Cricklade was a parliamentary constituency named after the town of Cricklade in Wiltshire.
From 1295 until the general election of 1885, Cricklade was a parliamentary borough, returning two members of parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, previously to the House of Commons of England and House of Commons of Great Britain.
Initially this consisted of only the town of Cricklade, but from 1782 the vote was extended to the surrounding countryside as a punishment for the borough's corruption. The extended area came to include the village of Swindon, which later grew into a large town with the coming of the railways in the 19th century.
From the 1885 general election the borough was abolished, but the name was transferred to a county division of Wiltshire covering much the same area, and electing a single MP. This constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election: Cricklade joined the Chippenham constituency and a new Swindon constituency was created.
1832âÂÂ1885: The hundreds of Highworth, Cricklade, Staple, Kingsbridge and Malmesbury, except the parliamentary borough of Malmesbury.
1885âÂÂ1918: The Sessional Divisions of Cricklade and Swindon.
Gordon was appointed a Commissioner for the Affairs of India, causing a by-election.
General Election 1914âÂÂ15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;