East Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency)
East Cumberland is a former county constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election.
Boundaries
In 1832 the historic county of Cumberland, in north west England, was split for parliamentary purposes into two county divisions. These were the East division (with a place of election at Carlisle) and West Cumberland (where voting took place at Cockermouth). Each division returned two members to Parliament.
The only parliamentary borough included in the East division, between 1832-1885, (whose non-resident 40 shilling freeholders voted in the county constituency) was Carlisle. (Source: Stooks Smith).
History
The first two Members of Parliament for this division were the last pair of representatives for the undivided county before the 1832 general election.
On the formation of Earl Grey's administration in 1830 Sir James Graham had received the post of First Lord of the Admiralty, with a seat in the cabinet. He resigned over the Irish Church question in 1834, and eventually joined the Conservatives in 1837. His former constituents did not re-elect Sir James when he sought election as a Tory at the 1837 general election.