Chislehurst (UK Parliament constituency)

Chislehurst
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Chislehurst in Greater Londonfor the 1983 general election
County	Kent (pre-1965) Greater London (post-1965)
1918–1997
Created from	Sevenoaks
Replaced by	Bromley and Chislehurst (bulk) Orpington (part)
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of	Orpington Sidcup

Chislehurst was a parliamentary constituency in what is now the London Borough of Bromley. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election, when it was partly replaced by the new Bromley and Chislehurst constituency. From 1885, most of the area of this constituency had been included in the Sevenoaks seat.

Boundaries and boundary changes

Dates	Local authority	Maps	Wards
1918–1945	Chislehurst Urban District (before 1934) Sidcup Urban District (before 1934) Bromley Rural District (before 1934) Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District (after 1934) Orpington Urban District (after 1934) Municipal Borough of Bromley (after 1934)		The Urban Districts of Chislehurst and Foot's Cray, the Rural District of Bromley, and part of the Rural District of Dartford.
1945–1950	Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District Swanscombe Urban District Dartford Rural District		The Urban Districts of Chislehurst and Sidcup, and Swanscombe, and the Rural District of Dartford. [1]
1950–1955	Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District Dartford Rural District		The Urban District of Chislehurst and Sidcup, and the parishes of Darenth, Stone, Sutton at Hone, and Wilmington in the Rural District of Dartford. [2]
1955–1974	Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District (before 1965) London Borough of Bromley (after 1965) London Borough of Bexley (after 1965)		The Urban District of Chislehurst and Sidcup. [3]
1974–1997	London Borough of Bromley		Bickley, Chislehurst, Mottingham, Plaistow and Sundridge, and St Paul's Cray. [4] [5]

1918–1945

The constituency was formed primarily from the existing constituency of Sevenoaks

1945–1950

The Orpington Urban District and the part of the Municipal Borough of Bromley included in the seat were transferred to the new constituency of Orpington. The Swanscombe Urban District and the rest of the Dartford Rural District were transferred from the constituency of Dartford

1950–1955

The constituency was subject to minor boundary changes, which saw Swanscombe transferred to the constituency of Gravesend while the Dartford Rural District (expect the parishes of Darenth, Stone, Sutton at Hone and Wilmington) was transferred to Orpington

1955–1974

The part of the Dartford Rural District included in the seat was transferred to Dartford

1974–1997

The part of the London Borough of Bexley included in the seat was transferred to new constituency of Sidcup

Abolition

After the Fourth periodic review of Westminster constituencies the majority of the constituency was merged with the eastern part of the to be abolished Ravensbourne constituency to form the new seat of Bromley and Chislehurst, with the St Paul's Cray ward transferred to Orpington.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1918	Sir Alfred Smithers	Unionist
	1922	Robert Nesbitt	Unionist
	1924	Sir Waldron Smithers	Conservative	Contested Orpington following redistribution
	1945	George Wallace	Labour
	1950	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	Conservative
	1966	Alistair Macdonald	Labour
	1970	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	Conservative	Contested Aldridge-Brownhills following redistribution
	Feb 1974	Roger Sims	Conservative
1997		constituency abolished: see Bromley and Chislehurst & Orpington

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Chislehurst ^{[6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Sims	24,761	58.4	+0.7
	Labour	R. Ian Wingfield	9,485	22.4	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	T. William M. Hawthorne	6,683	15.8	−7.3
	Liberal	I Richmond	849	2.0	New
	Green	Frances Speed	652	1.5	New
Majority			15,276	36.0	+1.4
Turnout			42,430	78.9	+3.4
Registered electors			53,782
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Chislehurst ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Sims	24,165	57.6	+1.9
	Liberal	Richard Younger-Ross	9,658	23.0	–2.3
	Labour	Selwyn Ward	8,115	19.4	+0.9
Majority			14,507	34.6	+4.2
Turnout			41,938	75.5	+2.8
Registered electors			55,535
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

General election 1983: Chislehurst ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Sims	22,108	55.7	+1.2
	Liberal	Philip Lingard	10,047	25.3	+12.8
	Labour	Alistair Macdonald	7,320	18.4	–13.2
	BNP	Alfred Waite	201	0.5	New
Majority			12,061	30.4	+7.5
Turnout			39,676	72.7	–6.2
Registered electors			54,567
	Conservative hold		Swing	–5.8

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Chislehurst ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Sims	23,259	54.5	+8.2
	Labour	Christopher Howes	13,494	31.6	–5.2
	Liberal	Brian Taylor	5,335	12.5	–4.4
	National Front	Raymond Hoy	564	1.3	New
Majority			9,765	22.9	+13.4
Turnout			42,652	79.0	+2.9
Registered electors			54,024
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.7

General election October 1974: Chislehurst ^{[10] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Sims	18,926	46.3	+0.4
	Labour	Alistair Macdonald	15,032	36.8	+3.1
	Liberal	John Crowley	6,900	16.9	–3.5
Majority			3,894	9.5	–2.7
Turnout			40,858	76.1	–8.3
Registered electors			53,699
	Conservative hold		Swing	–1.36

General election February 1974: Chislehurst ^{[10] [13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Sims	20,595	45.9	–4.2
	Labour	Alistair Macdonald	15,102	33.7	–6.1
	Liberal	Robert Webster	9,127	20.4	+10.3
Majority			5,493	12.3	+1.9
Turnout			44,824	84.4	+11.4
Registered electors			53,137
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

