# Wisbech (UK Parliament constituency)

Wisbech is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the abolition of an undivided Cambridgeshire county constituency in 1885 and was itself abolished in 1918.

## History

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 split the former three-member Cambridgeshire parliamentary county into three single-member divisions. One of these was the Northern or Wisbech Division. During the committee stage of the 1885 bill, the MP for Cambridge University, Henry Raikes made an unsuccessful attempt to rename the constituency as the Northern or Isle of Ely Division.
This fenland constituency was dominated by a district of Liberal-inclined smallholders. The towns in the division, predominantly Conservative Wisbech and the more Liberal-inclined March, were outvoted by the rural areas.
Upon its abolition under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the constituency formed the bulk of the new parliamentary county of Isle of Ely.

## Boundaries

The contents of the division were defined as:
* The Municipal Borough of Wisbech;
* The Sessional Divisions of North Witchford, Whittlesea and Wisbech; and
* The Parishes of Coveney, Downham, and Littleport.
The constituency consisted of the towns of Chatteris, March, Whittlesey and the Borough and port of Wisbech with the surrounding parishes of Benwick, Doddington, Downham, Elm, Leverington, Littleport, Manea, Newton, Parson Drove, Thorney, Tydd St Giles, Welches Dam and Wimblington.
The area was bounded by the constituencies of Spalding to the north, North West Norfolk and South West Norfolk to the east, the other Cambridgeshire divisions of Newmarket and Chesterton to the south and Ramsey, Peterborough and North Northamptonshire to the west.

## Members of Parliament

| Year | Member | Party |
| 1885 | Sir John Rigby | Liberal |
| 1886 | Charles William Selwyn | Conservative |
| 1891 | Arthur Brand | Liberal |
| 1895 | Charles Tyrrell Giles | Conservative |
| 1900 | Arthur Brand | Liberal |
| 1906 | Cecil Beck | Liberal |
| 1910 | Neil Primrose | Liberal |
| 1917 | Colin Coote | Liberal |
| 1918 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | John Rigby | 3,919 | 52.1 | |
| | Conservative | Charles William Selwyn | 3,596 | 47.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 323 | 4.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,515 | 78.8 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,532 | | |
| | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) |
General election 1886: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Charles William Selwyn | 4,169 | 57.5 | +9.6 |
| | Liberal | John Rigby | 3,082 | 42.5 | −9.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,087 | 15.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,251 | 76.1 | −2.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,532 | | |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +9.6 | |

### Elections in the 1890s

Selwyn's resignation caused a by-election.
By-election, 23 Jul 1891: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Arthur Brand | 3,979 | 51.7 | +9.2 |
| | Conservative | Surr William Duncan | 3,719 | 48.3 | −9.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 260 | 3.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,698 | 65.7 | −10.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 11,725 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +9.2 | |
General election 1892: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Arthur Brand | 4,311 | 50.7 | +8.2 |
| | Conservative | Surr William Duncan | 4,189 | 49.3 | −8.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 122 | 1.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,500 | 72.2 | −3.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 11,775 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +8.2 | |
Brand was appointed Treasurer of the Household, requiring a by-election.
By-election, 3 Apr 1894: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Arthur Brand | 4,363 | 50.8 | +0.1 |
| | Conservative | Sackville Stopford-Sackville | 4,227 | 49.2 | −0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 136 | 1.6 | +0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,590 | 81.7 | +9.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 10,514 | | |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | +0.1 | |
General election 1895: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Charles Tyrrell Giles | 4,368 | 51.3 | +2.0 |
| | Liberal | Arthur Brand | 4,145 | 48.7 | −2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 223 | 2.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,513 | 81.1 | +8.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 10,495 | | |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +2.0 | |

### Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Arthur Brand | 4,007 | 51.0 | +2.3 |
| | Conservative | Charles Tyrrell Giles | 3,846 | 49.0 | −2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 161 | 2.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,853 | 76.7 | −4.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 10,232 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +2.3 | |
General election 1906: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Cecil Beck | 5,125 | 55.7 | +4.7 |
| | Conservative | T C Garfit | 4,080 | 44.3 | −4.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,045 | 11.4 | +9.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,205 | 83.4 | +6.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 11,033 | | |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | +4.7 | |

### Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Neil Primrose | 5,279 | 51.0 | −4.7 |
| | Conservative | T C Garfit | 5,079 | 49.0 | +4.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 200 | 2.0 | −9.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,358 | 88.4 | +5.0 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | −4.7 | |
General election December 1910: Wisbech :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Neil Primrose | 5,401 | 52.7 | +1.7 |
| | Conservative | Robert Cecil | 4,857 | 47.3 | −1.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 544 | 5.4 | +3.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,258 | 87.6 | −0.8 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | +1.7 | |
1917 Wisbech by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Colin Coote | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold |

## Redistribution

The constituency ceased to exist when the Representation of the People Act 1918 redefined constituencies throughout Great Britain and Ireland. The new constituencies followed the boundaries of the administrative counties and county districts created by the Local Government Acts of 1888 and 1894. The historic county of Cambridgeshire had been divided by the legislation into two administrative counties: Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Each of these, along with the Parliamentary Borough of Cambridge, became single-member constituencies. The whole of the former Wisbech constituency was included in the new Isle of Ely seat, to which were added the City of Ely and surrounding district.