Cambridge University

(UK Parliament constituency)

Cambridge University University constituency
Created:	1603
Abolished:	1950
Type:	House of Commons
Members:	two

Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.

Boundaries, Electorate and Election Systems

This university constituency was created by a Royal Charter of 1603. It was abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948.

The constituency was not a physical area. Its electorate consisted of the graduates of the University. Before 1918 the franchise was restricted to male graduates with a Doctorate or MA degree. Sedgwick records that the electors numbered 377, in 1727. For the 1754-1790 period Namier and Brooke estimated the electorate at about 500.

The constituency returned two Members of Parliament. Before 1918 they were elected using the bloc vote. From 1918, the MPs were elected by the Single Transferable Vote method of Proportional Representation.

History

In the early eighteenth century the University electorate were mostly Tory. However the Whig ministers of King George I were able to persuade the King to use the royal prerogative power to confer doctorates, so from 1727 the University returned Whig representatives. Oxford University, where the King did not have the same prerogative power, remained safely Tory (indeed often Jacobite) in sympathies.

The leading mid-eighteenth century Whig politician, the Duke of Newcastle, was for many years (1748-1768) Chancellor of the University. He "recommended" suitable candidates to represent the institution in Parliament. This practise continued under his successor, another Whig Duke and Prime Minister (1768-1770), the Duke of Grafton (Chancellor 1768-1811). However Grafton was less prominent as a politician than Newcastle had been and less attentive to the University. As a result some of Grafton's choices were criticised, notably that of the Duke's friend Richard Croftes.

Croftes lacked the sort of characteristics a University MP usually had. He was neither the son of a peer (like the Hon. John Townshend, the Marquess of Granby or Grafton's own son the Earl of Euston), a distinguished lawyer-politician (such as William de Grey, James Mansfield or Sir Vicary Gibbs) nor a prominent political figure (like William Pitt or Lord Henry Petty).

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Pittite/Tory candidates began to be elected. At the start of this political development some of the Pittite MPs, like William Pitt himself (MP for the University 1784-1806), called themselves Whigs. As time passed the division between the nineteenth century Tory and Whig parties became clearer.

The future Prime Minister, the Viscount Palmerston, retained his seat as a Whig after he left the Tory ranks. However by 1831 he was defeated. After the Viscount ceased to represent the University he was elected by a territorial constituency. No further non Tory/Conservative MP was to represent the University until the 1920s.

Even after the introduction of the single transferable vote in 1918, most Cambridge University MPs continued to be Conservatives.

Members of Parliament

This is a list of people who have been elected to represent this University in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1784 to 1950.

Year	Member	Party	Member	Party
1784	William Pitt the Younger	¹	Earl of Euston	Whig
1806	Lord Henry Petty	Whig
1807	Sir Vicary Gibbs	Tory
1811	Sir Vicary Gibbs	Tory	The 3rd Viscount Palmerston	Tory
1812	John Henry Smyth	Whig
1822	William John Bankes	Tory
1826	Sir John Singleton Copley	Tory		Whig
1827	Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal	Tory
1829	William Cavendish	Whig
1831	Henry Goulburn	Tory	William Yates Peel	Tory
1832		Conservative	Charles Manners-Sutton	Conservative
1835			Hon. Charles Evan Law	Conservative
1850			Loftus Tottenham Wigram	Conservative
1856	Spencer Horatio Walpole	Conservative	Loftus Tottenham Wigram	Conservative
1859			Charles Jasper Selwyn	Conservative
1868			Alexander James Beresford Beresford-Hope	Conservative
1882	Henry Cecil Raikes	Conservative	Alexander James Beresford Beresford-Hope	Conservative
1887	Henry Cecil Raikes	Conservative	Sir George Gabriel Stokes	Conservative
1891	Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb ²	Conservative	Sir George Gabriel Stokes	Conservative
1892	Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb ²	Conservative	Sir John Eldon Gorst	Conservative
1906	Samuel Henry Butcher	Conservative	John Frederick Peel Rawlinson	Conservative
1911	Sir Joseph Larmor	Conservative		Conservative
1918	Sir Joseph Larmor	Co. Conservative ³		Co. Conservative ³
1922	James Ramsay Montagu Butler	Ind. Liberal ⁴		Conservative
1923	Sir George Geoffrey Gilbert Butler ⁵	Conservative		Conservative
1926	Sir George Geoffrey Gilbert Butler ⁵	Conservative	Sir John James Withers	Conservative
1929	Godfrey Harold Alfred Wilson	Conservative
1935	Sir Kenneth William Murray Pickthorn	Conservative
1940			Dr. Archibald Vivian Hill	Ind. Conservative ⁴
1945			Henry Wilson Harris	Independent

Notes:-

¹ Pitt called himself a Whig, but is usually retrospectively regarded as a Tory since most of his followers (whether their background was in the Whig or Tory tradition) came to call themselves the Tory Party in the decade after Pitt's death.
² Jebb died on 10 December 1905 - seat vacant at dissolution.
³ Co. is an abbreviation for Coalition.
⁴ Ind. is an abbreviation for Independent.
⁵ Butler died on 2 May 1929 - seat vacant at dissolution.

