# Farnham (UK Parliament constituency)

51°12′50″N 0°47′46″W﻿ / ﻿51.214°N 0.796°W﻿ / 51.214; -0.796
Farnham was a constituency covering the south-westernmost and various western parts of Surrey for the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, 1918—1983. Its main successor was South West Surrey. The seat was formed with north-eastern territory including Woking from Chertsey in 1918 and shed the Woking area to form its own seat in 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP). During its 65-year span its voters elected three Conservatives successively.

## Boundaries

The constituency took its name from the town of Farnham and included other towns and a large agricultural and forested hills area with significant sandy heathland rising up to the north. The boundaries were altered at each redistribution of parliamentary seats, reflecting the increase in population of the area and thus the splitting of Western Surrey (or Guildford) into South West Surrey or Guildford and North West Surrey, followed by South West Surrey, most of Surrey Heath, and Guildford covering this part of Surrey, the arrangement by 1983.

### 1918–1950

The constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 as one of seven county constituencies within Surrey.
The rural district of Farnham (based on the Hundred before it); in the Guildford Rural District — the civil parish Pirbright; and the Farnham, Frimley (including Camberley), Windlesham, and Woking urban districts.

### 1950–1983

Rural Surrey had ten county constituencies in 1950 — Farnham was defined as comprising:
* The borough of Godalming;
* the urban districts of Farnham and Haslemere;
* the parish of Seale in the rural district of Guildford (including Tongham)
* Parishes in the rural district of Hambledon: Chiddingfold, Dockenfield, Elstead, Frensham, Peper Harow, Thursley, Tilford and Witley.
To enable the above, Godalming and Haslemere were transferred from Guildford — Woking, Windlesham and Pirbright were transferred to the new seat of Woking.
The constituency was unaltered at the redistribution of 1974 which coincided with a major local government consolidation, the main local authority approximating to the seat becoming Waverley (district).

## Type for returning officer and election expenses

The seat was a county constituency.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1918 | Sir Arthur Samuel | Conservative |
| 1937 by-election | Sir Godfrey Nicholson | Conservative |
| 1966 | Maurice Macmillan | Conservative |
| 1983 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | Arthur Samuel | 7,558 | 52.5 | |
| | Labour | John Hayes | 3,534 | 24.6 | |
| | Ind. Unionist | John Henry Harris | 3,289 | 22.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,024 | 27.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,381 | 44.0 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 32,720 | | |
| | 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: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Arthur Samuel | 14,557 | 73.3 | +20.8 |
| | Labour | Thomas Humphrey Marshall | 5,312 | 26.7 | +2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,245 | 46.6 | +18.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,869 | 56.8 | +12.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 34,980 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | +9.4 | |
General election 1923: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Arthur Samuel | 12,534 | 59.6 | −13.7 |
| | Liberal | Christopher a'Beckett Williams | 4,979 | 23.7 | New |
| | Labour | Anne Corner | 3,520 | 16.7 | −10.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,555 | 35.9 | −10.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,033 | 59.6 | +2.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 35,314 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −1.9 | |
General election 1924: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Arthur Samuel | 18,272 | 79.8 | +20.2 |
| | Labour | Anne Corner | 4,613 | 20.2 | +3.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,659 | 59.6 | +23.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,885 | 63.1 | +3.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 36,255 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | +8.4 | |
General election 1929: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Arthur Samuel | 21,050 | 59.8 | −20.0 |
| | Liberal | John William Todd | 9,268 | 26.3 | New |
| | Labour | Francis Palmer | 4,866 | 13.8 | −6.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,782 | 33.6 | −26.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,184 | 66.9 | +3.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 52,597 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −6.8 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Arthur Samuel | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
1935 general election: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Arthur Samuel | 28,211 | 78.5 | N/A |
| | Labour | Donald M. Fraser | 7,725 | 21.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,486 | 57.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,936 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
1937 Farnham by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 20,580 | 66.7 | −11.8 |
| | Labour | Peter Pain | 7,792 | 25.3 | +3.8 |
| | Ind. Conservative | Linton Thorp | 2,327 | 7.5 | New |
| | Independent | Edward Miller | 154 | 0.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,788 | 41.4 | −15.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,853 | | |
| | Conservative hold | 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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
* Conservative: Godfrey Nicholson
* Labour: C W Gittins

### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 31,557 | 61.19 |
| | Labour | Thomas W Gittins | 20,013 | 38.81 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,544 | 22.38 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,570 | 68.72 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 21,665 | 55.70 | |
| | Labour | Eric Charles Neate | 12,972 | 33.35 | |
| | Liberal | Frederick Patrick Shannon | 4,262 | 10.96 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,693 | 22.35 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,899 | 83.11 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1951: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 24,239 | 63.32 |
| | Labour | Charles Leonard James | 14,041 | 36.68 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,198 | 26.64 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,280 | 80.44 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 23,717 | 64.93 |
| | Labour | John Stuart Paul Davey | 12,811 | 35.07 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,906 | 29.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,528 | 76.32 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1959: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 23,538 | 59.03 | |
| | Labour | Joseph Greenwood Turner | 9,800 | 24.58 | |
| | Liberal | Dennis William Saunders | 6,538 | 16.40 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,738 | 34.45 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,876 | 79.36 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 21,382 | 51.20 |
| | Liberal | Dennis William Saunders | 11,876 | 28.44 |
| | Labour | Kenneth Frank Urwin | 8,500 | 20.36 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,506 | 22.76 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,758 | 78.71 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1966: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Maurice Macmillan | 21,028 | 48.84 |
| | Liberal | Dennis William Saunders | 12,036 | 27.96 |
| | Labour | Leslie G R Pinchen | 9,988 | 23.20 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,922 | 20.88 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,052 | 80.00 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Maurice Macmillan | 25,113 | 56.87 |
| | Liberal | Piers Millar Odger Stonham | 10,178 | 23.05 |
| | Labour | Leslie G R Pinchen | 8,870 | 20.09 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,935 | 33.82 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,161 | 73.59 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election February 1974: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Maurice Macmillan | 25,686 | 49.87 | |
| | Liberal | P Davies | 19,224 | 37.32 | |
| | Labour | HC Hodge | 6,347 | 12.32 | |
| | Independent | N Dane | 251 | 0.49 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,462 | 12.55 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,508 | 82.96 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Maurice Macmillan | 23,885 | 49.95 |
| | Liberal | P Davies | 15,626 | 32.68 |
| | Labour | HC Hodge | 8,305 | 17.37 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,259 | 17.27 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,816 | 76.22 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1979: Farnham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Maurice Macmillan | 30,127 | 58.32 | |
| | Liberal | P Raynes | 13,658 | 26.44 | |
| | Labour | PW Davies | 7,497 | 14.51 | |
| | Independent - Citizens Protest Vote | SL Bradford | 204 | 0.39 | New |
| | United Country Party | R Peel | 170 | 0.33 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,469 | 31.88 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,656 | 79.95 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |