Bow and Bromley (UK Parliament constituency)

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Bow and Bromley
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
BowandBromley1885.png
Bow and Bromley in London 1885-1918
BowBromley1918.png
Bow and Bromley in London 1918-50
1885–1950
Number of membersOne
Replaced byPoplar
Created fromTower 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 for the 1950 general election.

History[]

Poplar Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg

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 a safe Labour seat from 1922.

George Lansbury was first elected in December 1910 as a Labour candidate. He was on the left-wing 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 at 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 resigned 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, South London 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[]

  • Constituency created (1885)
Year Member Party
1885 William Robson Liberal
1886 Sir John Colomb Conservative
1892 John Macdonald Liberal
1895 Lionel Holland Conservative
Walter Guthrie Conservative
1906 Stopford Brooke Liberal
1910 Jan. Alfred du Cros Conservative
1910 Dec. George Lansbury Labour
1912 Reginald Blair Unionist
1922 George Lansbury Labour
1940 Charles Key Labour
  • Constituency abolished (1950)

Election results[]

Elections in the 1880s[]

Robson
General election 1885: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Robson 3,419 55.5 N/A
Conservative John Colomb 2,738 44.5 N/A
Majority 681 11.0 N/A
Turnout 6,157 69.3 N/A
Registered electors 8,887
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Colomb 2,967 55.3 +10.8
Liberal William Robson 2,396 44.7 -10.8
Majority 571 10.6 N/A
Turnout 5,363 60.3 -9.0
Registered electors 8,887
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +10.8

Elections in the 1890s[]

Macdonald
General election 1892: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Macdonald 4,072 52.7 +8.0
Conservative John Colomb 3,649 47.3 -8.0
Majority 423 5.4 N/A
Turnout 7,721 72.2 +11.9
Registered electors 10,687
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +8.0
Holland
General election 1895: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lionel Holland 4,339 57.7 +10.4
Liberal John Macdonald 3,178 42.3 -10.4
Majority 1,161 15.4 N/A
Turnout 7,517 71.0 -1.2
Registered electors 10,588
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +10.4
Spender
[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Walter Guthrie 4,238 66.6 +8.9
Liberal Harold Spender 2,123 33.4 -8.9
Majority 2,115 33.2 +17.8
Turnout 6,361 55.8 -15.2
Registered electors 11,401
Conservative hold Swing +8.9

Elections in the 1900s[]

General election 1900: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Walter Guthrie 4,403 63.3 +5.6
Labour Repr. Cmte. George Lansbury 2,558 36.7 New
Majority 1,845 26.6 +11.2
Turnout 6,961 61.7 −9.3
Registered electors 11,278
Conservative hold Swing N/A
du Cros
General election 1906: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Stopford Brooke 4,596 53.6 N/A
Conservative Arthur du Cros 3,974 46.4 −16.9
Majority 622 7.2 N/A
Turnout 8,570 81.3 +19.6
Registered electors 10,545
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Elections in the 1910s[]

General election January 1910: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alfred du Cros 3,695 41.9 -4.5
Labour George Lansbury 2,955 33.5 New
Liberal Stopford Brooke 2,167 24.6 -29.0
Majority 740 8.4 N/A
Turnout 8,817
Conservative gain from Liberal
General election December 1910: Tower Hamlets, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Lansbury 4,315 55.6 +22.1
Liberal Unionist Leo Amery 3,452 44.4 +2.5
Majority 683 11.2 N/A
Turnout 7,767
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +9.8
1912 Bow and Bromley by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Reginald Blair 4,042 55.1 +10.7
Independent Labour George Lansbury 3,291 44.9 -10.7
Majority 751 10.2 N/A
Turnout 7,333
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +10.7
General election 1918: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Reginald Blair 8,109 49.7 -5.9
Labour George Lansbury 7,248 44.3 -0.1
Liberal Mark Dalton 988 6.0 New
Majority 861 5.4 N/A
Turnout 33,436 48.9
Unionist gain from Labour Swing -2.4
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s[]

Lansbury
General election 1922: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Lansbury 15,402 64.1 +19.8
Unionist Geoffrey 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 gain from Unionist Swing +16.8
General election 1923: Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Lansbury 15,336 68.8 +4.7
Unionist Irving 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 [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Lansbury 20,119 69.4 +7.8
Unionist Albert 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 -11.1
Conservative D.L.R. Guthrie 11,642 41.7 +11.1
Majority 4,664 16.6 -22.2
Turnout 43,779 63.8 -2.3
Labour hold Swing -11.1
General election 1935: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Lansbury 19,064 77.0 +18.7
Conservative Harold Ernest Weber 5,707 23.0 -18.7
Majority 13,357 54.0 +37.4
Turnout 41,653 59.5 -4.3
Labour hold Swing +18.7

Elections in the 1940s[]

1940 Bow and Bromley by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Charles Key 11,594 95.8 +18.8
Communist Isabel Brown 506 4.2 New
Majority 11,088 91.6 +37.6
Turnout 37,324 32.4 -27.1
Labour hold
General election 1945: Poplar, Bow and Bromley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Charles Key 10,982 84.1 +7.1
Conservative C.K. Duthie 2,075 15.9 -7.1
Majority 8,907 68.2 +14.2
Turnout 20,817 62.7 +3.2
Labour hold

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  2. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  • 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 (The Macmillan Press 1974)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1976)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)
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