Penrith and Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)
# Penrith and Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Penrith and Cockermouth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Penrith and Cockermouth in Cumberland, England. It was alternatively known as Mid Cumberland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

## History

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election.

## Boundaries

The Urban Districts of Cockermouth, Keswick, and Penrith, the Rural Districts of Alston with Garrigill, and Penrith, and part of the Rural District of Cockermouth.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| - | - | - | - |
| | 1918 | James Lowther | Speaker |
| | 1921 | Cecil Lowther | Unionist |
| | 1922 | Levi Collison | Liberal |
| | 1923 | Arthur Dixey | Unionist |
| | 1935 | Alan Dower | Conservative |
| 1950 | 1950 | constituency abolished: see Penrith and The Border | constituency abolished: see Penrith and The Border |

## Elections

### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Penrith & Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Speaker | James Lowther | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Speaker win (new seat) | Speaker win (new seat) | Speaker win (new seat) | Speaker win (new seat) | Speaker win (new seat) |

Lowther stood as a Unionist candidate, and received the Coalition Coupon

### Elections in the 1920s

1921 Penrith and Cockermouth by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Cecil Lowther | 7,678 | 50.1 | New |
| | Liberal | Levi Collison | 7,647 | 49.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 31 | 0.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,325 | 74.0 | N/A |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

General election 1922: Penrith and Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | Levi Collison | 9,114 | 51.1 | N/A |
| | Unionist | Cecil Lowther | 8,736 | 48.9 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 378 | 2.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,850 | 83.0 | N/A |
| | Liberal gain from Unionist | Liberal gain from Unionist | Swing | | |

General election 1923: Penrith and Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Arthur Dixey | 9,205 | 50.9 | +2.0 |
| | Liberal | Levi Collison | 8,878 | 49.1 | -2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 327 | 1.8 | 4.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,083 | 83.2 | +0.2 |
| | Unionist gain from Liberal | Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +2.0 | |

General election 1924: Penrith and Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Arthur Dixey | 11,431 | 67.9 | +17.0 |
| | Labour | Fred Tait | 5,404 | 32.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,027 | 35.8 | +34.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,835 | 75.9 | +7.3 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

General election 1929: Penrith and Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Arthur Dixey | 10,595 | 45.2 | -22.7 |
| | Liberal | Arthur Holgate | 8,750 | 37.4 | New |
| | Labour | Archibald Dodd | 4,073 | 17.4 | -14.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,845 | 7.8 | -28.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,418 | 85.3 | +9.4 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Penrith & Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Arthur Dixey | 12,904 | 53.1 | +7.9 |
| | Liberal | Arthur Holgate | 11,412 | 46.9 | +9.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,492 | 6.2 | -1.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,316 | 86.6 | +1.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

General election 1935: Penrith & Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Alan Dower | 14,496 | 64.3 | +10.2 |
| | Labour | Harold Smith | 8,036 | 35.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,460 | 28.6 | +22.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,532 | 78.4 | -8.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

* Conservative: Alan Dower
* Liberal: William Jackson
* Labour: Harold Smith

### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Penrith & Cockermouth :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Alan Dower | 9,198 | 37.8 | -26.5 |
| | Liberal | Noel Francis Newsome | 6,579 | 27.0 | New |
| | Labour | Leonard Foster Browne | 6,350 | 26.1 | -9.6 |
| | National | Tom Mitchell | 2,204 | 9.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,619 | 10.8 | -17.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,331 | 79.3 | +0.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |
