# Plymouth Drake (UK Parliament constituency)

Plymouth Drake was a borough constituency in the city of Plymouth, in Devon. It elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system of election.

## History

The first Drake constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election. For most of this time it was held by the Conservative Party. It was a Labour gain in the Attlee landslide of 1945, although it had been held by Labour once before, in the 1929–31 Parliament.
The second incarnation of the constituency was created for the February 1974 general election. For the whole of its 23-year existence it was represented by just one MP, Dame Janet Fookes of the Conservative Party. It was always a marginal seat during this period, but Dame Janet managed to survive many strong challenges at each general election she fought, including winning with a majority of just 34 in October 1974 – making Drake the most marginal Conservative seat at that election. She served as a Deputy Speaker of the House to Betty Boothroyd from 1992 until she retired from the Commons in 1997.
The constituency was abolished for the 1997 general election, with its wards being transferred to the redrawn constituency of Plymouth Sutton, which was gained by the Labour Party in the Blair landslide of that year. Most of the territory of Drake is now covered by the constituency of Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

## Boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Drake, Mount Edgcumbe, Mutley, Pennycross, St Peter, Stoke, and Valletort.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, Honicknowle, Pennycross, Tamerton, Trelawny, and Whitleigh.
1983–1997: The City of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, St Peter, Stoke, Sutton, and Trelawny.
In its 1918 and 1983 incarnations the constituency included Plymouth city centre, which was transferred in 1997 to Plymouth Sutton and in 2010 to Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

## Members of Parliament
### MPs 1918–1950

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1918 | Arthur Benn | Conservative |
| 1929 | James Moses | Labour |
| 1931 | Frederick Guest | Conservative |
| 1937 by-election | Henry Guest | Conservative |
| 1945 | Hubert Medland | Labour |
| 1950 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

### MPs 1974–1997

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | Feb 1974 | Janet Fookes | Conservative |
| | 1997 | constituency abolished: see Plymouth Sutton | constituency abolished: see Plymouth Sutton |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | Arthur Benn | 17,188 | 73.4 | |
| | Liberal | Thomas Dobson | 6,225 | 26.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,963 | 46.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,413 | | |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Arthur Benn | 11,698 | 43.9 | −29.5 |
| | Labour | James Gorman | 8,359 | 31.4 | New |
| | Liberal | Samuel John Robins | 6,594 | 24.7 | −1.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,339 | 12.5 | −34.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,651 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 1923: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Arthur Benn | 12,345 | 43.7 | −0.2 |
| | Labour | James Moses | 11,849 | 41.9 | +10.5 |
| | Liberal | Edward Ernest Henry Atkin | 4,082 | 14.4 | −10.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 496 | 1.8 | −10.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,276 | 77.9 | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | -5.3 | |
General election 1924: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Arthur Benn | 14,669 | 48.1 | +4.4 |
| | Labour | James Moses | 12,161 | 39.9 | −2.0 |
| | Liberal | Solomon Stephens | 3,645 | 12.0 | −2.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,508 | 8.2 | +6.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,475 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 1929: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Moses | 16,684 | 44.3 | +4.4 |
| | Unionist | Arthur Benn | 14,673 | 39.0 | −9.1 |
| | Liberal | Hugh MacDonald Pratt | 6,309 | 16.7 | +4.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,011 | 5.3 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,666 | 80.5 | |
| | Labour gain from Unionist | Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Frederick Guest | 25,063 | 66.4 | +27.4 |
| | Labour | James Moses | 12,669 | 33.6 | −10.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,394 | 32.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,732 | 79.6 | −0.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
General election 1935: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Frederick Guest | 21,446 | 58.3 | −8.1 |
| | Labour | James Moses | 15,368 | 41.7 | +8.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,078 | 16.5 | −16.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,814 | 74.8 | −4.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
1937 Plymouth Drake by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Henry Guest | 15,778 | 58.82 |
| | Labour | Geoffrey Garratt | 11,044 | 41.18 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,734 | 17.64 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,822 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1940s

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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
* Conservative: Henry Guest
* Labour: Leonard Matters
General election 1945: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Hubert Medland | 15,070 | 50.9 | +9.2 |
| | Conservative | Henry Guest | 12,871 | 43.4 | −14.9 |
| | Common Wealth | Edgar John Trout | 1,681 | 5.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,199 | 7.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 29,622 | 71.6 | −3.2 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election February 1974: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Janet Fookes | 18,417 | 42.82 | |
| | Labour | FK Taylor | 15,806 | 36.75 | |
| | Liberal | ME Castle | 8,784 | 20.42 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,611 | 6.07 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,007 | 78.04 | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |
General election October 1974: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Janet Fookes | 17,287 | 41.26 | −1.56 |
| | Labour | BW Fletcher | 17,253 | 41.18 | +4.43 |
| | Liberal | ME Castle | 7,354 | 17.55 | −2.86 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 34 | 0.08 | −5.99 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,894 | 75.41 | −2.63 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −3.00 | |
General election 1979: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Janet Fookes | 21,759 | 50.60 | +9.34 |
| | Labour | BW Fletcher | 17,515 | 40.73 | −0.45 |
| | Liberal | Anthony Puttick | 3,452 | 8.03 | −9.52 |
| | National Front | C Bradbury | 279 | 0.65 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,244 | 9.87 | +9.79 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,005 | 77.19 | +1.78 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +4.90 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Janet Fookes | 19,718 | 50.7 | +0.1 |
| | SDP | Will Fitzgerald | 11,133 | 28.6 | New |
| | Labour | Sally Creswell | 7,921 | 20.3 | −20.4 |
| | BNP | C Bradbury | 163 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,585 | 22.1 | +12.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,935 | 74.3 | −2.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −14.4 | |
General election 1987: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Janet Fookes | 16,195 | 41.3 | −9.4 |
| | SDP | David Astor | 13,070 | 33.3 | +4.9 |
| | Labour | David Jamieson | 9,451 | 24.1 | +3.8 |
| | Green | Tracey Barber | 493 | 1.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,125 | 8.0 | −14.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,209 | 76.6 | +2.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -6.9 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Plymouth Drake :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Janet Fookes | 17,075 | 43.7 | +2.4 |
| | Labour Co-op | Peter Telford | 15,062 | 38.6 | +14.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | VA Cox | 5,893 | 15.1 | −18.2 |
| | SDP | DM Stanbury | 476 | 1.2 | N/A |
| | Green | AE Harrison | 441 | 1.1 | −0.2 |
| | Natural Law | TJ Pringle | 95 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,013 | 5.2 | −2.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,042 | 75.6 | −1.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |