Month: January 2024

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The UK Parliament

The new Parliament started life in 1801 following the dissolution of the UK and Ireland Parliament the previous year.  At the time, two members represented Kenilworth, Sir John Mordaunt and Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh-Evelyn.

Sir George, the 6th Baronet was a clever mathematician and astronamer. He had a private observatory installed with the self-named Shuckburgh telescope.  Shuckburgh, a crater on the moon is named after him.  As if his name wasn’t long-winded enough, he added a second surname, Evelyn, by act of parliament in 1794. The surname being the maiden name of his second wife.

In census of 1821, Warwickshire had a population of 274,392, and was a much larger area than it is today with cities of Coventry and Birmingham included within its boundaries.  These cities are now part of the ‘West Midlands County’.  But very few people, more notably women, didn’t have the vote.

Constituency Splits into Two – Then Four

In 1832, Warwickshire was divided into two new divisions, north and south Warwickshire, with Kenilworth falling into the Southern division, but each constituency still retained two MPs. At this period the county’s population had increased to over 336,000, but in 1836 the official number of registered voters was only 3,997. The two-member system continued until 1885 when Warwickshire was split into four divisions. Kenilworth was incorporated into the Rugby Division.

After the First World War, constituency boundaries were again being changed by the ever popular Boundary Commissioners, who had the task of redistributing parliamentary seats throughout the country. Not surprisingly there was local criticism regarding these changes. (No change there). So, after 33 years of being in the Rugby Division, Kenilworth was now a part of Warwick & Leamington. The population within this new constituency was just over 85,000. But the first two general elections of this new division (1918 and 1922) went uncontested with Ernest Pollock (Con) being elected unopposed. When the constituency finally had a poll, Anthony Eden took the seat with a majority of 5,203, polling 16,337 votes. The turnout was good at 73%. Eden (later Sir), would stand for a total of 32 years before ill health forced him to stand down, he is Kenilworth’s longest serving MP.

Conservative John Hobson (later Sir), went on to be elected in the subsequent 1957 by-election to replace Eden. During his 10 years representing the town he first became Solicitor General and then Attorney General. He was a strong advocate of the restoration of hanging, he died in London in 1967.

Tragic Death of Gilbert Leigh – 1884

One tragic death of a Kenilworth MP was that of Gilbert Leigh who died in 1884, in a hunting accident at the Big-Horn mountains in Wyoming, USA. He had fallen down a canyon and his body was not located for a week. He was elected at the 1880 General Election when the constituency was called South Warwickshire. He was only 33.

Kenilworth’s Name Finally Appears

It wasn’t until 1983, following boundary changes again, that Kenilworth’s name first appeared in the constituency name – Rugby & Kenilworth. After further boundary changes in 2010, the constituency of Kenilworth & Southam was created.

How Many Voters are there?

In 1964, the town of Kenilworth had 11,219 registered voters up from 8,912 in the 1959 election.

In 2015, the electorate in Kenilworth & Southam was 63,957. By 2019, this had risen to 68,154.

Kenilworth Name Finally Arrives