Maidstone — UK General Election Results

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

Maidstone was won by Conservative at the 1992 general election, with a majority of 16,286 votes over Liberal Democrat. This page covers every general election in Maidstone from 1832 to 1992.

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, 1832–1992

Election	Elected	Votes	Vote Share	Runner-up	Majority	Turnout
1832	Abraham Wildey Robarts (Whig); Charles James Barnett (Whig)	469	35.9% (top seat)	Wyndham Lewis (Conservative)	47 (3.4 pts)	62.8%
1835	Wyndham Lewis (Conservative); Abraham Wildey Robarts (Whig)	398	41.7% (top seat)	Charles James Barnett (Whig)	65 (5.1 pts)	51.4%
1837	Wyndham Lewis (Conservative); Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative)	668	38.4% (top seat)	Thomas Perronet Thompson (Radical)	109 (5.4 pts)	72.7%
1841	Alexander James Beresford Hope (Conservative); George Dodd (Conservative)	725	40.1% (top seat)	David Salomons (Radical)	307 (16.1 pts)	57.5%
1847	Alexander James Beresford Hope (Conservative); George Dodd (Conservative)	0	0.0% (top seat)	None (None)	None (None pts)	5.7%
1852	James Whatman (Radical); George Dodd (Conservative)	709	39.6% (top seat)	William Lee (Radical)	125 (5.8 pts)	61.1%
1857	Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope (Conservative); Edward Scott (Conservative)	759	27.6% (top seat)	William Lee (Radical)	70 (2.4 pts)	90.1%
1859	William Lee (Liberal); Charles Buxton (Liberal)	776	25.4% (top seat)	John Wardlaw (Conservative)	25 (0.8 pts)	82.6%
1865	William Lee (Liberal); James Whatman (Liberal)	867	25.7% (top seat)	Edward Ladd Betts (Conservative)	29 (0.9 pts)	92.9%
1868	William Lee (Liberal); James Whatman (Liberal)	1,546	26.6% (top seat)	William Foster White (Conservative)	134 (2.3 pts)	86.2%
1874	John Lubbock (Liberal); Sydney Hedley Waterlow (Liberal)	1,491	26.7% (top seat)	Alexander Henry Ro (Conservative)	77 (1.3 pts)	82.9%
1880	Alexander Henry Ro (Conservative); John Evans Freke-Aylmer (Conservative)	1,832	51.8% (top seat)	None (None)	None (None pts)	49.0%
1885	Alexander Henry Ross (Conservative)	2,184	54.3%	Martin Andrew Hume (Liberal)	345 (8.6 pts)	94.1%
1886	Alexander Henry Ross (Conservative)	1,917	54.5%	Thomas Proctor Baptie (Liberal)	314 (8.9 pts)	82.4%
1892	Fiennes Stanley Wykeham Cornwallis (Conservative)	2,443	60.0%	Thomas Willans Nussey (Liberal)	816 (20.1 pts)	86.1%
1895	Frederick Seager Hunt (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1900	John Barker (Liberal)	2,201	50.4%	Fiennes Stanley Wykeham Cornwallis (Conservative)	38 (0.9 pts)	86.1%
1906	Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart (Conservative)	2,841	51.2%	Francis Henry Evans (Liberal)	132 (2.4 pts)	94.5%
Jan 1910	Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart (Conservative)	3,094	52.1%	Henry Vivian Phillipps (Liberal)	247 (4.2 pts)	94.9%
Dec 1910	Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart (Conservative)	2,906	50.6%	Henry Vivian Phillipps (Liberal)	70 (1.2 pts)	91.7%
1918	Carlyon Bellairs (Unionist)	11,931	65.5%	Frederick George Burgess (Labour)	5,654 (31.1 pts)	59.2%
1922	Carlyon Bellairs (Unionist)	8,928	34.6%	George Foster Clark (Liberal)	33 (0.1 pts)	78.5%
1923	Carlyon Bellairs (Unionist)	11,244	41.9%	George Foster Clark (Liberal)	2,197 (8.2 pts)	78.9%
1924	Carlyon Wilfroy Bellairs (Unionist)	16,121	66.3%	Frederick Seymour Cocks (Labour)	7,929 (32.6 pts)	69.8%
1929	Carlyon Wilfroy Bellairs (Unionist)	14,254	40.8%	John Morgan (Labour)	3,835 (11.0 pts)	77.0%
1931	Alfred Charles Bossom (Conservative)	27,394	80.2%	Gertrude Speedwell Massingham (Labour)	20,624 (60.4 pts)	72.3%
1935	Alfred Charles Bossom (Conservative)	24,644	72.5%	John Warren MacAlpine (Labour)	15,304 (45.0 pts)	67.5%
1945	Alfred Charles Bossom (Conservative)	21,320	53.3%	Otto Leslie Shaw (Labour)	3,025 (7.6 pts)	70.9%
1950	Alfred Charles Bossom (Conservative)	25,008	51.1%	Henry Albert White (Labour)	6,631 (13.6 pts)	81.8%
1951	Alfred Charles Bossom (Conservative)	27,606	56.6%	Henry Albert White (Labour)	6,447 (13.2 pts)	80.5%
1955	Sir Alfred Charles Bossom (Conservative)	27,267	57.9%	Otto Shaw (Labour)	7,406 (15.7 pts)	77.1%
1959	John Julius Wells (Conservative)	30,115	60.5%	AB Spencer Soper (Labour)	10,463 (21.0 pts)	78.6%
1964	John Julius Wells (Conservative)	25,079	46.9%	James Daly (Labour)	7,936 (14.8 pts)	78.0%
1966	John Wells (Conservative)	29,208	54.7%	Michael O'Flaherty (Labour)	4,994 (9.3 pts)	74.3%
1970	John Wells (Conservative)	31,316	51.4%	Kenneth Graham (Labour)	12,843 (21.1 pts)	72.2%
Feb 1974	John Wells (Conservative)	31,334	44.1%	Edward Harrison (Liberal)	7,656 (10.8 pts)	81.3%
Oct 1974	John Wells (Conservative)	28,852	44.2%	Julian Burnett (Liberal)	10,271 (15.7 pts)	74.1%
1979	John Wells (Conservative)	37,727	52.6%	Julian Burnett (Liberal)	21,051 (29.3 pts)	77.0%
1983	John Wells (Conservative)	26,420	50.9%	Julian Burnett (SDP-Liberal Alliance)	7,226 (13.9 pts)	73.8%
1987	Ann Widdecombe (Conservative)	29,100	52.4%	Christopher John Sutton-Mattocks (SDP-Liberal Alliance)	10,364 (18.7 pts)	76.0%
1992	Ann Widdecombe (Conservative)	31,611	54.2%	Paula Gulen Yates (Liberal Democrat)	16,286 (27.9 pts)	80.1%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1832 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Abraham Wildey Robarts	Whig	500	35.9%	Yes
Charles James Barnett	Whig	469	33.7%	Yes
Wyndham Lewis	Conservative	422	30.3%	No

