Bristol Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Bristol Central
Bristol Central
Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1918–February 1974
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Bristol North East and Bristol South East
Created from	Bristol North, Bristol East, Bristol South and Bristol West

Bristol Central was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Bristol. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Boundaries[]

1918–1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Central East, Central West, Redcliffe, St Augustine, St James, St Paul, and St Philip and Jacob South.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Easton, Knowle, Redcliffe, St Paul, St Philip and Jacob North, and St Philip and Jacob South.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Easton, Knowle, St Paul, St Philip and Jacob, and Windmill Hill.

Members of Parliament[]

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1918	Thomas Inskip	Conservative
	1929	Joseph Alpass	Labour
	1931	(1st) Lord Apsley	Conservative	Killed in action, 1942 as Commander of the Arab Legion in Malta
	1943 by-election	Lady Apsley	Conservative
	1945	Stan Awbery	Labour
	1964	Arthur Palmer	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished

Election results[]

Elections in the 1910s[]

General election 1918: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	12,232	63.2
	Labour	Ernest Bevin	7,137	36.8
Majority			5,095	26.4
Turnout			19,369	53.7
Registered electors			36,038
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s[]

General election 1922: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	15,568	55.9	−6.3
	Labour	Christopher Thomson	12,303	44.1	+6.3
Majority			3,265	11.8	−12.6
Turnout			27,871	72.0	+18.3
Registered electors			38,709
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.3

General election 1923: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	14,386	54.7	−1.2
	Labour	Samuel Edward Walters	11,932	45.3	+1.2
Majority			2,454	9.4	−2.4
Turnout			26,318	65.8	−6.2
Registered electors			40,000
	Unionist hold		Swing	−1.2

General election 1924: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	17,177	55.1	+0.4
	Labour	James Lovat-Fraser	14,018	44.9	−0.4
Majority			3,159	10.2	+0.8
Turnout			31,195	77.5	+11.7
Registered electors			40,252
	Unionist hold		Swing	+0.4

General election 1929: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Alpass	20,749	55.7	+10.8
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	16,524	44.3	−10.8
Majority			4,225	11.4	N/A
Turnout			37,273	77.5	0.0
Registered electors			48,081
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+10.8

Elections in the 1930s[]

General election 1931: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	22,311	59.6	+15.3
	Labour	Joseph Alpass	15,143	40.4	-15.3
Majority			7,168	19.2	N/A
Turnout			37,454	80.4	+2.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	15,774	52.5	-7.1
	Labour	J. J. Taylor	14,258	47.5	+7.1
Majority			1,516	5.0	-14.2
Turnout			30,032	72.8	-7.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s[]

1943 Bristol Central by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Violet Bathurst	5,867	52.1	−0.4
	Independent Labour	Jennie Lee	4,308	38.2	New
	Ind. Labour Party	John McNair	830	7.4	New
	Independent	F. H. Dunn	258	2.3	New
Majority			1,559	13.9	+8.9
Turnout			11,263	32.9	−39.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1945: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	13,045	63.9	+16.4
	Conservative	Violet Bathurst	7,369	36.1	-16.4
Majority			5,676	27.8	N/A
Turnout			20,414	70.0	-2.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s[]

General election 1950: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	25,889	59.7	-4.2
	Conservative	John Peyton	13,461	31.0	-5.1
	Liberal	Donald David Oliver Jones	4,042	9.3	New
Majority			12,428	28.7	+0.9
Turnout			43,392	84.5	+14.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	26,091	62.4	+2.7
	Conservative	Kenelm Antony Philip Dalby	15,725	37.6	+6.6
Majority			10,366	24.8	-3.9
Turnout			41,816	83.1	-1.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	25,158	60.5	-1.9
	Conservative	Kenelm Antony Philip Dalby	16,406	39.5	+1.9
Majority			8,752	21.0	-3.8
Turnout			41,564	73.8	-9.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	19,905	53.6	-6.9
	Conservative	L. G. Pine	17,209	46.4	+6.9
Majority			2,696	7.2	-13.8
Turnout			37,114	75.0	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s[]

General election 1964: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Palmer	16,207	54.5	+0.9
	Conservative	James R. E. Taylor	11,616	39.0	-7.4
	Independent	Desmond H. R. Burgess	1,936	6.5	New
Majority			4,591	15.5	+8.3
Turnout			29,759	71.9	-3.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Palmer	15,399	58.9	+3.4
	Conservative	James R. E. Taylor	9,410	36.0	-3.0
	Independent	Desmond H. R. Burgess	1,322	5.1	-1.4
Majority			5,989	22.9	+7.4
Turnout			26,131	70.0	-1.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s[]

General election 1970: Bristol Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Palmer	12,375	51.4	-7.5
	Conservative	James R. E. Taylor	9,130	37.9	+1.9
	Liberal	Antony Rider	2,569	10.7	New
Majority			3,245	13.5	-9.4
Turnout			24,074	66.7	-3.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Constituency abolished 1974, absorbed into Bristol North East and Bristol South East.

References[]

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.