Louth was a county constituency in Lincolnshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.

It should not be confused with the former Irish constituency of County Louth (UK Parliament constituency). Between 1885 and 1918, its formal name was The East Lindsey (or Louth) Division of Lincolnshire, and it was sometimes referred to simply as East Lindsey.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Louth, Market Rasen, and Wragby, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Alford, Grimsby, and Horncastle.

1918–1950: The Borough of Louth, the Urban Districts of Mablethorpe and Market Rasen, and the Rural Districts of Caistor, Grimsby, and Louth.

1950–1974: The Boroughs of Louth and Cleethorpes, and the Rural Districts of Grimsby and Louth.

1974–1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1890s

Perks

General election 1892: Louth^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Perks	4,284	55.4	New
	Conservative	Arthur Heath	3,445	44.6	N/A
Majority			839	10.8	N/A
Turnout			7,729	78.6	N/A
Registered electors			9,829
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Louth^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Perks	4,191	52.6	−2.8
	Conservative	Francis Lucas	3,779	47.4	+2.8
Majority			412	5.2	−5.6
Turnout			7,970	73.4	−5.2
Registered electors			10,863
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.8

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Louth^[2][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Langton Brackenbury	4,433	50.9	+6.9
	Liberal	Timothy Davies	4,275	49.1	−6.9
Majority			158	1.8	N/A
Turnout			8,708	84.4	+3.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.9

Davies

General election December 1910: Louth^[2][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Timothy Davies	4,260	50.4	+1.3
	Conservative	Langton Brackenbury	4,188	49.6	−1.3
Majority			72	0.8	N/A
Turnout			8,448	81.9	−2.5
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.3

General Election 1914–15

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

• Liberal: Timothy Davies
• Unionist: Langton Brackenbury

General election 1918: Louth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Langton Brackenbury	9,055	54.5	+4.9
	Liberal	Timothy Davies	7,559	45.5	−4.9
Majority			1,496	9.0	N/A
Turnout			16,614	60.3	−21.6
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Thomas Wintringham

1920 Louth by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Wintringham	9,859	57.3	+11.8
	Unionist	Christopher Hatton Turnor	7,354	42.7	−11.8
Majority			2,505	14.6	N/A
Turnout			17,213	63.1	+2.8
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	11.8

• endorsed by Coalition Government

Margaret Wintringham

1921 Louth by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	8,386	42.2	−15.1
	Unionist	Alan Hutchings	7,695	38.3	−4.4
	Labour	James L. George	3,873	19.5	New
Majority			791	3.9	−10.7
Turnout			19,954	72.1	+9.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1922: Louth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	11,609	52.0	+6.5
	Unionist	Alan Hutchings [5]	10,726	48.0	−6.5
Majority			883	4.0	−5.0
Turnout			22,335	78.5	+18.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1923: Louth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	12,104	52.4	+0.4
	Unionist	Geoffrey Peto	11,003	47.6	−0.4
Majority			1,101	4.8	+0.8
Turnout			23,107	79.6	+1.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.4

General election, 1924: Louth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Arthur Heneage	12,674	52.8	+5.2
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	11,330	47.2	−5.2
Majority			1,344	5.6	N/A
Turnout			24,004	80.9	+1.3
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General election, 1929: Louth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Arthur Heneage	13,999	44.4	−8.4
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	13,560	42.9	−4.3
	Labour	T Holmes	4,027	12.7	New
Majority			439	1.5	−4.1
Turnout			31,586	81.8	+0.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	−2.1

See also

• 1920 Louth by-election
• 1921 Louth by-election
• 1969 Louth by-election

References

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)