Worcester is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1885 it has elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election; from 1295 to 1885 it elected two MPs.
Boundaries
1918–1950: The County Borough of Worcester.
1950–1983: The County Borough of Worcester, the Borough of Droitwich, and the Rural District of Droitwich.
1983–1997: The City of Worcester, and the District of Wychavon wards of Drakes Broughton, Inkberrow, Lenches, Pinvin, Spetchley, and Upton Snodsbury.
1997–present: The City of Worcester.
The constituency covers the city of Worcester, with (since the 1997 redistribution) exactly the same boundaries as the city. It borders the Mid Worcestershire constituency to the east, and West Worcestershire to the west.
History
A safe Conservative seat for many years (the Conservatives even narrowly held the seat in the 1945 Labour landslide), Worcester was represented by the high-profile Conservative cabinet minister Peter Walker for three decades, from a by-election in 1961 until he stood down in 1992. Peter Luff held the seat for the Conservatives until 1997, when he moved to the redrawn Mid Worcestershire constituency.
Michael Foster of the Labour Party gained the seat at the 1997 general election. This can be put down to a combination of Labour's landslide victory nationally, but also to the fact that boundary changes meant the constituency was now solely an urban area; rather than also containing much of the surrounding countryside.
Peter Walker's son, Robin Walker, was elected as the Conservative MP at the 2010 general election. The constituency is marginal and was selected as a "target" by the Labour Party in 1997, and by the Conservative Party in 2010.
Many political commentators and journalists look on Worcester as having the demographic statistics which most closely mirror those in the United Kingdom as a whole. As such the term "Worcester woman" has come into use as a description for a typical swing voter.
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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
^ abcdeDriver, J. T. Worcestershire Knights of the Shire 1377-1421 Transactions of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society; Third Series Vol 4 1974 p20
^Disraeli, Benjamin (1982). Gunn, John AW; Matthews, John P.; Schurman, Donald M.; Wiebe, Melvin G (eds.). Benjamin Disraeli—Letters:1835–1837. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 554. ISBN 9781442639546. Retrieved 26 November 2018 – via Google Books.
^"Friday, July 10. 1846". Hull Advertiser and Exchange Gazette. 10 July 1846. p. 5. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
^"The General Election". Morning Post. 24 June 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"To Correspondents". Worcester Journal. 8 July 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Election News". Preston Chronicle. 24 April 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"General News". Monmouthshire Merlin. 30 April 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Worcester". Cheltenham Chronicle. 8 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
^ abcdeCraig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
^ abcdefghiCraig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
^ abcdefghijklmnopCraig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885(e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 342–343. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
^"Election Intelligence". Leeds Times. 14 March 1857. p. 8. Retrieved 28 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ abSalmon, Philip. "Worcester". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
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