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Abingdon
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Berkshire
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Wantage and Oxford West & Abingdon
Created from	Berkshire and Abingdon
1558–1885
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (and its predecessor institutions for England and Great Britain), electing one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1558 until 1983. (It was one of the few English constituencies in the unreformed House of Commons to elect only one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.)

History

Abingdon was one of three English parliamentary boroughs enfranchised by Queen Mary I as anomalous single-member constituencies, and held its first Parliamentary election in 1558. The borough consisted of part of two parishes in the market town of Abingdon, then the county town of Berkshire. The right to vote was exercised by all inhabitant householders paying scot and lot and not receiving alms; the highest recorded number of votes to be cast before 1832 was 253, at the general election of 1806.

Abingdon's voters seem always to have maintained their independence, and the constituency never came under the influence of a "patron" who assumed the right to choose the MP. Nevertheless, this did not always guarantee a pure election, and Porritt records that Abingdon offers the earliest case he was able to trace of a candidate trying to bribe voters with the promise of official office, later one of the most widespread abuses in English elections. In 1698, the defeated candidate, William Hucks, petitioned against the election of Sir Simon Harcourt, but during the hearing of the case it emerged that Hucks had promised that should he be elected an MP he would be made a Commissioner of the Excise, in which case he would use that power to appoint several of the voters to well-paid excise posts. The petition was dismissed and Hucks was committed to the custody of the sergeant-at-arms. (But ten years later, defeated again by Harcourt at the election of 1708, Hucks petitioned once more, on grounds of intimidation and other illegal practices, and this time Harcourt was ejected from his seat and Hucks declared to have been duly elected. Harcourt complained that the decision was a partisan one – which would have been by no means unusual at the period – "insisting to the last that he was the legal member, by a clear majority, by the most fair estimation".)

In 1831, the population of the borough was approximately 5,300, and contained 1,192 houses. This was sufficient for Abingdon to retain its MP under the Great Reform Act. (Indeed, it would have been big enough to retain two MPs had it had them, but there was no question of its representation being increased.) Its boundaries were unaltered, and under the reformed franchise 300 of the residents were qualified to vote.

In 1885 the borough constituency was abolished and the town was moved into a new county, The Northern or Abingdon Division of Berkshire. This constituency consisted of the northern part of the historic county, and as well as Abingdon included the towns of Wantage and Wallingford; it was predominantly agricultural at first, although its character changed during the 20th century with the growth of light industry round Abingdon, and it was generally a safe Conservative seat. This constituency survived essentially intact, with only minor boundary changes, until the 1983 general election, by which time it was simply called Abingdon County Constituency.

Changes in administrative boundaries during the 1970s moved most of the northern part of the historic county of Berkshire, including Abingdon, into the county of Oxfordshire. These changes were reflected in the constituency boundary changes introduced in 1983, and the Abingdon constituency was divided; most of its electors were placed in the new Wantage constituency and a significant minority including electors in the town of Abingdon were placed in the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency.

Boundaries

Northern or Abingdon Division of Berkshire, 1885 – 1918

The constituency was defined as consisting of:
The Abingdon, Faringdon, Wallingford, and Wantage petty sessional divisions of Berkshire, the municipal borough of Wallingford and the parts of the boroughs of Abingdon and Oxford in Berkshire.^[1]

Abingdon Division of Berkshire, 1918 – 1950

The constituency's boundaries were adjusted in 1918, and it was redefined in terms of the administrative county of Berkshire and the county districts created by the Local Government Acts of 1888 and 1894 as follows:^[2]

• The rural districts of Abingdon (the civil parishes of Abingdon St Helen Without, Appleford, Appleton-with-Eaton, Besselsleigh, Cumnor, Draycot Moor, Drayton, Frilford, Fyfield, Garford, Kingston Bagpuize, Lyford, Marcham, Milton, North Hinksey, Radley, South Hinksey, Steventon, Sunningwell, Sutton Courtenay, Sutton Wick, Tubney, Wootton, and Wytham), Wallingford (the civil parishes of Aston Tirrold, Aston Upthorpe, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Cholsey, Didcot, East Hagbourne, Little Wittenham, Long Wittenham, Moulsford, North Moreton, South Moreton, and West Hagbourne), and Wantage, the part of the rural district of Bradfield which consists of the civil parishes of Ashampstead, Basildon, Frilsham, Streatley, and Yattendon;


