Gatton (UK Parliament constituency)

Gatton was a parliamentary borough in Surrey, England, that existed from 1450 until the Reform Act 1832. It was notorious as a rotten borough, meaning it had a very small electorate that was easily controlled, and therefore offered significant opportunities for patronage.

Historically, the manor of Gatton was associated with the ownership of the borough. The electorate consisted of the owners of a small number of burgage tenements, making it easy for a single wealthy individual to control the election of both Members of Parliament (MPs). In some periods, there were as few as seven electors.

The borough returned two MPs to the House of Commons. Due to its negligible electorate and the consequent ease with which it could be bought and sold, Gatton became a symbol of the corruption and unfairness of the pre-Reform parliamentary system. Its most famous owner and patron was probably Sir Mark Wood, who made extensive improvements to the Gatton Park estate.

The borough was abolished by the Reform Act 1832, which eliminated rotten boroughs and redistributed parliamentary seats to more populous areas.