1970 notional result [14]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	19,900	50.1
	Labour	15,800	39.8
	Liberal	4,000	10.1
Turnout		39,700	72.9
Electorate		54,450

General election 1970: Chislehurst ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	24,650	49.1	+5.6
	Labour	Alistair Macdonald	21,287	42.4	–2.7
	Liberal	Ron Coverson	4,268	8.5	–2.9
Majority			3,363	6.7	N/A
Turnout			50,205	75.5	–8.7
Registered electors			66,483
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.2

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Chislehurst ^{[15] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alistair Macdonald	22,757	45.1	+3.9
	Conservative	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	21,947	43.5	–0.8
	Liberal	Paul Hayden	5,761	11.4	–3.1
Majority			810	1.6	N/A
Turnout			50,465	84.3	+1.4
Registered electors			59,895
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.3

General election 1964: Chislehurst ^{[15] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	22,251	44.3	–6.0
	Labour	Ronald Huzzard	20,736	41.2	+4.0
	Liberal	Sheilagh Hobday	7,291	14.5	+2.1
Majority			1,515	3.0	–10.0
Turnout			50,278	82.9	–3.0
Registered electors			60,678
	Conservative hold		Swing	–5.0

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Chislehurst ^{[15] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	25,748	50.3	+0.6
	Labour	Margaret Reid	19,069	37.3	–4.6
	Liberal	David Blackburn	6,366	12.4	+4.1
Majority			6,679	13.0	+5.2
Turnout			51,183	85.8	+0.9
Registered electors			59,646
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

General election 1955: Chislehurst ^{[15] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	24,514	49.7
	Labour	George Wallace	20,644	41.9
	Liberal	David Blackburn	4,120	8.4
Majority			3,870	7.9
Turnout			49,278	84.9
Registered electors			58,063
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

General election 1951: Chislehurst ^{[15] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	31,679	50.8	+6.0
	Labour	George Wallace	30,699	49.2	+4.7
Majority			980	1.6	+1.3
Turnout			62,378	88.0	+1.7
Registered electors			70,906
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 1950: Chislehurst ^{[15] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	25,215	44.8	+7.5
	Labour	George Wallace	25,048	44.5	–5.0
	Liberal	David Hughes	6,039	10.7	–2.5
Majority			167	0.3	N/A
Turnout			56,302	86.3	+13.9
Registered electors			65,231
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.2

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Chislehurst ^{[23] [24]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	George Wallace	25,522	49.5
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	19,243	37.3
	Liberal	Ernest Hawkins	6,824	13.2
Majority			6,279	12.2
Turnout			51,589	72.4
Registered electors			71,246
	Labour win (new boundaries)

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Chislehurst ^{[23] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Waldron Smithers	38,705	68.9	–16.1
	Labour	Tom Colyer	12,227	21.8	+6.7
	Liberal	J. Alun Williams	5,238	9.3	New
Majority			26,478	47.1	–22.8
Turnout			56,170	66.1	–3.7
Registered electors			85,024
	Conservative hold		Swing	–11.4

General election 1931: Chislehurst ^{[23] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Waldron Smithers	32,371	85.0	+31.1
	Labour	Tom Colyer	5,731	15.0	–2.3
Majority			26,640	69.8	+44.8
Turnout			38,102	69.8	+0.2
Registered electors			54,589
	Conservative hold		Swing	+16.7

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Chislehurst ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Waldron Smithers	16,909	53.9	−12.2
	Liberal	James Bateman	9,025	28.8	+12.1
	Labour	James Thomson	5,445	17.4	+0.2
Majority			7,884	25.1	−23.8
Turnout			31,379	69.6	−3.2
Registered electors			45,116
	Unionist hold		Swing	−12.1

General election 1924: Chislehurst ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Waldron Smithers	14,440	66.1	+10.6
	Labour	John Thomson	3,757	17.2	New
	Liberal	Robert Nevill	3,647	16.7	−27.8
Majority			10,683	48.9	+38.0
Turnout			21,844	72.7	+12.2
Registered electors			30,020
	Unionist hold		Swing	–3.3

David Mason

General election 1923: Chislehurst ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Nesbitt	9,725	55.5	−9.9
	Liberal	Robert Nevill	7,806	44.5	+9.9
Majority			1,919	10.9	−19.8
Turnout			17,531	60.5	−3.2
Registered electors			28,961
	Unionist hold		Swing	−9.9

General election 1922: Chislehurst ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Nesbitt	11,801	65.4	−11.4
	Liberal	David Mason	6,256	34.6	New
Majority			5,545	30.7	−23.0
Turnout			18,057	63.7	+23.3
Registered electors			28,336
	Unionist hold		Swing	–23.0

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Chislehurst ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Unionist Party (UK)	Alfred Smithers	8,314	76.8
	National	Alfred Edmunds	2,507	23.2
Majority			5,807	53.6
Turnout			10,821	40.4
Registered electors			26,801
	Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)

1. "The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Order 1945. SI 1945/701". Statutory Rules and Orders 1945. Vol. I. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1946. pp. 682–698.
2. "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch.1), retrieved 23 July 2023
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (North Kent) Order 1955. SI 1955/13". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2155–2156.
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (London Borough of Bromley) Order 1971. SI 1971/2112". Statutory Instruments 1971. Part III Section 2. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1972. pp. 6228–6230.
5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1983/417, retrieved 5 March 2023
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