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:
“The only thing that was dispensed free to the old New Bedford whalemen was a Bible. A well-known owner of one of that city’s whaling fleets once described the Bible as the best cheap investment a shipowner could make.”
—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“What is the historical function of Parliament in this country? It is to prevent the Government from governing.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)