Rossendale was a parliamentary constituency in the Lancashire, England. Created in 1885, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system. When created it comprised the districts of Rawtenstall, Bacup, and Haslingden; Ramsbottom district was added to the constituency in 1950.
The constituency ceased to exist with the implementation of the 1983 boundary changes and was replaced by the Rossendale and Darwen constituency. The exact nature of the changes were as follows: 9,882 electors of the Rossendale seat were transferred to Bury North. 25,918 electors were added from the abolished Darwen constituency and 5,267 from Heywood and Royton.
Boundaries 1885–1918: The Sessional Division of Rossendale, and part of the Borough of Bacup.
1918–1950: The Boroughs of Bacup, Haslingden, and Rawtenstall.
1950–1983: The Boroughs of Bacup, Haslingden, and Rawtenstall, and the Urban District of Ramsbottom.
Members of Parliament ElectionMemberParty 1885 Marquess of Hartington Liberal 1886 Liberal Unionist 1892 by-election John Maden Liberal 1900 by-election Sir William Mather Liberal 1904 by-election Lewis Harcourt Liberal1917 by-election Sir John Maden Liberal 1918 Robert Waddington Coalition Conservative 1922 David Halstead Conservative 1923 Robert Waddington Conservative 1929 Arthur Law Labour 1931 Ronald Cross Conservative 1945 George Walker Labour 1950 Tony Greenwood Labour 1970 Ronald Bray Conservative Oct 1974 Michael Noble Labour 1979 David Trippier Conservative 1983 constituency abolished: see Rossendale and Darwen
Elections Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s Cavendish succeeded to the peerage, becoming Duke of Devonshire and causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
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: Lewis Harcourt Unionist:
Elections in the 1920s
Furness Dean was Liberal candidate but withdrew at the last minute for health reasons.The Times House of Commons, 1931
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: Ronald Cross Labour: George WalkerReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
Election in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
See also Rossendale and Darwen Parliamentary constituency
References
Election results, 1950 - 1979