Boston — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Boston was won by Conservative at the Dec 1910 general election, with a majority of 163 votes over Liberal. This page covers every general election in Boston from 1832 to Dec 1910.

This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.

Full Election History, 1832–Dec 1910

Election	Elected	Votes	Vote Share	Runner-up	Majority	Turnout
1832	John Wilks (Radical); Benjamin Handley (Whig)	433	39.3% (top seat)	John Studholme Brownrigg (Conservative)	80 (6.2 pts)	74.5%
1835	John Studholme Brownrigg (Conservative); John Wilks (Radical)	356	44.0% (top seat)	Benjamin Handley (Whig)	35 (2.9 pts)	64.4%
1837	John Studholme Brownrigg (Conservative); James Duke (Whig)	442	32.6% (top seat)	Benjamin Handley (Whig)	92 (6.5 pts)	73.7%
1841	John Studholme Brownrigg (Conservative); James Duke (Whig)	515	34.9% (top seat)	Charles Alexander Wood (Conservative)	49 (3.2 pts)	65.8%
1847	James Duke (Whig); Benjamin Bond Cabbell (Conservative)	466	42.3% (top seat)	David William Wire (Radical)	127 (9.1 pts)	64.4%
1852	Gilbert Henry Heathcote (Whig); Benjamin Bond Cabbell (Conservative)	490	33.4% (top seat)	John Alexander Hankey (Whig)	53 (3.2 pts)	83.1%
1857	Herbert Ingram (Radical); William Henry Adams (Peelite)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1859	Herbert Ingram (Liberal); Meaburn Staniland (Liberal)	593	37.3% (top seat)	John Hardwick Hollway (Conservative)	141 (8.5 pts)	77.3%
1865	John Wingfield Malcolm (Conservative); Thomas Parry (Liberal)	465	41.3% (top seat)	Meaburn Staniland (Liberal)	12 (0.8 pts)	71.7%
1868	John Wingfield Malcolm (Conservative); Thomas Collins (Conservative)	1,119	29.8% (top seat)	Meaburn Staniland (Liberal)	90 (2.1 pts)	86.7%
1874	William James Ingram (Liberal); John Wingfield Malcolm (Conservative)	996	37.1% (top seat)	Thomas Parry (Liberal)	2 (0.1 pts)	80.0%
1880	Thomas Garfit (Conservative); William James Ingram (Liberal)	1,367	26.6% (top seat)	George Fydell Rowley (Conservative)	17 (0.3 pts)	85.8%
1885	William James Ingram (Liberal)	1,295	56.5%	Nehemiah Learoyd (Conservative)	299 (13.1 pts)	84.3%
1886	Henry John Atkinson (Conservative)	1,192	51.0%	William James Ingram (Liberal)	48 (2.1 pts)	85.9%
1892	William James Ingram (Liberal)	1,355	51.2%	Gilbert Heathcote Drummond Willoughby (Conservative)	62 (2.3 pts)	86.7%
1895	William Garfit (Conservative)	1,633	56.9%	William James Ingram (Liberal)	396 (13.8 pts)	87.0%
1900	William Garfit (Conservative)	1,710	59.7%	William Turner Simonds (Liberal)	555 (19.4 pts)	83.1%
1906	George Henry Faber (Liberal)	1,801	96.1%	William Garfit (Conservative)	107 (5.7 pts)	89.7%
Jan 1910	Charles Harvey Dixon (Conservative)	1,975	53.5%	Henry Simpson Lunn (Liberal)	260 (7.0 pts)	91.4%
Dec 1910	Charles Harvey Dixon (Conservative)	1,875	52.3%	Fitzroy Hemphill (Liberal)	163 (4.5 pts)	88.9%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1832 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wilks	Radical	509	39.3%	Yes
Benjamin Handley	Whig	433	33.4%	Yes
John Studholme Brownrigg	Conservative	353	27.3%	No

1835 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Studholme Brownrigg	Conservative	532	44.0%	Yes
John Wilks	Radical	356	29.4%	Yes
Benjamin Handley	Whig	321	26.6%	No

