Richmond (Surrey) (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with the Richmond constituency in Yorkshire.

Richmond
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County 1918-1965 Surrey
1965-1983 Greater London
Major settlements Richmond
1918–1983
Number of members One
Replaced by Richmond and Barnes
Created from Kingston

Richmond was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Richmond, which is in the north-western part of the historic county of Surrey and (since 1965) in Greater London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election. It had formerly been the northern part of the Kingston division.

The seat was abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was replaced by the new Richmond & Barnes constituency.

Boundaries

In 1918 the seat was created as a borough constituency of Surrey. It was in the north-west corner of the historic county and adjoined the south bank of the River Thames. It comprised the Municipal Borough of Richmond, as well as the Urban Districts of Barnes and Ham.

In 1932 the Barnes Urban District was upgraded to a Municipal Borough. In the following year most of Ham was incorporated in the Municipal Borough of Richmond. These administrative changes did not lead to any immediate change in the constituency boundaries.

In the redistribution of parliamentary seats, which took effect in 1950, this constituency was not significantly changed. It was defined in the Representation of the People Act 1948 as comprising the Municipal Boroughs of Barnes and Richmond. There were some minor boundary changes to the two Municipal Boroughs, which affected the parliamentary seat from 1964 (see S.I. 1960/465).

In 1965 the area of the constituency became the southern part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London.

When the next redistribution of parliamentary seats took effect in 1974, the constituency was again broadly unchanged. It was defined as comprising the following wards of the London Borough – Barnes, East Sheen, Ham, Petersham, Kew, Mortlake, Palewell, Richmond Hill and Richmond Town.

Members of Parliament

EventMember[1]Party
1918 Clifford Blackburn Edgar Coalition Conservative
1922 Harry Thomas Alfred Becker Independent Conservative
1923 Conservative
1924 Sir Newton James Moore Conservative
1932 by-election Sir William Ray Conservative
1937 by-election Sir George Harvie-Watt Conservative
1959 Sir Anthony Royle Conservative
1983 constituency abolished: see Richmond & Barnes

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Richmond, Surrey[2]

Electorate 32,900

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist
  • Clifford Blackburn Edgar
 8,364 47.4 n/a
Independent Norah Dacre Fox 3,615 20.4 n/a
Liberal R. James Morrison 3,491 19.7 n/a
Independent William Walter Crotch 2,220 12.5 n/a
Majority 4,749 27.0 n/a
Turnout 53.8 n/a
Unionist win

Elections in the 1920s

Margery Corbett Ashby
General Election 1922: Richmond (Surrey)[3]

Electorate 34,719

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Unionist Harry Thomas Alfred Becker 12,075 50.6
Unionist Clifford Blackburn Edgar 6,032 25.3
Liberal Margery Irene Corbett Ashby 5,765 24.1
Majority 6,043 25.3
Turnout 68.8
General Election 1923: Richmond (Surrey)[4]

Electorate 35,042

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Harry Thomas Alfred Becker 13,112 63.0 +12.4
Liberal Margery Irene Corbett Ashby 7,702 37.0 +12.9
Majority 26.0 +.07
Turnout 59.4 -9.4
Sir Newton Moore
General Election 1924: Richmond, Surrey[5]

Electorate 35,704

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Hon. Sir Newton James Moore 19,948 76.8 +13.8
Labour H Parker 6,034 23.2 n/a
Majority 13,914 53.6 +27.6
Turnout 72.8 +13.4
Unionist hold Swing n/a
General Election 1929: Richmond, Surrey[6]

Electorate 55,936

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Hon. Sir Newton James Moore 23,148
Labour Philip Butler 9,520
Liberal William Henry Williamson 6,802
Majority 13,628
Turnout
Unionist hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Richmond (Surrey)

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Newton James Moore 35,333 84.54
Labour JL Thomson 6,460 15.46
Majority 28,873 69.09
Turnout 71.97
Richmond-upon-Thames by-election, 1932

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir William Ray unopposed n/a n/a
General Election 1935: Richmond (Surrey)

Electorate 59,322

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir William Ray 30,433 73.53
Labour L Gassman 10,953 26.47
Majority 19,480 47.07
Turnout 69.77
Richmond-upon-Thames by-election, 1937

Electorate 59,718

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Steven Harvie-Watt 20,546 72.7
Labour GHR Rogers 7,709 27.3
Majority 12,837
Turnout 47.3

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Richmond (Surrey)

Electorate 59,490

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Steven Harvie-Watt 24,085 52.79
Labour Dr. D Stark Murray 15,760 34.54
Liberal Maj. GAD Gordon 5,029 11.02
Common Wealth D Frank 753 1.65
Majority 8,325 18.25
Turnout 76.70

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Steven Harvie-Watt 30,907 57.47
Labour K Westwood 17,238 32.05
Liberal David Hedley Ennals 5,634 10.48
Majority 13,669 25.42
Turnout 86.23
General Election 1951: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Steven Harvie-Watt 30,743 58.69
Labour F White 16,707 31.89
Liberal David Hedley Ennals 4,933 9.42
Majority 14,036 26.79
Turnout 82.80
General Election 1955: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Steven Harvie-Watt 27,628 58.08
Labour JS Barr 14,673 30.85
Liberal Eva Haynes 5,266 11.07
Majority 12,955 27.24
Turnout 77.51
General Election 1959: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Henry Fanshawe Royle 27,161 57.19
Labour Charles H Archibald 12,975 27.32
Liberal John Arnold Baker 7,359 15.49
Majority 14,186 29.87
Turnout 79.35

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Henry Fanshawe Royle 22,203 50.40
Labour Alan Charles Brownjohn 14,053 31.90
Liberal John Arnold Baker 7,800 17.70
Majority 8,150 18.50
Turnout 76.46
General Election 1966: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Henry Fanshawe Royle 21,831 49.50
Labour David G Boulton 15,608 35.39
Liberal Peter M T Sheldon-Williams 6,661 15.10
Majority 6,223 14.11
Turnout 79.41

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Henry Fanshawe Royle 20,979 51.30
Labour Antony R Palmer 12,981 31.74
Liberal Stanley Rundle 6,934 16.96
Majority 7,998 19.56
Turnout 71.68
General Election February 1974: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Henry Fanshawe Royle 19,534 44.26
Liberal Stanley Rundle 15,707 35.59
Labour Antony R Palmer 8,322 18.86
National Front EA Russell 570 1.29
Majority 3,827 8.67
Turnout 82.59
General Election October 1974: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Henry Fanshawe Royle 17,450 43.19
Liberal Alan John Watson 13,235 32.76
Labour Robert Graham Marshall-Andrews 8,714 21.57
National Front EA Russell 1,000 2.48
Majority 4,215 10.43
Turnout 75.06
General Election 1979: Richmond (Surrey)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Henry Fanshawe Royle 19,294 46.67
Liberal Alan John Watson 16,764 40.55
Labour J Filochowski 4,692 11.35
Independent KJ King 315 0.76
National Front P Murphy 244 0.59
English National DD Wedgwood 34 0.08
Majority 2,530 6.12
Turnout 81.37


Notes

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
    2. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
    3. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
    4. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
    5. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
    6. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

    Sources