Horncastle
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1983
Seats	one
Created from	Mid Lincolnshire
Replaced by	East Lindsey & Gainsborough and Horncastle

Horncastle 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. MPs were elected by the first past the post system of voting.

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and first used for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the 1983 general election.

1885–1918: The Sessional Division of Spilsby, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Alford and Horncastle.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Alford, Horncastle, Skegness, and Woodhall Spa, and the Rural Districts of Horncastle, Sibsey, and Spilsby.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Alford, Horncastle, Mablethorpe and Sutton, Skegness, and Woodhall Spa, and the Rural Districts of Horncastle and Spilsby.

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Edward Stanhope	Conservative
	1894 by-election	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	Conservative
	1911 by-election	Archibald Weigall	Conservative
	1920 by-election	Stafford Hotchkin	Coalition Conservative
	1922	Samuel Pattinson	Liberal
	1924	Henry Haslam	Conservative
	1945	Sir John Maitland	Conservative
	1966	Peter Tapsell	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished

General election 1885: Horncastle^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Stanhope	4,824	54.9
	Lib-Lab	Thomas Threlfall	3,959	45.1
Majority			865	9.8
Turnout			8,783	88.4
Registered electors			9,941
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Horncastle^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Stanhope	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Stanhope was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 12 Aug 1886: Horncastle^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Stanhope	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1892: Horncastle^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Stanhope	4,438	54.5	N/A
	Liberal	Francis Otter	3,700	45.5	New
Majority			738	9.0	N/A
Turnout			8,138	85.2	N/A
Registered electors			9,555
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Stanhope's death caused a by-election.

1894 Horncastle by-election^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	4,582	55.0	+0.5
	Liberal	Herbert James Torr[4]	3,744	45.0	−0.5
Majority			838	10.0	+1.0
Turnout			8,326	87.4	+2.2
Registered electors			9,528
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

General election 1895: Horncastle ^[5][3][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	4,563	60.2	+5.7
	Lib-Lab	John Bruce Wallace	3,022	39.8	−5.7
Majority			1,541	20.4	+11.4
Turnout			7,585	65.2	−20.0
Registered electors			11,642
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.7

General election 1900: Horncastle^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	4,302	59.2	−1.0
	Liberal	T Wallis	2,962	40.8	+1.0
Majority			1,340	18.4	−2.0
Turnout			7,264	76.6	+11.4
Registered electors			9,488
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.0

General election 1906: Horncastle^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	4,250	50.9	−8.3
	Liberal	A Adams	4,100	49.1	+8.3
Majority			150	1.8	−16.6
Turnout			8,350	86.6	+10.0
Registered electors			9,637
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.3

General election January 1910: Horncastle^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	5,162	54.6	+3.7
	Liberal	Charles Conybeare	4,292	45.4	−3.7
Majority			870	9.2	+7.4
Turnout			9,454	90.0	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.7

General election December 1910: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	4,705	52.9	−1.7
	Liberal	Frederick Linfield	4,181	47.1	+1.7
Majority			524	5.8	−3.4
Turnout			8,886	86.0	−4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6

1911 Horncastle by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Archibald Weigall	4,955	50.5	−2.4
	Liberal	Frederick Linfield	4,848	49.5	+2.4
Majority			107	1.0	−4.8
Turnout			9,803	90.7	+4.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.4

General election 1918: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Archibald Weigall	8,826	54.3	+1.4
	Liberal	Samuel Pattinson	7,433	45.7	−1.4
Majority			1,393	8.6	+2.8
Turnout			16,259	68.2	−17.8
Registered electors			23,854
	Unionist hold		Swing	+1.4
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

1920 Horncastle by-election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Stafford Hotchkin	8,140	44.5	−9.8
	Liberal	Samuel Pattinson	6,727	36.7	−9.0
	Labour	William Holmes	3,443	18.8	New
Majority			1,413	7.8	−0.8
Turnout			18,310	77.0	+8.8
Registered electors			23,764
	Unionist hold		Swing	−0.4
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Horncastle ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Pattinson	10,797	54.1	+8.4
	Unionist	Maurice Roche	9,158	45.9	−8.4
Majority			1,639	8.2	N/A
Turnout			19,955	81.5	+13.3
Registered electors			24,485
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+8.4

