes | |
1614 | Francis Moore | Robert Knollys | |
1621–1622 | John Saunders | ||
1624 | John Saunders | ||
1625 | John Saunders | ||
1626 | John Saunders | ||
1628 | John Saunders | ||
1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned |
Election | Member | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1885 | Charles Townshend Murdoch | Conservative | ||
1892 | George William Palmer | Liberal | ||
1895 | Charles Townshend Murdoch | Conservative | ||
1898 by-election | George William Palmer | Liberal | ||
1904 by-election | Rufus Isaacs | Liberal | ||
1913 by-election | Leslie Orme Wilson | Conservative | ||
1922 | Edward Cadogan | Conservative | ||
1923 | Somerville Hastings | Labour | ||
1924 | Herbert Williams | Conservative | ||
1929 | Somerville Hastings | Labour | ||
1931 | Alfred Howitt | Conservative | ||
1945 | Ian Mikardo | Labour | ||
1950 | Constituency divided into Reading North and Reading South |
Election | Member | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1955 | Constituency recreated | |||
1955 | Ian Mikardo | Labour | ||
1959 | Peter Emery | Conservative | ||
1966 | John Lee | Labour | ||
1970 | Gerard Vaughan | Conservative | ||
Feb 1974 | Constituency redivided into Reading North and Reading South |
Talfourd resigned after being appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, causing a by-election.
Keating was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.
Keating was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.
Keating resigned after being appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, causing a by-election.
Pigott resigned after being appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, causing a by-election.
Pigott resigned after being appointed a Judge of the Court of the Exchequer, causing a by-election.
Shaw-Lefevre was appointed a Civil Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.
Goldsmid's death caused a by-election.
Lefevre was appointed First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings, requiring a by-election.
Murdoch's death caused a by-election.
Isaacs is appointed Solicitor General of England and Wales, requiring a by-election.
Issacs is appointed Lord Chief Justice of England and is elevated to the peerage as Lord Reading, requiring a by-election.
A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the summer of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.
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;