1835 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Wyndham Lewis	Conservative	529	41.7%	Yes
Abraham Wildey Robarts	Whig	398	31.4%	Yes
Charles James Barnett	Whig	333	26.3%	No
Matthias Prime Lucas	Conservative	5	0.4%	No
E Hildyard	Conservative	3	0.2%	No

1837 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Wyndham Lewis	Conservative	782	38.4%	Yes
Benjamin Disraeli	Conservative	668	32.8%	Yes
Thomas Perronet Thompson	Radical	559	27.5%	No
Thomas Erskine Perry	Radical	25	1.2%	No

1841 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alexander James Beresford Hope	Conservative	765	40.1%	Yes
George Dodd	Conservative	725	38.0%	Yes
David Salomons	Radical	418	21.9%	No

1847 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alexander James Beresford Hope	Conservative	0	0.0%	Yes
George Dodd	Conservative	0	0.0%	Yes

1852 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
James Whatman	Radical	848	39.6%	Yes
George Dodd	Conservative	709	33.1%	Yes
William Lee	Radical	584	27.3%	No

1857 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope	Conservative	801	27.6%	Yes
Edward Scott	Conservative	759	26.1%	Yes
William Lee	Radical	689	23.7%	No
Humphrey Francis St-John-Mildmay	Whig	655	22.6%	No

1859 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Lee	Liberal	776	25.4%	Yes
Charles Buxton	Liberal	776	25.4%	Yes
John Wardlaw	Conservative	751	24.6%	No
Egerton Vernon-Harcourt	Conservative	749	24.5%	No

1865 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Lee	Liberal	869	25.7%	Yes
James Whatman	Liberal	867	25.7%	Yes
Edward Ladd Betts	Conservative	838	24.8%	No
John Wardlaw	Conservative	801	23.7%	No

1868 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Lee	Liberal	1,569	26.6%	Yes
James Whatman	Liberal	1,546	26.2%	Yes
William Foster White	Conservative	1,412	23.9%	No
George Parbury	Conservative	1,369	23.2%	No

1874 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Lubbock	Liberal	1,558	26.7%	Yes
Sydney Hedley Waterlow	Liberal	1,491	25.6%	Yes
Alexander Henry Ro	Conservative	1,414	24.3%	No
John Constantine Stanley	Conservative	1,365	23.4%	No

1880 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alexander Henry Ro	Conservative	1,965	51.8%	Yes
John Evans Freke-Aylmer	Conservative	1,832	48.2%	Yes

1885

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alexander Henry Ross	Conservative	2,184	54.3%	Yes
Martin Andrew Hume	Liberal	1,839	45.7%	No

1886

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alexander Henry Ross	Conservative	1,917	54.5%	Yes
Thomas Proctor Baptie	Liberal	1,603	45.5%	No

1892

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Fiennes Stanley Wykeham Cornwallis	Conservative	2,443	60.0%	Yes
Thomas Willans Nussey	Liberal	1,627	40.0%	No

1895

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Frederick Seager Hunt	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1900

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Barker	Liberal	2,201	50.4%	Yes
Fiennes Stanley Wykeham Cornwallis	Conservative	2,163	49.6%	No

