Historical UK By-Elections Discussion Thread

[State Comptroller Atkins]

I'll start with Orpington 1962. Did it really mark the beginning of the end for MacMillan's government? And did it really kick start the revival of the Liberal Party? Their vote went up by about 5% in 1964, but by 1970 it was back down to more or less where it was in 1959.

[Sibboleth]

Orpington is over-rated; the reason why it became so iconic was simply because it was close to London. I suppose the fact that Lubbock managed to get re-elected a couple of times helped.

[State Comptroller Atkins]

So in other words, kind of like Brent East?

[Sibboleth]

So in other words, kind of like Brent East?

In some ways but the media fuss was much greater because the Liberals were widely regarded (not entirely fairly, not entirely unfairly) as a moribund piece of historical detritus, while the LibDems were a much more established party with a significant presence in the Commons.

[Harry Hayfield]

Average Change in by-elections 1950 - 2010
1950 - 1951: Con +7% Lab -2% Lib -5%
1951 - 1955: Con -1% Lab -1% Lib +1%
1955 - 1959: Con -9% Lab +1% Lib +7%
1959 - 1964: Con -14% Lab +2% Lib +14%
1964 - 1966: Con +1% Lab -2% Lib Unchanged
1966 - 1970: Con +7% Lab -17% Lib +3%
1970 - Feb 1974: Con -12% Lab -4% Lib +9%
1974: Con -1% Lab -3% Lib -2%
Oct 1974 - 1979: Con +10% Lab -9% Lib -5%
1979 - 1983: Con -11% Lab -11% All +18%
1983 - 1987: Con -14% Lab Unchanged All +12%
1987 - 1992: Con -12% Lab -1% Lib Dem Unchanged
1992 - 1997: Con -19% Lab +7% Lib Dem +5%
1997 - 2001: Con -1% Lab -9% Lib Dem +4%
2001 - 2005: Con -4% Lab -19% Lib Dem +15%
2005 - 2010: Con +3% Lab -11% Lib Dem -1%
2010 Parliament so far: Con -8% Lab +9% Lib Dem -7%

[joevsimp]

Average Change in by-elections 1950 - 2010
1950 - 1951: Con +7% Lab -2% Lib -5%
1951 - 1955: Con -1% Lab -1% Lib +1%
1955 - 1959: Con -9% Lab +1% Lib +7%
1959 - 1964: Con -14% Lab +2% Lib +14%
1964 - 1966: Con +1% Lab -2% Lib Unchanged
1966 - 1970: Con +7% Lab -17% Lib +3%
1970 - Feb 1974: Con -12% Lab -4% Lib +9%
1974: Con -1% Lab -3% Lib -2%
Oct 1974 - 1979: Con +10% Lab -9% Lib -5%
1979 - 1983: Con -11% Lab -11% All +18%
1983 - 1987: Con -14% Lab Unchanged All +12%
1987 - 1992: Con -12% Lab -1% Lib Dem Unchanged
1992 - 1997: Con -19% Lab +7% Lib Dem +5%
1997 - 2001: Con -1% Lab -9% Lib Dem +4%
2001 - 2005: Con -4% Lab -19% Lib Dem +15%
2005 - 2010: Con +3% Lab -11% Lib Dem -1%
2010 Parliament so far: Con -8% Lab +9% Lib Dem -7%

had no idea the libdems were that underwhelming after 2005

[Krago]

Does anyone know where I can find detailed maps of British parliamentary constituencies?  I am looking for a British equivalent of this:  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

[joevsimp]

Does anyone know where I can find detailed maps of British parliamentary constituencies?  I am looking for a British equivalent of this:  govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.election-maps.co.uk%2F&ei=lf4wTo62NIWZhQefqPGACw&usg=AFQjCNE-vTCcloSvctxrc4GeQe9fZiLuvg&sig2=pJX3xOvvLF0vvYz8ykOnVw

but not especially usefull if you want to construct hi-res maps yourself

http://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/

this is a bit more useful, has links to the boundary commissions for Scotland, Wales and Norranirn as well

[Sibboleth]

Does anyone know where I can find detailed maps of British parliamentary constituencies?  I am looking for a British equivalent of this:  govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

The official maps are at www.election-maps.co.uk. There's also the map viewer at Neighbourhood Statistics.

[joevsimp]

Does anyone know where I can find detailed maps of British parliamentary constituencies?  I am looking for a British equivalent of this:  govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

The official maps are at www.election-maps.co.uk. There's also the map viewer at Neighbourhood Statistics.

hmm, I tried to post that but it got garbled,  the american site that krago posted looks like what the uk election maps site should've be like

[Krago]

Thanks for your help.

I had found the Ordnance Survey Election Maps site before, but:

(a)  the map viewer area is small,
(b)  there is no link to show entire Westminster constituencies on the map,
(c)  the Overview map is incredibly crowded with detail,
(d)  when you drag the map, it disappears and takes a few seconds to refresh, and
(e)  for some bizarre reason, you cannot zoom out very far - for the one I selected (Cities of London and Westminster Boro Const), you can't even see all of Hyde Park, let alone the whole constituency!

Do these boundaries exist in a GIS format?  Cannot some map keener on either side of The Pond overlay them onto Google Maps, like the American one?

[Die-hard Clockworkfan]

Thanks for your help.

I had found the Ordnance Survey Election Maps site before, but:

(a)  the map viewer area is small,
(b)  there is no link to show entire Westminster constituencies on the map,
(c)  the Overview map is incredibly crowded with detail,
(d)  when you drag the map, it disappears and takes a few seconds to refresh, and
(e)  for some bizarre reason, you cannot zoom out very far - for the one I selected (Cities of London and Westminster Boro Const), you can't even see all of Hyde Park, let alone the whole constituency!

(b) "Print Quality/Quick Overview".
(c) The overview maps are just our standard Ordnance Survey maps.  The OS are well known for their attention to detail.
(e) The maximum zoom level depends on the size of the constituency/district, and Cities of London and Westminster is a very small seat so you're already at the max zoom level.  For my own seat (Bolton West) you can zoom out twice before hitting the max zoom level.

The trick to getting around the maximum zoom level is to display the ward boundaries (or, in rural seats, the county division boundaries) and use the "Show entire ward/division on map" link.  This doesn't give you the entire seat but can get you pretty close to it in some cases.

Do these boundaries exist in a GIS format?  Cannot some map keener on either side of The Pond overlay them onto Google Maps, like the American one?

Yes, try googling OS Boundary Line.  I think the Australian Tally Room blog has overlaid the constituency boundaries onto Google Maps.

[Krago]

Thank you so much, Your Grace!  (How do you address the Chancellor of a Duchy?)

Your advice was great.  I downloaded the Westminster constituencies file from the OS Boundary Line website, and created my own Google Maps overlay.  Here's my link to a map of the constituencies in Greater London:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=https:%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fkmzoverlays%2Foverlays%2FWestminster_London3.kmz&hl=en&sll=51.532989,0.088921&sspn=0.081263,0.222645&z=10

I don't know enough kml code to get it all gussied up.  And when I tried to load all the constituencies in Britain, Google Earth just laughed at me.

[Peter]

Thank you so much, Your Grace!  (How do you address the Chancellor of a Duchy?)

As a Chancellor a Duchy is an officer who administers a Duchy, he should be addressed by whatever style of address he would have if he were not the Chancellor. A Duchy is a different concept from a Dukedom (a Duke is traditionally addressed as Your Grace as you suggest)..