The first Drake constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election. For most of this time it was held by the Conservative Party. It was a Labour gain in the Attlee landslide of 1945, although it had been held by Labour once before, in the 1929–31 Parliament.
The second incarnation of the constituency was created for the February 1974 general election. For the whole of its 23-year existence it was represented by just one MP, Dame Janet Fookes of the Conservative Party. It was always a marginal seat during this period, but Dame Janet managed to survive many strong challenges at each general election she fought, including winning with a majority of just 34 in October 1974 – making Drake the most marginal Conservative seat at that election. She served as a Deputy Speaker of the House to Betty Boothroyd from 1992 until she retired from the Commons in 1997.
The constituency was abolished for the 1997 general election, with its wards being transferred to the redrawn constituency of Plymouth Sutton, which was gained by the Labour Party in the Blair landslide of that year. Most of the territory of Drake is now covered by the constituency of Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.
Boundariesedit
1918–1950: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Drake, Mount Edgcumbe, Mutley, Pennycross, St Peter, Stoke, and Valletort.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, Honicknowle, Pennycross, Tamerton, Trelawny, and Whitleigh.
1983–1997: The City of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, St Peter, Stoke, Sutton, and Trelawny.
In its 1918 and 1983 incarnations the constituency included Plymouth city centre, which was transferred in 1997 to Plymouth Sutton and in 2010 to Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.
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;
^Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
^. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^. Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^. Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
April 12, 2024
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Plymouth Drake was a borough constituency in the city of Plymouth in Devon It elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system of election Plymouth DrakeFormer Borough constituencyfor the House of CommonsPlymouth Drake in Devon showing boundaries used from 1983 to 1997 CountyDevon1974 1974 1997SeatsOneCreated fromPlymouth Sutton and Plymouth DevonportReplaced byPlymouth Sutton1918 1950SeatsOneCreated fromPlymouthReplaced byPlymouth Sutton and Plymouth Devonport Contents 1 History 2 Boundaries 3 Members of Parliament 3 1 MPs 1918 1950 3 2 MPs 1974 1997 4 Election results 4 1 Elections in the 1910s 4 2 Elections in the 1920s 4 3 Elections in the 1930s 4 4 Elections in the 1940s 4 5 Elections in the 1970s 4 6 Elections in the 1980s 4 7 Elections in the 1990s 5 See also 6 Notes and referencesHistory editThe first Drake constituency was created for the 1918 general election and abolished for the 1950 general election For most of this time it was held by the Conservative Party It was a Labour gain in the Attlee landslide of 1945 although it had been held by Labour once before in the 1929 31 Parliament The second incarnation of the constituency was created for the February 1974 general election For the whole of its 23 year existence it was represented by just one MP Dame Janet Fookes of the Conservative Party It was always a marginal seat during this period but Dame Janet managed to survive many strong challenges at each general election she fought including winning with a majority of just 34 in October 1974 making Drake the most marginal Conservative seat at that election She served as a Deputy Speaker of the House to Betty Boothroyd from 1992 until she retired from the Commons in 1997 The constituency was abolished for the 1997 general election with its wards being transferred to the redrawn constituency of Plymouth Sutton which was gained by the Labour Party in the Blair landslide of that year Most of the territory of Drake is now covered by the constituency of Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Boundaries edit1918 1950 The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Drake Mount Edgcumbe Mutley Pennycross St Peter Stoke and Valletort 1974 1983 The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Compton Drake Honicknowle Pennycross Tamerton Trelawny and Whitleigh 1983 1997 The City of Plymouth wards of Compton Drake St Peter Stoke Sutton and Trelawny In its 1918 and 1983 incarnations the constituency included Plymouth city centre which was transferred in 1997 to Plymouth Sutton and in 2010 to Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Members of Parliament editMPs 1918 1950 edit Election Member 1 Party1918 Arthur Benn Conservative1929 James Moses Labour1931 Frederick Guest Conservative1937 by election Henry Guest Conservative1945 Hubert Medland Labour1950 constituency abolishedMPs 1974 1997 edit Election Member 1 PartyFeb 1974 Janet Fookes Conservative1997 constituency