UNITED KINGDOM ELECTORATES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2215, 2 September 1889, Page 2

UNITED KINGDOM ELECTORATES

Ab the number of members m the New Zealand House of Reproaentativea is to be reduced tho following pait culara of the number of electors m constituencies In the United Kingdom will be interesting ;— A return issued of the number of electors on the registera now In force_ln the varl"0119 eonßtiraenoie.l>Rhinj__ted Kingdom -hows that there are al ogether 5,982,353 qualified voters. Somo of thoae must appaar iv more thai*, ono Hat, but wo may perhaps roughly estimate the actual electorate at five millions and a half ; hence it follows that the oountry is really governed by considerably less than onesixth of its population. The average number for each member ia 8928, but the distribution varies considerably. The average for an English or Welßb conft taenoy is 10,003. In Scotland it is 7973 ; and m Ireland 7325. The variations from these ayeragep are very marked, though of course they are insignificant m comparieou with the grotesque Inequalities of prereform days. Among the oountfes, tho Haudaworth Division of Stafford heads the list with 18,353 electors, aod It is followed by the Shipley Division of the West Riding, the Wimbledon Divi~on of Surrey, aad the Bottle Division of Lanoasblre, eaoh of whloh oaa boast of more th.n 15 COO. Rutland forms the othep extreme/ oontalnlng. aa It dooo, only 4546 voter?, and It la hard pressed by Radnor with 4581. Another small ooriatituenoy Is Southern Huntingdon, with 55.75 electors, Bath, ATlrhvleas than fOQO voter*, returns two members ; while Brighton with 15.307 and Huddersfield with 15,338 h»ve eaoh to be content with one. The smallest boroogh lv G«at Britain Is Durham, where the register contains only a338 names, though eleven other plaoes In England and Scotland h«ve leas than 3000. It Is across St Georgia Channel, however, that the smallest constituencies of all ara to be found— !u tbq boroughs of Galway and Kilkenny, whloh re-peotlvely boait of oolv 1598 aod 17°2 elector*. '