1906

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart	Conservative	2,841	51.2%	Yes
Francis Henry Evans	Liberal	2,709	48.8%	No

Jan 1910

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart	Conservative	3,094	52.1%	Yes
Henry Vivian Phillipps	Liberal	2,847	47.9%	No

Dec 1910

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart	Conservative	2,906	50.6%	Yes
Henry Vivian Phillipps	Liberal	2,836	49.4%	No

1918

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Carlyon Bellairs	Unionist	11,931	65.5%	Yes
Frederick George Burgess	Labour	6,277	34.5%	No

1922

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Carlyon Bellairs	Unionist	8,928	34.6%	Yes
George Foster Clark	Liberal	8,895	34.4%	No
Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton	Labour	8,004	31.0%	No

1923

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Carlyon Bellairs	Unionist	11,244	41.9%	Yes
George Foster Clark	Liberal	9,047	33.7%	No
Frederick Seymour Cocks	Labour	6,558	24.4%	No

1924

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Carlyon Wilfroy Bellairs	Unionist	16,121	66.3%	Yes
Frederick Seymour Cocks	Labour	8,192	33.7%	No

1929

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Carlyon Wilfroy Bellairs	Unionist	14,254	40.8%	Yes
John Morgan	Labour	10,419	29.9%	No
Thomas Fairchild Day	Liberal	10,222	29.3%	No

1931

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alfred Charles Bossom	Conservative	27,394	80.2%	Yes
Gertrude Speedwell Massingham	Labour	6,770	19.8%	No

1935

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alfred Charles Bossom	Conservative	24,644	72.5%	Yes
John Warren MacAlpine	Labour	9,340	27.5%	No

1945

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alfred Charles Bossom	Conservative	21,320	53.3%	Yes
Otto Leslie Shaw	Labour	18,295	45.7%	No
George Murray	Democratic	416	1.0%	No

1950

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alfred Charles Bossom	Conservative	25,008	51.1%	Yes
Henry Albert White	Labour	18,377	37.6%	No
Thomas Frederick Rice	Liberal	5,546	11.3%	No

1951

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alfred Charles Bossom	Conservative	27,606	56.6%	Yes
Henry Albert White	Labour	21,159	43.4%	No

1955

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Sir Alfred Charles Bossom	Conservative	27,267	57.9%	Yes
Otto Shaw	Labour	19,861	42.1%	No

1959

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Julius Wells	Conservative	30,115	60.5%	Yes
AB Spencer Soper	Labour	19,652	39.5%	No

1964

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Julius Wells	Conservative	25,079	46.9%	Yes
James Daly	Labour	17,143	32.1%	No
Stanley Blow	Liberal	11,244	21.0%	No

1966

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wells	Conservative	29,208	54.7%	Yes
Michael O'Flaherty	Labour	24,214	45.3%	No

1970

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wells	Conservative	31,316	51.4%	Yes
Kenneth Graham	Labour	18,473	30.3%	No
Stanley Blow	Liberal	11,167	18.3%	No

Feb 1974

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wells	Conservative	31,334	44.1%	Yes
Edward Harrison	Liberal	23,678	33.3%	No
Richard Yeoman Arndell	Labour	16,006	22.5%	No

Oct 1974

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wells	Conservative	28,852	44.2%	Yes
Julian Burnett	Liberal	18,581	28.5%	No
Kenneth Graham	Labour	17,828	27.3%	No

1979

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wells	Conservative	37,727	52.6%	Yes
Julian Burnett	Liberal	16,676	23.2%	No
Richard Evans	Labour	16,632	23.2%	No
Arthur Whiting	National Front	703	1.0%	No

1983

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Wells	Conservative	26,420	50.9%	Yes
Julian Burnett	SDP-Liberal Alliance	19,194	37.0%	No
Gordon Thomas Carey	Labour	6,280	12.1%	No

1987

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Ann Widdecombe	Conservative	29,100	52.4%	Yes
Christopher John Sutton-Mattocks	SDP-Liberal Alliance	18,736	33.8%	No
Kevin Peter Brooks	Labour	6,935	12.5%	No
Kemp, Penelope Anne	Green	717	1.3%	No

1992

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Ann Widdecombe	Conservative	31,611	54.2%	Yes
Paula Gulen Yates	Liberal Democrat	15,325	26.3%	No
Anne Frances Helen Logan	Labour	10,517	18.0%	No
Penelope Anne Kemp	Green	707	1.2%	No
Frederick John Ingram	Natural Law	172	0.3%	No

Margin Over Time

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

Trend

Maidstone has been contested at 41 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Whig, Conservative, Radical, Liberal, Unionist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Maidstone in the 1992 general election?

Conservative won Maidstone in 1992 with 31,611 votes (54.2%), a majority of 16,286 votes over Liberal Democrat in second place.

Which parties have won Maidstone since 1832?

Since 1832, Maidstone has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Radical, Unionist, Whig.

What was the closest result in Maidstone?

The closest result on record for Maidstone was 1922, when Unionist beat Liberal by just 33 votes (0.1 percentage points).

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

Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Maidstone 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.