Elections before 1715

Election by Block Vote 1715-1918

1710s – 1720s – 1730s – 1740s – 1750s – 1760s – 1770s – 1780s – 1790s – 1800s – 1810s – 1820s – 1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – 1890s – 1900s – 1910s

Elections in the 1710s

General Election 26 January 1715: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Hon. Dixie Windsor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Thomas Paske	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1720s

Death of Paske

By-Election 19 December 1720: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Thomas Willoughby	176	55.17	N/A
	Whig	Hon. Henry Finch	143	44.83	N/A
Majority			33	10.34	N/A
Turnout			319	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

Note (1722): Stooks Smith gives Willoughby 319 votes.

General Election 22 March 1722: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Hon. Dixie Windsor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Thomas Willoughby	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General Election 22 August 1727: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	221	37.14	N/A
	Whig	Hon. Thomas Townshend	198	33.28	N/A
	Tory	Hon. Dixie Windsor	176	29.58	N/A
Turnout			595 (377 voted)	79.70	N/A
Registered Electors			473

Note (1727): Unusually, for a pre-1832 election, Stooks Smith records the total number of electors for the constituency as well as the number who voted; so a turnout figure can be calculated.

Elections in the 1730s

General Election 29 April 1734: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Thomas Townshend	222	30.33	-2.95
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	209	28.55	-8.59
	Whig	-. Goodrick	174	23.77	N/A
	Tory	Hon. Dixie Windsor	137	17.35	-12.23
Turnout			732	N/A	N/A

Note (1734): Goodrick was an Opposition Whig

Elections in the 1740s

General Election 6 May 1741: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Hon. Thomas Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Seat vacated when Finch was appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber

By-Election 23 July 1742: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 26 June 1747: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Hon. Thomas Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1750s

General Election 17 April 1754: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Hon. Thomas Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Seat vacated when Finch was appointed to an office

By-Election 14 June 1757: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1760s

Seat vacated when Finch was appointed to an office

By-Election 14 January 1761: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 27 March 1761: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hon. Edward Finch	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Hon. Thomas Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General Election 19 March 1768: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	Hon. Charles Yorke	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Hon. Thomas Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1770s

Seat vacated on the appointment of Yorke as Lord Chancellor

By-Election 1 February 1770: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	William de Grey	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan hold		Swing	N/A

Seat vacated on the appointment of de Grey as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas

By-Election 4 February 1771: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	Richard Croftes	76	62.81	N/A
	Non Partisan	William Wynne	45	37.19	N/A
Majority			31	25.62	N/A
Turnout			121	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 10 October 1774: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	Marquess of Granby	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan	Richard Croftes	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Succession of Granby as the 4th Duke of Rutland

By-Election 10 June 1779: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	James Mansfield	157	35.68	N/A
	Non Partisan	Hon. John Townshend	145	32.95	N/A
	Non Partisan	Lord Hyde	138	31.36	N/A
Majority			12	2.73	N/A
Turnout			440	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1780s

General Election 9 September 1780: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	James Mansfield	277	27.10	N/A
	Non Partisan	Hon. John Townshend	247	24.17	N/A
	Non Partisan	Lord Hyde	206	20.16	N/A
	Non Partisan	Richard Croftes	150	14.68	N/A
	Non Partisan	Hon. William Pitt	142	13.89	N/A
Turnout			1,022 (546 voters)	N/A	N/A

Note (1780): Stooks Smith records Townshend as getting 237 votes.
Seat vacated on Townshend being appointed to an office

By-Election 3 April 1782: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	Hon. John Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan hold		Swing	N/A

Seat vacated on Townshend being appointed to an office

By-Election 11 April 1783: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	Hon. John Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan hold		Swing	N/A

