Dorking was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

centred on the towns of

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

and

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own econ ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

from 1950 – 1983. In the eight elections during its 33-year lifetime it was held by three

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

s successively.

History

The seat was created by the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 65) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parlia ...

and first contested at the 1950 general election.Representation of the People Act 1948, C.65, First Schedule, Parliamentary Constituencies. It was abolished prior to the 1983 general election.The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/417)

Boundaries

The Urban District of Dorking, the Rural District of Dorking and Horley, and in the Rural District of Guildford the parishes of Albury, East Clandon, East Horsley, Effingham, Ockham, Ripley, St Martha, Send, Shere, West Clandon, West Horsley, and Winsley. In 1983 parliamentary boundaries were realigned to those of the local government districts created in 1974: the town of Dorking became part of

Mole Valley Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking, and the district's other town is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, and just over half of the previous area was transferred to the

seat for national elections which took in territory to the north from elsewhere.

transferred to the redrawn Reigate seat.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

References

*{{Rayment-hc, d, 2, date=March 2012

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Parliamentary constituencies in Surrey (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983