• The part of the rural district of Faringdon which is within the administrative county of Berks (the civil parishes of Ashbury, Baulking, Bourton, Buckland, Buscot, Charney Bassett, Coleshill, Compton Beauchamp, Eaton Hastings, Fernham, Great Coxwell, Great Faringdon, Hatford, Hinton Waldrist, Kingston Lisle, Little Coxwell, Littleworth, Longcot, Longworth, Pusey, Shellingford, Stanford in the Vale, Uffington, Watchfield, and Woolstone);


• The municipal boroughs of Abingdon and Wallingford;


• The urban district of Wantage.

Abingdon County Constituency, 1950 – 1983

The Representation of the People Act 1948 reorganised parliamentary constituencies, and Abingdon County Constituency was altered slightly. The official definition of the constituency was:^[3]

• The boroughs of Abingdon and Wallingford;


• the urban district of Wantage;


• the rural districts of Abingdon, Faringdon, Wallingford and Wantage.

The constituency was not altered by the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970, and continued unchanged until 1983.

Members of Parliament

1558–1640

Parliament	Member
Parliament of 1558	Oliver Hyde
Parliament of 1559	Robert Byng
Parliament of 1563–1567	Oliver Hyde (Died during the Parliament) Anthony Forster (Elected 1566)
Parliament of 1571	Anthony Forster
Parliament of 1572–1583	Anthony Forster (Died during the Parliament) Richard Beake (Elected 1572)
Parliament of 1584–1585	Hon. Edward Norreys
Parliament of 1586–1587	Griffith Lloyd, chose to sit for Cardiganshire, replaced by Miles Sandys
Parliament of 1588–1589	Hon. Sir Edward Norreys
Parliament of 1593	William Braunche
Parliament of 1597–1598	Francis Little
Parliament of 1601	Robert Ryche
Parliament of 1604–1611	Sir Richard Lovelace
Addled Parliament (1614)	Sir Robert Knollys
Parliament of 1621–1622	Robert Hyde
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)	Sir Robert Knollys
Useless Parliament (1625)	Sir Robert Knollys
Parliament of 1625–1626
Parliament of 1628–1629	Sir John Stonhouse, 2nd Bt.
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

1640–1885

Election		Member	Party
	April 1640	Sir George Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet	Royalist
	January 1644	Stonhouse disabled to sit – seat vacant
	1645	John Ball (Died 1648)
	1649	Henry Neville
	1653	Abingdon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
	1654	Thomas Holt
	1656
	January 1659	Sir John Lenthall
	May 1659	Henry Neville
	April 1660	Sir George Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet
	1675	Sir John Stonhouse, 2nd Bt
	January 1689	Thomas Medlycott [n 1]
	May 1689	John Southby [n 2]
	January 1690	Sir John Stonhouse, 2nd Bt
	February 1690	Sir Simon Harcourt	Tory
	1705	Grey Neville	Whig
	1708	Sir Simon Harcourt [n 3]	Tory
	1709	William Hucks
	October 1710	Sir Simon Harcourt	Tory
	December 1710	James Jennings
	1713	Hon. Simon Harcourt
	1715	James Jennings
	1722	Robert Hucks
	1741	John Wright
	1747	John Morton [n 4]	Tory[4]
	1770	Nathaniel Bayly	Whig[4]
	1774	John Mayor [n 5]	Tory[4]
	1782	Henry Howorth
	1783	Edward Loveden	Whig[4]
	1796	Thomas Metcalfe	Tory[4]
	1807	George Knapp	Whig[4]
	1809	Henry Bowyer
	1811	Sir George Bowyer, 6th Bt	Whig[4]
	1818	John Maberly	Whig[4]
	1832	Thomas Duffield	Tory[4][5]
	1834		Conservative[4][5]
	1844 by-election	Sir Frederick Thesiger	Conservative[5]
	July 1852 by-election	James Caulfeild	Whig[6]
	December 1852	Montagu Bertie	Whig[7]
	1854 by-election	Joseph Haythorne Reed	Whig
	1857	John Thomas Norris	Radical[7]
	1859		Liberal[5]
	1865	Hon. Charles Lindsay	Conservative[5]
	1874	John Creemer Clarke	Liberal[5]
	1885	Parliamentary borough abolished

MPs 1885–1983

After the abolition of the parliamentary borough of Abingdon, a new county division of Berkshire was created.

