| Wednesbury | |
|---|---|
| Former Borough constituency | |
| for the House of Commons | |
| County | Staffordshire |
| 1868–1974 | |
| Number of members | One |
| Created from | South Staffordshire |
Wednesbury was a borough constituency in England's Black Country which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.
Wednesbury became a Parliamentary Borough under the Reform Act 1867, taking territory that previously belonged to the constituency of South Staffordshire. Initially the new constituency also included the parishes of West Bromwich, Tipton and Darlaston[1].
A constituency called "Wednesbury" has been proposed by the Boundary Commission for England as part of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which began in 2011 [2]. These proposals are open to public consultation and will be voted on by the Commons in 2013.
Contents |
The local people were inclined to vote Liberal so there were several contenders for Liberal candidate of whom Alexander Brogden was the man selected. He was by that time the senior partner in John Brogden and Sons, coal and ironminers, smelters and railway contractors. The other candidates were: Thomas Eades Walker, of the Patent Shaft Works, Conservative and Dr Kenealy, Independent[1][3].
The nominations were made on Monday, 16 November 1868 from a wooden husting erected on the South side of the Market Place. It was a lively occasion with all space taken, including windows and housetops. There was rioting and special constables had to be sworn in. Each candidate arrived in style and made a speech. By a show of hands organised by the Returning Officer, it was decided that the election would be on the next day[1][3][4].
On Election Day 300 police were marched into the borough but again there was rioting. This was the last election at which voting was open. The state of the voting was collected hourly from the different booths by mounted messengers and announced. 10,995 voted out of 15,000 voters[1][3][4]. The result was:
In the 1874 election Mr Walker secured one of two memberships for the constituency of East Worcestershire so the new Conservative candidate for Wednesbury was Richard Mills, a Darlaston Ironmaster. The result was[1]:
In the general election of 1880, Mr F. W. Isaacson opposed Mr. Brogden but tried to withdraw as he wasn’t getting much support. He was too late however and some votes were cast for him[1]:
The Re-distribution Bill of 1884 took West Bromwich out of the Borough and erected it into a new Borough by itself. Alexander Brogden’s liquidation was gazetted in January of the same year so at the General Election of November 1885 the Liberals replaced him with the Hon. Philip James Stanhope. The Conservatives put up Wilson Lloyd. This time the Conservative won[1]:
Early next year Mr Gladstone challenged the constituencies with his First Home Rule Bill. At Wednesbury the same two candidates went to the poll and the result was[1]:
The same question was fought out in 1892 and the result was[1]:
In 1895 the candidates were Walford David Green, a barrister and grandson of Thomas Davis, ironmaster of Hill Top, who stood as Unionist and Conservative and Charles Roberts, university lecturer, who stood as a Gladstonian Home Ruler. The result was[1]:
The 1900 General Election was an appeal to the country to support the Boer War. The Liberals chose Enoch Horton, a Darlaston manufacturer. However Home Rule had so damaged the Liberal Party that they lost again[1]: