Wandsworth (UK Parliament constituency)
| Wandsworth | |
|---|---|
|
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
| County | County of London |
| 1885–1918 | |
| Number of members | One |
| Replaced by | Balham and Tooting, Clapham, Putney, Streatham and Wandsworth Central |
| Created from | East Surrey |
Wandsworth was the name of a borough constituency in the Wandsworth area of South 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 voting system.
The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.
Boundaries
In 1885 this was a parliamentary borough constituency located in the northern part of the county of Surrey.
In 1889 the County of London was created. Wandsworth formed part of the new county. In 1900 the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was formed, as a local authority within the County of London. The Metropolitan Borough included a larger area than the parliamentary constituency, as it added Clapham to the areas which had been in the parliamentary borough.
The constituency grouped a number of communities in northern Surrey, which were converted into South London suburbs, due to the rapid expansion of the London conurbation before and during the existence of the constituency. When the County of London was created most of the comparatively empty land within its boundaries was in South London.
The constituency consisted of two blocks of territory, joined by a comparatively thin piece of land in the middle. In the north of the constituency, Putney was an area declining somewhat in status in the period. Working class housing was also spreading from the neighbouring area of Battersea, along the part of the south bank of the River Thames included in the parliamentary borough. However, overall the district was middle class in character, with new estates being developed in the south-east end of the seat at Tooting and Streatham (to the south of Clapham).
The neighbouring parliamentary seats were Fulham (on the north bank of the Thames, opposite to the constituency); to the east of the northern part of the seat and to the north of the middle and south-eastern parts were Battersea and Clapham; to the east of the south-eastern part was Norwood; to the south-east of the constituency was Croydon; to the south was Wimbledon and to the west was Kingston.
In 1918 the Metropolitan Borough was split into five divisions. These divisions were Balham and Tooting, Clapham, Putney, Streatham and Wandsworth Central.
History
The constituency was, throughout its existence, a Conservative seat. The electorate expanded from 10,088 in 1885 to 39,911 in 1913, without altering the partisan leanings of the area.
The first MP for the seat was Henry Kimber, who was created a baronet in 1904. Kimber was a solicitor by profession. He continued to represent the constituency until he resigned in 1913. Even during the 1906 general election, which was a national Liberal landslide, Kimber only had his majority reduced to 545 (2.2%).
In the 1913 by-election the Conservative candidate, businessman Samuel Samuel, defeated the Liberal-Labour former MP for Middlesbrough (UK Parliament constituency) - Joseph Havelock Wilson. Samuel continued to hold the seat until the constituency was split up in the 1918 redistribution.
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member [1] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Sir Henry Kimber, Bt | Conservative | |
| 1913 by-election | Samuel Samuel | Conservative | |
| 1918 | constituency abolished | ||
Election results
| Election | Political result | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By-election, June 1913 [2] Resignation of Kimber Electorate: 39,911 Turnout: 20,513 (51.4%) −15.4 | Conservative hold Majority: 6,337 (30.8%) +12.8 Swing: 6.4% from Lib-Lab to Con | Samuel Samuel | Conservative | 13,425 | 65.4 | +6.4 | ||
| Joseph Havelock Wilson [3] | Lib-Lab | 7,088 | 34.6 | −6.4 | ||||
| General election, December 1910 [2] Electorate: 38,523 Turnout: 25,722 (66.8%) −16.1 | Conservative hold Majority: 4,614 (18.0%) +4.2 Swing: 2.1% from Lib to Con | Sir Henry Kimber, Bt | Conservative | 15,168 | 59.0 | +2.1 | ||
| James Fairbairn | Liberal | 10,554 | 41.0 | −2.1 | ||||
| General election, January 1910 [2] Electorate: 38,523 Turnout: 31,937 (82.9%) +5.4 | Conservative hold Majority: 4,439 (13.8%) +11.6 Swing: 5.8% from Lib to Con | Sir Henry Kimber, Bt | Conservative | 18,188 | 56.9 | +5.8 | ||
| Walter Richard Warren | Liberal | 13,749 | 43.1 | −5.8 | ||||
| General election, January 1906 [2] Electorate: 31,398 Turnout: 24,321 (77.5%) | Conservative hold Majority: 545 (2.2%) | Sir Henry Kimber, Bt | Conservative | 12,433 | 51.1 | N/A | ||
| A. E. Reed | Liberal | 11,888 | 48.9 | N/A | ||||
| General election, October 1900 [2] | Conservative hold | Henry Kimber | Conservative | unopposed | ||||
| General election, July 1895 [2] Electorate: 17,075 Turnout: 9,735 (57.0%) −7.3 | Conservative hold Majority: 3,239 (33.2%) +10.0 Swing: 5.0% from Lib to Con | Henry Kimber | Conservative | 6,487 | 66.6 | +6.0 | ||
| M. Mayhew | Liberal | 3,248 | 33.4 | −5.0 | ||||
| General election, July 1892 [2] Electorate: 14,936 Turnout: 9,603 (64.3%) | Conservative hold Majority: 2,223 (23.2%) | Henry Kimber | Conservative | 5,913 | 61.6 | N/A | ||
| W. M. Crook | Liberal | 3,690 | 38.4 | N/A | ||||
| General election, July 1886 [2] | Conservative hold | Henry Kimber | Conservative | unopposed | ||||
| General election, November 1885 [2] New seat Electorate: 10,088 Turnout: 7,742 (76.7%) | Conservative win Majority: 1,176 (15.2%) | Henry Kimber | Conservative | 4,459 | 57.6 | N/A | ||
| Robert Wallace | Liberal | 3,283 | 42.4 | N/A | ||||
References
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 58. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
- ↑ Wilson was categorised by Craig as Liberal/Labour which normally denotes an official Liberal candidate with ties to the trade union movement. The Who's Who of British Members of Parliament refers to Wilson in 1913 as an Independent Labour candidate with unofficial Liberal support. He was MP for Middlesbrough from 1892 to 1900 and again from 1906 to 1910. Both sources agree he was elected in 1892 as an Independent Labour candidate against a Liberal opponent, but thereafter sat as a Liberal/Labour member.
Sources
- Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
- 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)