History
The constituency was a Labour - Conservative marginal for much of its history, changing hands several times between the two parties during its 98 year existence.
The seat was initially a safe Conservative seat under the influence of the Stanleys, the Earls of Derby. Indeed the seat was held for twenty years by Arthur Stanley, a younger son of the 16th Earl. The only serious challenge by the Liberal Party in this period was in 1910 when William Lever, the leading industrialist, contested the seat. Indeed this was the last time the Liberal Party would contest the constituency until the 1970s.
James Bell became the first non Conservative to be elected for this seat since its creation in 1885, principally due to a divided conservative vote between the Coalition Conservatives and the candidate of the National Farmers Union at the 1918 General Election. Francis Blundell regained the seat for the Conservatives in 1922 but was to lose it to Labour's Sam Tom Rosbotham in 1929.
Sam Tom followed Ramsay MacDonald when the Labour Party split in 1931, and then defended the seat successfully for National Labour in both 1931 and 1935. He was succeeded in 1939 by Commander Stephen King-Hall for National Labour.
In a repeat of 1918, the election of 1945 saw future Prime Minister, Harold Wilson elected when the Conservative Party opted to stand against the National candidate, Stephen King-Hall, and split the anti Labour vote. With Harold Wilson moving in 1950 to the newly created Huyton constituency, the seat saw a succession of Conservative Members who were then moved on to the House of Lords, until the election of the much respected Colonel Douglas Glover in the 1953 by-election.
The retirement of Douglas Glover in 1970 saw the election of the controversial figure of Harold Soref for the Conservatives who, however, was only to hold the seat for four years. Boundary changes brought in Kirkby New Town, leading to the election of the even more controversial Robert Kilroy-Silk for Labour.
The constituency ceased to exist with the implementation of the 1983 boundary changes. The sitting MP moved to the new Knowsley North seat.
Read more about this topic: Ormskirk (UK Parliament Constituency)
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