General election 1923: Horncastle ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Pattinson	10,954	54.5	+0.4
	Unionist	John Du Cane	9,135	45.5	−0.4
Majority			1,819	9.0	+0.8
Turnout			20,089	80.9	−0.6
Registered electors			24,821
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.4

General election 1924: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Haslam	10,912	52.8	+7.3
	Liberal	Samuel Pattinson	9,743	47.2	−7.3
Majority			1,169	5.6	N/A
Turnout			20,655	81.7	+0.8
Registered electors			25,286
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.3

General election 1929: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Haslam	12,837	48.1	−4.7
	Liberal	Frederick Linfield	10,168	38.1	−9.1
	Labour	J. R. Sanderson	3,683	13.8	N/A
Majority			2,669	10.0	+4.4
Turnout			26,688	80.8	−0.9
Registered electors			33,042
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.2

General election 1931: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Haslam	18,100	67.3	+19.2
	Liberal	George Henry John Dutton	8,788	32.7	−5.4
Majority			9,312	34.6	+24.6
Turnout			26,888	70.3	−10.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.3

General election 1935: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Haslam	17,594	68.79
	Labour	Frank J Knowles	7,982	31.21	New
Majority			9,612	37.58
Turnout			25,576	69.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

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;

• Conservative: Henry Haslam
• Labour: Frank J Knowles

General election 1945: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maitland	14,019	53.10
	Labour	George Holderness	7,052	26.72
	Liberal	Frank Emerson	5,329	20.18	New
Majority			6,967	26.38
Turnout			26,403	70.45
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maitland	22,329	65.67	+12.57
	Labour	Francis H Clark	11,671	34.33	+7.61
Majority			10,658	31.34	+4.92
Turnout			34,000	78.73	+8.28
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.48

General election 1951: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maitland	22,043	66.42	+0.75
	Labour	Francis H Clark	11,143	33.58	−0.75
Majority			10,900	32.84	+1.50
Turnout			33,186	76.67	−2.06
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.75

General election 1955: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maitland	20,392	66.83	+0.41
	Labour	Wilfrid Pashby	10,122	33.17	−0.41
Majority			10,270	33.66	+0.82
Turnout			30,514	71.01	−5.66
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.41

General election 1959: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maitland	19,799	66.60	−0.23
	Labour	Hugh W Peck	9,928	33.40	+0.23
Majority			9,871	33.20	−0.46
Turnout			29,727	70.34	−0.67
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.23

General election 1964: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maitland	15,854	49.59	−17.01
	Labour	Robin Brumby	8,069	25.24	−8.16
	Liberal	T Frank Smith	8,044	25.16	New
Majority			7,785	24.35	−8.85
Turnout			31,967	74.73	+4.39
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.43

General election 1966: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	15,090	46.64	−2.95
	Labour	Robert NH Sackur	9,715	30.02	+4.78
	Liberal	T Frank Smith	7,552	23.34	−1.82
Majority			5,375	16.62	−7.73
Turnout			32,357	81.10	+6.37
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.86

General election 1970: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	19,299	55.35	+8.71
	Labour	Eric A Skinns	8,860	25.41	−4.61
	Liberal	Roger S Miller	6,707	19.24	−4.10
Majority			10,439	29.94	+13.32
Turnout			34,866	74.20	−6.90
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.69

General election February 1974: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	19,344	49.53	−5.82
	Liberal	Roger S Miller	12,555	32.15	+12.91
	Labour	AJR Berry	6,791	17.39	−1.85
	Independent Democratic Alliance	EP Iszatt	367	0.94	New
Majority			6,789	17.38	−12.56
Turnout			39,057	79.33	+5.13
	Conservative hold		Swing	−9.41

General election October 1974: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	16,750	47.71	−1.82
	Liberal	MJC Starky	11,506	32.78	+0.63
	Labour	K Bratton	6,849	19.51	+2.12
Majority			5,244	14.93	−2.45
Turnout			35,105	70.74	−8.59
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.23

General election 1979: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	21,362	55.12	+7.51
	Liberal	MJC Starky	10,833	27.95	−4.83
	Labour	DP Collins	6,240	16.10	−3.41
	National Front	M Hook	319	0.82	New
Majority			10,529	27.17	+12.24
Turnout			38,754	75.21	+4.47
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.17

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)