Bow and Bromley (UK Parliament constituency)

Bow and Bromley
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Number of members One
Replaced by Poplar
Created from Tower Hamlets

Bow and Bromley was a constituency in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Located in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in London, it was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act for the 1885 general election and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) until it was abolished by the 1950 general election.

History

Bow and Bromley in London 1885-1918
Bow and Bromley in London 1918-50
Wards of Poplar Metropolitan Borough in 1916

The area had been part of the former two-seat Tower Hamlets constituency, which was divided at the 1885 general election.

The constituency was marginal before 1918. The party holding the seat changed in 1886, 1892, 1895, 1906, January 1910, December 1910 and 1912. After the extension of the franchise to all adult men and some women in 1918, the seat became safely Labour from 1922.

George Lansbury was first elected in December 1910 as a Labour candidate. He was on the left of the party and was known as a pacifist and supporter of votes for women. In November 1912 Lansbury resigned his seat so he could test public opinion on women's suffrage. He lost the subsequent by-election and did not regain the seat until 1922.

Lansbury was the only member of the cabinet of the Second Labour Ministry to both remain with the party and secure re-election in the 1931 general election. As the party leader Arthur Henderson was not in the House of Commons, Lansbury became Acting Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. In 1932 Henderson gave up the leadership and Lansbury was elected leader in his place. He retained the leadership until 1935.

Boundaries

In 1885 the area was administered as part of The Metropolis. It was located in the Tower division, in the east of the county of Middlesex. The neighbourhoods of Bow and Bromley were combined to form a division of the parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets. The parliamentary division was part of the East End of London. The Bromley in this seat is not the same place as Bromley, Kent after which the Bromley constituency, created in 1918, was named.

In 1889 the Tower division of Middlesex was severed from the county. It became part of the County of London. In 1900 the lower tier of local government in London was re-modelled. Bow and Bromley became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar.

When a re-distribution of parliamentary seats took place in 1918, the constituency became a division of Poplar. It comprised the wards of Bow Central, Bow North, Bow South, Bow West, Bromley North East, Bromley North West, and Bromley South West.

Members of Parliament

YearMemberParty
1885 William Robson Liberal
1886 Sir John Colomb Conservative
1892 John Macdonald Liberal
1895 Lionel Holland Conservative
1899 Walter Guthrie Conservative
1906 Stopford Brooke Liberal
1910 Jan. Alfred du Cros Conservative
1910 Dec. George Lansbury Labour
1912 Reginald Blair Unionist
1918 Unionist
1922 George Lansbury Labour
1940 Charles Key Labour

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal William Snowdon Robson 3,419 55.5 n/a
Conservative John Charles Ready Colomb 2,738 44.5 n/a
Majority 681 11.0 n/a
Turnout 8,887 69.3 n/a
Liberal win
General Election 1886: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Charles Ready Colomb 2,967 55.3 +10.8
Liberal William Snowdon Robson 2,396 44.7 -10.8
Majority 571 10.6 +21.6
Turnout 8,887 60.3 -9.0
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +10.8

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal John Archibald Murray Macdonald 4,072 52.7
Conservative Sir John Charles Ready Colomb 3,649 47.3
Majority 423 5.4
Turnout 10,687 72.2
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +8.0
General Election 1895: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Lionel Raleigh Holland 4,339 57.7
Liberal John Archibald Murray Macdonald 3,178 42.3
Majority 1,161 15.4
Turnout 10,588 71.0
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +10.4
Bow and Bromley by-election, 1899
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Walter Guthrie 4,238 66.6
Liberal Harold Spender 2,123 33.4
Majority 2,115 33.2
Turnout 11,401 55.8
Conservative hold Swing +8.9

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Walter Guthrie 4,403 63.3
Social Democratic Federation George Lansbury 2,558 36.7
Majority 1,845 26.6
Turnout 11,278 61.7
Conservative hold Swing -3.3
General Election 1906: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Stopford William Wentworth Brooke 4,596 53.6
Conservative Arthur Philip du Cros 3,974 46.4
Majority 622 7.2
Turnout 10,545 81.3
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +16.9

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Alfred du Cros 3,695 41.9
Labour George Lansbury 2,955 33.5
Liberal Stopford William Wentworth Brooke 2,167 24.6
Majority 740 8.4
Turnout
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing N/A
General Election December 1910: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lansbury 4,315 55.6
Liberal Unionist Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery 3,452 44.4
Majority 683 9.0
Turnout
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +9.8
Bow and Bromley by-election, 1912
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Reginald Blair 4,042 55.1
Independent Labour George Lansbury 3,291 44.9
Majority 751 10.2
Turnout
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +10.7
General Election 1918: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Reginald Blair 8,109 49.7
Labour George Lansbury 7,248 44.3
Liberal Mark Dalton 988 6.0
Majority 861 5.4
Turnout 33,436 48.9
Unionist hold Swing -2.4

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lansbury 15,402 64.1 +19.8
Unionist Geoffrey Edgar Duveen 8,626 35.9 −13.8
Majority 6,776 28.2 N/A
Turnout 34,383 69.9 +21.0
Registered electors 34,383
Labour hold Swing +16.8
General Election 1923: Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lansbury 15,336 68.8 +4.7
Unionist Irving James Albery 6,941 31.2 −4.7
Majority 8,395 37.6 +9.4
Turnout 34,975 63.7 −6.2
Registered electors 34,975
Labour hold Swing +4.7
General Election 1924: Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lansbury 15,740 61.6 −7.2
Unionist H.A. Hill 9,806 38.4 +7.2
Majority 5,934 23.2 −14.4
Turnout 35,446 72.1 +8.4
Registered electors 35,446
Labour hold Swing −7.2
General Election 1929: Bow and Bromley [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lansbury 20,119 69.4 +7.8
Unionist Albert William Goodman 8,852 30.6 −7.8
Majority 11,267 38.8 +15.6
Turnout 43,834 66.1 −6.0
Registered electors 43,834
Labour hold Swing +7.8

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lansbury 16,306 58.3
Conservative D.L.R. Guthrie 11,642 41.7
Majority 4,664 16.6
Turnout 43,779 63.8
Labour hold Swing -11.1
General Election 1935: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lansbury 19,064 77.0
Conservative Harold Ernest Weber 5,707 23.0
Majority 13,357 54.0
Turnout 41,653 59.5
Labour hold Swing +18.7

Elections in the 1940s

Bow and Bromley by-election, 1940
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Charles William Key 11,594 95.8
Communist Isabel Brown 506 4.2
Majority 11,088 91.6
Turnout 37,324 32.4
Labour hold Swing N/A
General Election 1945: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Charles William Key 10,982 84.1
Conservative C.K. Duthie 2,075 15.9
Majority 8,907 68.2
Turnout 20,817 62.7
Labour hold Swing N/A

References

  1. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
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