History
The constituency is a safe Conservative seat, and has only ever been represented by Conservative MPs. However, the Conservatives came close to losing the seat in a 1983 by-election when the former cabinet minister William Whitelaw became the leader of the House of Lords: the by-election took place a mere seven weeks after the 1983 general election.
Read more about this topic: Penrith And The Border (UK Parliament Constituency)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)