Lincolnshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Lincolnshire was a historic county constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, electing two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system. It was abolished in 1832 under the Reform Act.

History

Before 1832, parliamentary representation in England and Wales was notoriously uneven. Large, sparsely populated areas could have the same representation as burgeoning industrial towns. Lincolnshire, as a large rural county, traditionally elected two MPs. The county franchise was vested in forty-shilling freeholders, meaning men who owned freehold property worth at least forty shillings per year. This effectively limited the vote to the wealthier landowning classes.

The parliamentary borough of Lincoln also separately returned two MPs. Thus, Lincolnshire and Lincoln together returned four members to Parliament.

The Reform Act of 1832 significantly altered parliamentary boundaries and representation. The size of county constituencies was increased, and the previously unitary Lincolnshire constituency was divided into two: the North Lincolnshire and South Lincolnshire constituencies, each returning two members. This aimed to better reflect the population distribution and burgeoning industrial growth in the region. The borough of Stamford within Lincolnshire also maintained its representation. The 1832 Reform Act sought to re-allocate representation and standardise voting qualifications.

Abolition

The Lincolnshire constituency was abolished as a result of the Reform Act 1832, which redistributed parliamentary seats to reflect demographic shifts and sought to enfranchise a wider segment of the population.