 This was the second Protectorate Parliament that followed Oliver Cromwell's Instrument of Government that declared Cromwell Lord Protector.The Instrument was an attempt to redistribute seats on a more equitable basis and towns such as Leeds and Manchester gained representation as a result, but this ended following the Restoration.Lancashire had a total of fourteen Members in the unreformed House of Commons, and this remained the pattern

The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, in 1832.