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Philip Wroughton	Conservative
	1895	Archie Loyd	Conservative
	1906	Edward Strauss	Liberal
	1910 (Jan)	Harold Henderson	Conservative
	1916 by-election	Archie Loyd	Conservative
	1918	John Tyson Wigan	Coalition Conservative
	1921 by-election	Arthur Loyd	Coalition Conservative
	1922		Conservative
	1923	Edward Lessing	Liberal
	1924	Sir Ralph Glyn, 1st Bt.	Conservative
	1953 by-election	Airey Neave	Conservative
	1979	Thomas Benyon	Conservative
	1983	Constituency abolished

Elections

Sources 1754–1784: Namier and Brooke; (parties) Stooks Smith. Positive swing is from Whig to Tory.
Sources 1885–1900: House of Commons 1901.

General Election 15 April 1754: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	John Morton	133	57.08	N/A
	Non Partisan	Henry Thrale	100	42.92	N/A
Majority			33	14.16	N/A
Turnout			233	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 25 March 1761: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	John Morton	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

• Seat vacated on appointment of Morton as Chief Justice of Chester

By-Election 15 December 1762: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	John Morton	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 17 March 1768: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	John Morton	126	50.40	N/A
	Whig	Nathaniel Bayly	124	49.60	N/A
Majority			2	0.80	N/A
Turnout			250	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

• On petition Nathaniel Bayly seated in place of John Morton, 8 February 1770

General Election 7 October 1774: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	John Mayor	146	55.73	+5.33
	Whig	Thomas Wooldridge	116	44.27	-5.33
Majority			30	11.45	+10.65
Turnout			262	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	+5.33

• Tory hold from previous general election; Tory gain from Whig, from change on petition.


• Election declared void, 6 March 1775

By-Election 11 March 1775: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	John Mayor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 6 September 1780: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	John Mayor	137	71.35	+15.62
	Whig	Thomas Wooldridge	55	28.65	-15.62
Majority			82	42.71	+31.26
Turnout			192	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	+15.62

• Change is calculated from the previous general election.


• Resignation of Mayor.

By-Election 21 December 1782: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Non Partisan	Henry Howorth	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non Partisan gain from Tory		Swing	N/A

• Death of Howorth

By-Election 19 May 1783: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Edward Loveden	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig gain from Non Partisan		Swing	N/A

General Election 20 March 1784: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Edward Loveden	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s

General Election 1841: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Duffield	Unopposed
Registered electors			321
	Conservative hold

Duffield resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, cauising a by-election.

By-election, 11 May 1844: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Frederic Thesiger	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Thesiger was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 9 July 1845: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Frederic Thesiger	156	55.3	N/A
	Whig	James Caulfeild	126	44.7	N/A
Majority			30	10.6	N/A
Turnout			282	89.5	N/A
Registered electors			315
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1847: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Frederic Thesiger	153	50.3	N/A
	Whig	James Caulfeild	151	49.7	N/A
Majority			2	0.7	N/A
Turnout			304	89.7	N/A
Registered electors			339
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

Thesiger was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 5 March 1852: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Frederic Thesiger	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General Election 1852: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	James Caulfeild	Unopposed
Registered electors			312
	Whig gain from Conservative

Caulfeild's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 3 December 1852: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Montague Bertie	153	54.3	N/A
	Conservative	Daniel Higford Davall Burr[8]	129	45.7	N/A
Majority			24	8.5	N/A
Turnout			282	90.4	N/A
Registered electors			312
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Bertie succeeded to the peerage, becoming 6th Earl of Abingdon and causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 December 1854: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Joseph Haythorne Reed	125	51.7	−2.6
	Radical	John Thomas Norris	117	48.3	N/A
Majority			8	3.3	−5.2
Turnout			242	62.2	−28.2
Registered electors			389
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1857: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Radical	John Thomas Norris	Unopposed
Registered electors			323
	Radical gain from Whig