Seat vacated on Mansfield being appointed to an office

By-Election 26 November 1783: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	James Mansfield	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 3 April 1784: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	Rt Hon. William Pitt	351	31.65	+17.76
	Non Partisan	Earl of Euston	299	26.96	N/A
	Non Partisan	Hon. John Townshend	278	25.07	+0.90
	Non Partisan	James Mansfield	181	16.32	-10.78
Turnout			1,109 (588 voters)	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1790s

General Election 1790: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Rt Hon. William Pitt	510	42.50	+10.85
	Whig	Earl of Euston	483	40.25	+13.29
	Whig	Lawrence Dundas	207	17.25	N/A
Turnout			1,200 (684 voters)	N/A	N/A

Note (1790): Pary labels in the 1790-1832 period follow Stooks Smith, who classifies Pitt and his Pittite supporters as Tories without regard to what they would have actually called themselves.
Seat vacated on Pitt being appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

By-Election 1792: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Rt Hon. William Pitt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

Seat vacated on Euston being appointed to an office

By-Election 1794: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Earl of Euston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1796: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Rt Hon. William Pitt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Earl of Euston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1800s

General Election 1802: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Rt Hon. William Pitt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Earl of Euston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Seat vacated on Pitt being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer

By-Election 1804: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Rt Hon. William Pitt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

Death of Pitt

By-Election February 1806: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Lord Henry Petty	331	54.80	N/A
	Whig	Viscount Althorp	145	24.01	N/A
	Tory	The Viscount Palmerston	128	21.19	N/A
Majority			186	30.79	N/A
Turnout			604	N/A	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	N/A

Palmerston was a Peer of Ireland

General Election 1806: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Rt Hon. Lord Henry Petty	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Earl of Euston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General Election 1807: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Earl of Euston	324	26.75	N/A
	Tory	Sir Vicary Gibbs	312	25.76	N/A
	Tory	The Viscount Palmerston	310	25.60	N/A
	Whig	Rt Hon. Lord Henry Petty	265	21.88	N/A
Turnout			1,211 (631 voters)	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1810s

Succession of Euston as the 4th Duke of Grafton

By-Election March 1811: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	The Viscount Palmerston	451	56.66	N/A
	Whig	John Henry Smyth	345	43.34	N/A
Majority			106	13.32	N/A
Turnout			796	N/A	N/A
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Seat vacated on Gibbs being appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas

By-Election 1812: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Smyth	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	N/A

General Election 1812: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	The Viscount Palmerston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	John Henry Smyth	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General Election 1818: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	The Viscount Palmerston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	John Henry Smyth	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1820s

General Election 1820: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	The Viscount Palmerston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	John Henry Smyth	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Death of Smyth

By-Election 1822: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	William John Bankes	419	45.59	N/A
	Tory	Lord Harvey	281	30.58	N/A
	Whig	James Scarlett	219	23.83	N/A
Majority			138	15.02	N/A
Turnout			919	N/A	N/A
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General Election 1826: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Sir John Singleton Copley	772	32.88	N/A
	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston	631	26.87	N/A
	Tory	William John Bankes	508	21.64	N/A
	Tory	Rt Hon. Henry Goulburn	437	18.61	N/A
Turnout			2,348 (1,293 voters)	N/A	N/A

Seat vacated on the appointment of Copley as Lord Chancellor and creation as 1st Baron Lyndhurst

By-Election May 1827: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal	479	55.89	N/A
	Tory	William John Bankes	378	44.11	N/A
Majority			101	11.79	N/A
Turnout			857	43.93	N/A
Registered Electors			1,951
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

Note (1827): Unusually for a pre-1832 election Stooks Smith provides a total electorate figure, so a turnout percentage can be calculated. See the 1727 result above for another instance.
Seat vacated on the appointment of Tindal as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas

By-Election June 1829: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Cavendish	609	56.86	N/A
	Tory	William John Bankes	462	43.14	-0.97
Majority			147	13.73	N/A
Turnout			1,071	N/A	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1830s

General Election 1830: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	William Cavendish	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Seat vacated on the appointment of Palmerston as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

By-Election November 1830: Cambridge University
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1831: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Rt Hon. Henry Goulburn	805	28.26	N/A
	Tory	William Yates Peel	804	28.22	N/A
	Whig	William Cavendish	630	22.11	N/A
	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston	610	21.41	N/A
Turnout			2,849	N/A	N/A

General Election 12 December 1832: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Henry Goulburn	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Charles Manners-Sutton	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			2,319	N/A	N/A

Note (1832): Manners-Sutton was the Speaker of the House of Commons.

General Election 6 January 1835: Cambridge Univer