1837 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Studholme Brownrigg	Conservative	459	32.6%	Yes
James Duke	Whig	442	31.4%	Yes
Benjamin Handley	Whig	350	24.9%	No
William Rickford Collett	Conservative	156	11.1%	No

1841 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Studholme Brownrigg	Conservative	527	34.9%	Yes
James Duke	Whig	515	34.2%	Yes
Charles Alexander Wood	Conservative	466	30.9%	No

1847 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
James Duke	Whig	590	42.3%	Yes
Benjamin Bond Cabbell	Conservative	466	33.4%	Yes
David William Wire	Radical	339	24.3%	No

1852 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Gilbert Henry Heathcote	Whig	547	33.4%	Yes
Benjamin Bond Cabbell	Conservative	490	29.9%	Yes
John Alexander Hankey	Whig	437	26.6%	No
Thomson Hankey	Whig	148	9.0%	No
William Henry Adams	Peelite	18	1.1%	No

1857 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Herbert Ingram	Radical	Unopposed		Yes
William Henry Adams	Peelite	Unopposed		Yes

1859 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Herbert Ingram	Liberal	621	37.3%	Yes
Meaburn Staniland	Liberal	593	35.6%	Yes
John Hardwick Hollway	Conservative	452	27.1%	No

1865 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wingfield Malcolm	Conservative	646	41.3%	Yes
Thomas Parry	Liberal	465	29.7%	Yes
Meaburn Staniland	Liberal	453	29.0%	No

1868 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wingfield Malcolm	Conservative	1,306	29.8%	Yes
Thomas Collins	Conservative	1,119	25.5%	Yes
Meaburn Staniland	Liberal	1,029	23.5%	No
Thomas Mason Jones	Liberal	926	21.1%	No

1874 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William James Ingram	Liberal	1,572	37.1%	Yes
John Wingfield Malcolm	Conservative	996	23.5%	Yes
Thomas Parry	Liberal	994	23.4%	No
Thomas Collins	Conservative	679	16.0%	No

1880 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Thomas Garfit	Conservative	1,412	26.6%	Yes
William James Ingram	Liberal	1,367	25.7%	Yes
George Fydell Rowley	Conservative	1,350	25.4%	No
Sydney Charles Buxton	Liberal	1,182	22.3%	No

1885

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William James Ingram	Liberal	1,295	56.5%	Yes
Nehemiah Learoyd	Conservative	996	43.5%	No

1886

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Henry John Atkinson	Conservative	1,192	51.0%	Yes
William James Ingram	Liberal	1,144	49.0%	No

1892

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William James Ingram	Liberal	1,355	51.2%	Yes
Gilbert Heathcote Drummond Willoughby	Conservative	1,293	48.8%	No

1895

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Garfit	Conservative	1,633	56.9%	Yes
William James Ingram	Liberal	1,237	43.1%	No

1900

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Garfit	Conservative	1,710	59.7%	Yes
William Turner Simonds	Liberal	1,155	40.3%	No

1906

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Henry Faber	Liberal	1,801	96.1%	Yes
William Garfit	Conservative	1,694	90.4%	No

Jan 1910

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Charles Harvey Dixon	Conservative	1,975	53.5%	Yes
Henry Simpson Lunn	Liberal	1,715	46.5%	No

Dec 1910

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Charles Harvey Dixon	Conservative	1,875	52.3%	Yes
Fitzroy Hemphill	Liberal	1,712	47.7%	No

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Boston has been contested at 20 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Radical, Whig, Conservative, Peelite, Liberal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Boston in the Dec 1910 general election?

Conservative won Boston in Dec 1910 with 1,875 votes (52.3%), a majority of 163 votes over Liberal in second place.

Which parties have won Boston since 1832?

Since 1832, Boston has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Peelite, Radical, Whig.

What was the closest result in Boston?

The closest result on record for Boston was 1874, when Liberal beat Liberal by just 2 votes (0.1 percentage points).

Did Boston ever elect more than one MP at a time?

Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Boston elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.