General Election 1859: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Thomas Norris	144	54.8	N/A
	Conservative	John Godfrey Bellingham Hudson[9]	119	45.2	N/A
Majority			25	9.5	N/A
Turnout			263	82.2	N/A
Registered electors			320
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General Election 1865: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Lindsay	137	54.2
	Liberal	John Thomas Norris	116	45.8
Majority			21	8.3	N/A
Turnout			253	83.2
Registered electors			304
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Lindsay was appointed a Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 6 Aug 1866: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Lindsay	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General Election 1868: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Lindsay	397	55.1	+0.9
	Liberal	Godfrey Lushington[10]	324	44.9	−0.9
Majority			73	10.1	+1.8
Turnout			721	90.0	+6.8
Registered electors			801
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

Elections in the 1870s

General Election 1874: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Creemer Clarke	439	56.9	+12.0
	Conservative	Charles Lindsay	333	43.1	−12.0
Majority			106	13.7	N/A
Turnout			772	89.8	−0.2
Registered electors			860
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.0

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1880: Abingdon^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Creemer Clarke	428	52.6	−4.3
	Conservative	Alban Gibbs	386	47.4	+4.3
Majority			42	5.2	−8.5
Turnout			814	91.5	+1.7
Registered electors			890
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.3

General Election 1885: Abingdon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Philip Wroughton	4,245	58.7	+11.3
	Liberal	Robert Purvis	2,986	41.3	−11.3
Majority			1,259	17.4	N/A
Turnout			7,231	82.3	−9.2
Registered electors			8,791
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.3

General Election 1886: Abingdon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Philip Wroughton	3,899	67.1	+8.4
	Liberal	Edward Colston Keevil	1,910	32.9	−8.4
Majority			1,989	34.2	+16.8
Turnout			5,809	66.1	−16.2
Registered electors			8,791
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.4

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Abingdon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Philip Wroughton	3,565	52.4	−14.7
	Liberal	Charles Alfred Pryce	3,239	47.6	+14.7
Majority			326	4.8	−29.4
Turnout			6,804	79.3	+13.2
Registered electors			8,585
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.7

General Election 1895: Abingdon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archie Loyd	4,064	57.4	+5.0
	Liberal	Charles Alfred Pryce	3,019	42.6	−5.0
Majority			1,045	14.8	+10.0
Turnout			7,083	82.2	+2.9
Registered electors			8,615
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Abingdon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archie Loyd	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,698
	Conservative hold

General Election 1906: Abingdon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Edward Strauss	3,943	51.1	N/A
	Conservative	Harold Henderson	3,767	48.9	N/A
Majority			176	2.2	N/A
Turnout			7,710	86.9	N/A
Registered electors			8,875
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Harold Henderson	4,829	56.1	+7.2
	Liberal	Edward Strauss	3,776	43.9	-7.2
Majority			1,053	12.2	14.4
Turnout				93.0	+6.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.2

General Election December 1910: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Harold Henderson	4,677	58.4	+2.3
	Liberal	Martin Harcourt Sands	3,328	41.6	-2.3
Majority			1,349	16.8	+4.6
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.3

General Election 1918: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Unionist	John Tyson Wigan	Unopposed
	Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Abingdon by-election, 1921^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Unionist	Arthur Loyd	Unopposed
	Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General Election 1922: Abingdon^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Arthur Loyd	10,507	51.3	n/a
	Liberal	Edward Lessing	9,967	48.7	n/a
Majority			540	2.6	n/a
Turnout				77.1	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1923: Abingdon^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Edward Lessing	10,932	50.6	+1.9
	Unionist	Ralph Glyn	10,678	49.4	-1.9
Majority			254	1.2	3.8
Turnout				79.5	+2.4
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+1.9

General Election 1924: Abingdon^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ralph Glyn	13,117	56.4
	Liberal	Edward Lessing	8,805	37.8
	Labour	D F Brundril	1,355	5.8	n/a
Majority			4,312	18.6
Turnout				82.9
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1929: Abingdon^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ralph Glyn	14,094	47.4	-9.0
	Liberal	Edward Lessing	11,896	40.1	+2.3
	Labour	Arthur Essex Edgeworth Reade	3,712	12.5	+6.7
Majority			2,198	7.3	-11.3
Turnout				80.8	-2.1
	Unionist hold		Swing	-5.7