abolished see Plymouth SuttonElection results editElections in the 1910s edit nbsp Arthur BennGeneral election 1918 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes C Unionist Arthur Benn 17 188 73 4Liberal Thomas Dobson 6 225 26 6Majority 10 963 46 8Turnout 23 413Unionist win new seat C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government Elections in the 1920s edit General election 1922 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes Unionist Arthur Benn 11 698 43 9 29 5Labour James Gorman 8 359 31 4 NewLiberal Samuel John Robins 6 594 24 7 1 9Majority 3 339 12 5 34 3Turnout 26 651Unionist hold SwingGeneral election 1923 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes Unionist Arthur Benn 12 345 43 7 0 2Labour James Moses 11 849 41 9 10 5Liberal Edward Ernest Henry Atkin 4 082 14 4 10 3Majority 496 1 8 10 7Turnout 28 276 77 9Unionist hold Swing 5 3General election 1924 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes Unionist Arthur Benn 14 669 48 1 4 4Labour James Moses 12 161 39 9 2 0Liberal Solomon Stephens 3 645 12 0 2 4Majority 2 508 8 2 6 4Turnout 30 475Unionist hold SwingGeneral election 1929 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes Labour James Moses 16 684 44 3 4 4Unionist Arthur Benn 14 673 39 0 9 1Liberal Hugh MacDonald Pratt 6 309 16 7 4 7Majority 2 011 5 3 N ATurnout 37 666 80 5Labour gain from Unionist SwingElections in the 1930s edit General election 1931 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Frederick Guest 25 063 66 4 27 4Labour James Moses 12 669 33 6 10 7Majority 12 394 32 8 N ATurnout 37 732 79 6 0 9Conservative gain from Labour SwingGeneral election 1935 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Frederick Guest 21 446 58 3 8 1Labour James Moses 15 368 41 7 8 1Majority 6 078 16 5 16 3Turnout 36 814 74 8 4 8Conservative hold Swing1937 Plymouth Drake by election 2 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Henry Guest 15 778 58 82Labour Geoffrey Garratt 11 044 41 18Majority 4 734 17 64Turnout 26 822Conservative hold SwingElections in the 1940s edit 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 Henry Guest Labour Leonard Matters 3 General election 1945 Plymouth Drake 2 Party Candidate Votes Labour Hubert Medland 15 070 50 9 9 2Conservative Henry Guest 12 871 43 4 14 9Common Wealth Edgar John Trout 1 681 5 7 NewMajority 2 199 7 5 N ATurnout 29 622 71 6 3 2Labour gain from Conservative SwingElections in the 1970s edit General election February 1974 Plymouth Drake Party Candidate Votes Conservative Janet Fookes 18 417 42 82Labour FK Taylor 15 806 36 75Liberal ME Castle 8 784 20 42Majority 2 611 6 07Turnout 43 007 78 04Conservative win new seat General election October 1974 Plymouth Drake Party Candidate Votes Conservative Janet Fookes 17 287 41 26Labour BW Fletcher 17 253 41 18Liberal ME Castle 7 354 17 55Majority 34 0 08Turnout 41 894 75 41Conservative hold SwingGeneral election 1979 Plymouth Drake Party Candidate Votes Conservative Janet Fookes 21 759 50 60Labour BW Fletcher 17 515 40 73Liberal Anthony Puttick 3 452 8 03National Front C Bradbury 279 0 65 NewMajority 4 244 9 87Turnout 43 005 77 19Conservative hold SwingElections in the 1980s edit General election 1983 Plymouth Drake 4 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Janet Fookes 19 718 50 7SDP Will Fitzgerald 11 133 28 6Labour Sally Creswell 7 921 20 3BNP C Bradbury 163 0 4 NewMajority 8 585 22 1 12 2Turnout 38 935 74 3 2 9Conservative hold SwingGeneral election 1987 Plymouth Drake 5 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Janet Fookes 16 195 41 3 9 4SDP David Astor 13 070 33 3 4 9Labour David Jamieson 9 451 24 1 3 8Green Tracey Barber 493 1 3 NewMajority 3 125 8 0 14 1Turnout 39 209 76 6 2 3Conservative hold Swing 6 9Elections in the 1990s edit General election 1992 Plymouth Drake 6 7 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Janet Fookes 17 075 43 7 2 4Labour Co op Peter Telford 15 062 38 6 14 5Liberal Democrats VA Cox 5 893 15 1 18 2SDP DM Stanbury 476 1 2 N AGreen AE Harrison 441 1 1 0 2Natural Law TJ Pringle 95 0 2 NewMajority 2 013 5 2 2 8Turnout 39 042 75 6 1 0Conservative hold SwingSee also editList of parliamentary constituencies in DevonNotes and references edit a b Leigh Rayment s Historical List of MPs Constituencies beginning with D part 3 a b c d e f g h i British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 1949 FWS Craig Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party 1939 Election Data 1983 Electoral Calculus Archived from the original on 15 October 2011 Retrieved 28 June 2017 Election Data 1987 Electoral Calculus Archived from the original on 15 October 2011 Retrieved 28 June 2017 Election Data 1992 Electoral Calculus Archived from the original on 15 October 2011 Retrieved 28 June 2017 Politics Resources Election 1992 Politics Resources 9 April 1992 Archived from the original on 24 July 2011 Retrieved 6 December 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Plymouth Drake UK Parliament constituency amp oldid 1213722506, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
