Bilston (UK Parliament constituency)

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Bilston
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1950–February 1974
Seatsone
Replaced by Wolverhampton South East
Wolverhampton Bilston
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
19181950
Seatsone
Created from Wolverhampton South

Bilston was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Bilston in what is now the southeast of the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Contents

As well as the town of Bilston, which had been heavily industrialised town since the 19th century, it also incorporated the nearby communities of Sedgley and Coseley, both of which were still predominantly rural villages when the parliamentary seat was created in 1918, but by the time the constituency changed from Wolverhampton Bilston to Bilston 32 years later they were rapidly expanding into towns, and had expanded further still when the constituency was finally abolished in 1974.

History

The area was created, as a Staffordshire borough constituency, for the 1918 general election. It was named as a division of Wolverhampton. From the 1950 general election the Wolverhampton prefix was dropped from the official constituency name. The seat was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Wolverhampton South East constituency.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The constituency consisted of the then Urban Districts of Bilston, Coseley and Sedgley.

1950–1974: By 1950 Bilston was a Municipal Borough. Coseley and Sedgley were still Urban Districts in the constituency. In 1966 most of Sedgley was incorporated into an expanded borough of Dudley, which also took in the south of Coseley, while the remainder of Sedgley was transferred to Wolverhampton and Seisdon and sections of Coseley were transferred to Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

Members of Parliament

YearMemberParty
1918 T. E. Hickman Coalition Conservative
1922 Charles Howard-Bury Conservative
1924 John Baker Labour
1931 Geoffrey Peto Conservative
1935 Ian Hannah Conservative
1944 by-election William Gibbons Conservative
1945 Will Nally Labour
1955 Bob Edwards Labour Co-op
Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see Wolverhampton South East

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Bilston [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Unionist T. E. Hickman 10,34360.5
Labour John William Kynaston6,74439.5
Majority 3,59921.0
Turnout 17,08759.9
Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bilston [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Charles Howard-Bury 12,297 54.2 −6.3
Labour John Baker 10,39245.8+6.3
Majority 1,9058.4−12.6
Turnout 22,68973.8+13.9
Unionist hold Swing -6.3
General election 1923: Bilston [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Charles Howard-Bury 10,186 41.6 −12.6
Labour John Baker 9,08537.1−8.7
Liberal John Prentice5,20521.3New
Majority 1,1014.5−3.9
Turnout 24,47674.9+1.1
Unionist hold Swing -1.9
General election 1924: Bilston [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Baker 14,583 53.2 +16.1
Unionist Charles Howard-Bury 12,84046.8−5.2
Majority 1,7436.4N/A
Turnout 27,42382.0+7.1
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +5.5
General election 1929: Bilston [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Baker 18,679 50.7 −2.5
Unionist S.J. Thompson13,63537.1−9.7
Liberal Gilbert Salter4,47512.2New
Majority 5,04413.6+7.2
Turnout 36,78985.4+3.4
Labour hold Swing +3.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Geoffrey Peto 20,620 55.04
Labour John Baker 16,84744.96
Majority 3,77310.08N/A
Turnout 37,46781.37
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Ian Hannah 18,689 51.2 −3.8
Labour David Mort 17,82048.8+3.8
Majority 8692.4−7.7
Turnout 36,50970.9−1.5
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1944 Bilston by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Gibbons 9,693 50.63
Ind. Labour Party A. Eaton9,34449.08New
Majority 3491.55
Turnout 19,037
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1945: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Will Nally 31,493 66.96
Conservative William Gibbons 14,69131.24
Ind. Labour Party A. Eaton8491.81N/A
Majority 16,80235.72N/A
Turnout 47,03373.08
Labour Co-op gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Will Nally 29,919 62.62
Conservative J Godrich17,85837.38
Majority 12,06125.24
Turnout 47,77783.50
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1951: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Will Nally 31,381 61.86
National Liberal Charles Gordon-Spencer19,35238.14
Majority 12,02923.72
Turnout 50,73382.76
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1955: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 26,490 57.62
Conservative E Anne Marsh19,48242.38
Majority 7,00815.24
Turnout 45,97274.36
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1959: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 27,068 53.50
Conservative F John Oxford23,52346.50
Majority 3,5457.00
Turnout 50,59176.81
Labour Co-op hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 27,986 53.13
Conservative F John Oxford24,68646.87
Majority 3,3006.26
Turnout 52,67274.18
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1966: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 29,794 56.93
Conservative F John Oxford22,54143.07
Majority 7,25313.86
Turnout 52,33573.21
Labour Co-op hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bilston
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 27,240 50.9 −6.0
Conservative Charles Irving 26,24049.1+6.0
Majority 1,0001.8−12.1
Turnout 53,48069.4−3.7
Labour Co-op hold Swing

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig