Croydon (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Croydon Borough constituency |
|
|---|---|
| Created: | 1885 |
| Abolished: | 1918 |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| Members: | one |
Croydon is a former constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
This constituency was a parliamentary borough covering an area based on the town of Croydon. Croydon had been a Municipal Borough from 1883 and was to become a County Borough in 1889. By 1902, at the latest, the parliamentary and local government boroughs had the same boundaries.
The Royal Commission on London Traffic, which reported in 1906, included the borough in its definition of Greater London. It is part of the northern section of the historic county of Surrey, which was included in Greater London after 1965.
From 1918 Croydon was divided into two borough constituencies - Croydon North and Croydon South.
[edit] History
A large part of the inhabitants of this constituency commuted to work in the City of London. It was however an area where attendance at Nonconformist chapels exceeded that at Anglican churches, according to the Daily News survey of 1902. By the time of the 1911 census a larger artisan population had moved in so the social status of the borough was declining.
The constituency was in general Conservative, but less strongly so than many suburban commuter seats around London. The Labour Party secured 20% of the vote, in a three way contest, in the 1906 election.
[edit] Members of Parliament
| Year | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | constituency created | ||
| 1885 | William Grantham | Conservative | |
| 1886 | Hon. Sidney Herbert a | Conservative | |
| 1895 | Rt Hon. Charles Thomson Ritchie | Conservative | |
| 1906 | Rt Hon. Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster | Liberal Unionist | |
| 1909 | Sir Robert Trotter Hermon-Hodge, Bt | Conservative | |
| 1910 | Ian Zachary Malcolm | Conservative | |
| 1918 | constituency abolished - subsequently see Croydon North and Croydon South | ||
Note:-
- a Herbert's Wikipedia article describes him as a Liberal Unionist. However both Craig and the Who's Who of British Members of Parliament categorise him as a Conservative. He was a Conservative MP before 1885. It should also be noted that he was first elected MP for Croydon in a by-election on 27 January 1886, which was before the formal Liberal Party split over Home Rule. As Herbert was opposed by a Liberal candidate in the by-election it is likely that he stood as a Conservative candidate, as Craig believes.
[edit] See also
[edit] Election results
[edit] References
- Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
- British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
- Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910. by Henry Pelling (Macmillan 1967)
- Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
- Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
Note: In 1906 this constituency was close enough to London to be considered part of a Greater London area. From 1965 Croydon formed part of the administrative area of Greater London. Nevertheless at the time it existed the constituency was a Surrey borough, so it was in the South East region rather than the London region. Both regional historic constituency categories apply.