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ralph Glyn	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1935: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ralph Glyn	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

A General election was due to take place before the end of 1940, but was postponed due to the Second World War. By 1939, the following candidates had been selected to contest this constituency;

• 
  Conservative: Ralph Glyn
  


• 
  Liberal: A D Macdonald MC^[17]
  


• 
  Labour: Frank W Bourne

General Election 1945: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ralph Glyn	16,968	44.6
	Labour	Dale Hope Parkinson	11,980	31.5
	Liberal	John Henry Charles Miller	7,031	18.5
	Communist	John Clement Dix Dunman	1,668	4.4
	Independent	Charles Freake	419	1.1
Majority			4,988	13.1
Turnout				64.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ralph Glyn	20,595	46.45
	Labour	Robert Jarrett McCullagh	16,733	37.74
	Liberal	Eric Digby Tempest Vane	6,612	14.91
	Communist	John Clement Dix Dunman	396	0.89
Majority			3,862	8.71
Turnout				82.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ralph Glyn	24,774	55.47
	Labour	John EG Curthoys	19,891	44.53
Majority			4,883	10.93
Turnout				79.96
	Conservative hold		Swing

Abingdon by-election, 1953

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	22,986	53.24	-2.23
	Labour	E Castle	17,126	39.67	-4.86
	Liberal	George R Allen	3,060	7.09	n/a
Majority			5,860	13.57	+2.64
Turnout			43,172	75.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.3

General Election 1955: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	25,613	50.00
	Labour	Margaret Reid	16,979	33.15
	Liberal	George R Allen	8,634	16.85
Majority			8,634	16.85
Turnout				87.59
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	27,943	54.19
	Labour	Philip Picard	16,971	32.91
	Liberal	Verdun Isabel Perl	6,651	12.90
Majority			10,972	21.28
Turnout				80.77
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	26,707	47.98
	Labour	Frederick J Riddell	20,334	36.53
	Liberal	Verdun Isabel Perl	8,627	15.50
Majority			6,373	11.45
Turnout				80.56
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	27,749	46.3
	Labour	Alan H.S. Matterson	24,447	40.8
	Liberal	Denis H.V. Case	7,703	12.9
Majority			3,302	5.5
Turnout			59,899	82.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.0

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	36,209	54.4	+8.1
	Labour	Norman H. Price	23,136	34.8	−6.0
	Liberal	S.R. Caradoc Evans	7,198	10.8	−2.1
Majority			13,073	19.7
Turnout				77.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	34,771	46.8	−7.6
	Labour	D.E.H. Moriarty	21,028	28.3	−6.5
	Liberal	Michael Patrick Fogarty	18,458	24.9	+14.1
Majority			13,743	18.5
Turnout				83.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Airey Neave	31,956	46.6	−0.2
	Labour	D.E.H. Moriarty	21,319	31.1	+2.8
	Liberal	Michael Patrick Fogarty	15,239	22.2	−2.7
Majority			10,637	15.5
Turnout				75.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Abingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Benyon	41,211	53.8	+7.2
	Labour	A.J.D. Popper	18,920	24.7	−6.4
	Liberal	I. Blair	16,164	21.1	−1.1
	Independent	R. Pinder	381	0.5	N/A
Majority			22,291	29.1
Turnout				79.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of UK Parliamentary constituencies 1955-1974 by region

Notes

References

Bibliography

• 
  Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1972)


• 
  British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)


• 
  British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1974)


• 
  British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)


• D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)


• Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke, The House of Commons 1754–1790 (London: HMSO 1964)


• 
  J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)


• Robert H O'Byrne, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland, Part II – Berkshire (London: John Ollivier, 1848)


• 
  T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)


• 
  Henry Pelling, Social Geography of British Elections 1885–1910 (London: Macmillan, 1967)


• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)


• Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)


• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50; 2nd edition edited in one volume by F.W.S. Craig, Political Reference Publications, 1973)


• Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)


• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)