Bedford (UK Parliament Constituency)
Bedford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The seat was established in its current form in 1997, restoring a centuries old name. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. It is a marginal seat between the Labour Party and the Conservatives.
A two seat representation for the parliamentary borough of Bedford was originally established in 1295, electing two MPs by the bloc vote system. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 reduced it to one seat for the 1885 general election. The parliamentary borough was abolished in 1918 and replaced with a county constituency of the same name. The constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the 1983 general election, and restored in 1997.
Read more about Bedford (UK Parliament Constituency): History
Famous quotes containing the words bedford and/or parliament:
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—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Undershaft: Alcohol is a very necessary article. It heals the sick—Barbara: It does nothing of the sort. Undershaft: Well, it assists the doctor: that is perhaps a less questionable way of putting it. It makes life bearable to millions of people who could not endure their existence if they were quite sober. It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person would do at eleven in the morning.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)