Finsbury (UK Parliament constituency)

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Finsbury
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
18321885
Seatstwo
Created from Middlesex
Replaced by Finsbury Central, Finsbury East, Holborn, Islington East, Islington North, Islington South and Islington West
19181950
Seatsone
Created from Finsbury Central and Finsbury East
Replaced by Shoreditch and Finsbury

The parliamentary borough of Finsbury was a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1832 to 1885, and from 1918 to 1950. The constituency was first created in 1832 as one of seven two-seat "metropolis" parliamentary boroughs (five in southeast Middlesex and two in northeast Surrey) other than the two which already existed: Westminster and the City of London; the latter until 1885 retained an exceptional four seats. Finsbury was directly north of the City of London and was smaller than the Finsbury division of the Ossulstone hundred but took in land of Holborn division (hundred division) to its southwest in pre-introduction changes by Boundary Commissioners. It included Finsbury, Holborn, Moorfields, Clerkenwell, Islington, Stoke Newington and historic St Pancras (later mainly known as Camden Town). The 1918 constituency corresponded to the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury (Finsbury, Moorfields, Clerkenwell, and St Luke's, Islington); it was a seat, thus electing a single member, fulfilling a longstanding aim of Chartism which underscored the 1832 reforms.

Contents

History

1832–1885 two-member constituency / parliamentary borough

The original constituency was created by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832, which carried into effect the redistribution of parliamentary seats under the Reform Act 1832.

Finsbury in the Metropolitan area, 1868-85 Finsbury1868.png
Finsbury in the Metropolitan area, 1868–85
Finsbury in the Parliamentary County of London, 1918-50 Finsbury1918.png
Finsbury in the Parliamentary County of London, 1918–50

It was originally proposed that the constituency would comprise the entire Finsbury Division and a number of adjoining parishes in the Holborn Division of Ossulstone, one of the hundreds of Middlesex. The commissioners appointed under the Boundaries Act decided to exclude the northern part of the Finsbury Division, which extended as far as Friern Barnet, some nine miles from London and a largely rural area. They could find no natural boundary to separate "the Rural from the Town District" and suggested that the dividing line should run through the northern section of Islington, following limits of relatively recently founded Church of England parishes. The seat as eventually created included the whole of Islington, however. [1]

The parliamentary borough was defined in Schedule O of the Boundaries Act as:

The several Parishes of Saint Luke, Saint George the Martyr, St Giles in the Fields, Saint George Bloomsbury, Saint Mary Stoke Newington, and St. Mary, Islington; the several Liberties or Places of Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, Ely Rents, Ely Place, the Rolls, Glass House Yard, and the Charterhouse; Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn; the Parish of St. James and St. John Clerkenwell, except that Part thereof which is situate to the North of the Parish of Islington; those Parts of the respective Parishes of Saint Sepulchre and Saint Andrew Holborn and of Furnivals Inn and Staple Inn respectively, which are situated without the Liberty of the City of London.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 divided the constituency, by then highly populated, into seven new single member constituencies. Four were divisions of a new Parliamentary Borough of Islington; while the Finsbury Parliamentary Borough was divided into three, named Central Division, East Division and Holborn Division.

1918–1950 seat

The Representation of the People Act 1918 created a new single-member Finsbury Parliamentary borough in the County of London, identical to the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. In 1950, it was merged with the neighbouring borough of Shoreditch to become Shoreditch and Finsbury.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

The parliamentary borough returned two members of parliament

ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1832 Robert Grant Whig [2] [3] Robert Spankie Whig [2] [4]
1834 by-election Thomas Slingsby Duncombe Radical [2] [5] [6] [7]
1835 Thomas Wakley Radical [2] [6] [7]
1852 Thomas Challis Radical [5]
1857 William Cox Whig
1859 Liberal Morton Peto Liberal
1861 by-election William Cox Liberal
1865 William McCullagh Torrens Liberal Sir Andrew Lusk Liberal
1885 constituency abolished: see Finsbury Central, Finsbury East and Holborn

MPs 1918–1950

The borough was a single-member constituency.

ElectionMemberParty
1918 Martin Archer-Shee Unionist
1923 George Gillett Labour
1931 National Labour
1935 George Woods Labour
1945 John Platts-Mills Labour
1948 Labour Independent Group
1950 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

H. E. A. Cotton HEA Cotton.jpg
H. E. A. Cotton
General election 1918: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Unionist Martin Archer-Shee 8,78263.8
Liberal Evan Cotton 4,98136.2
Majority3,80127.6
Turnout 13,76339.5
Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Martin Archer-Shee 9,382 44.6 −19.2
Liberal Harry Gilpin 6,38430.4−5.8
Labour George Gillett 4,90323.3New
Independent Labour Christopher Roland Morden3491.7New
Majority2,99814.2−13.4
Turnout 21,01854.3+14.8
Unionist hold Swing -6.7
A.H. Scott 1906 Alfred Henry Scott MP.jpg
A.H. Scott
General election 1923: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Gillett 8,907 42.4 +19.1
Unionist Martin Archer-Shee 7,06333.6−11.0
Liberal Alfred Scott 5,05424.0−6.4
Majority1,8448.8N/A
Turnout 21,02453.8−0.5
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +15.0
General election 1924: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Gillett 12,363 47.0 +4.6
Unionist Ernest Taylor 11,64344.2+10.6
Liberal Robert Shaw2,3248.8−15.2
Majority7202.8−6.0
Turnout 26,33066.3+12.5
Labour hold Swing -3.0
General election 1929: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Gillett 17,970 56.5 +9.5
Unionist William Ray9,02628.3−15.9
Liberal William John Pinard4,85515.2+6.4
Majority8,94428.2+25.4
Turnout 31,85166.0−0.3
Labour hold Swing +12.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Labour George Gillett 17,292 63.1 +6.6
Labour Co-op Thomas Williams 10,13336.9−19.6
Majority7,15926.2N/A
Turnout 27,42558.1−7.9
National Labour gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Co-op George Woods 13,408 55.8 +18.9
National Labour George Gillett 10,60044.2−18.9
Majority2,80811.6N/A
Turnout 24,00856.2−1.9
Labour Co-op gain from National Labour Swing +18.9

General Election 1939–40

Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Finsbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Platts-Mills 9,786 70.8 +15.0
Conservative Frederick Burden 4,02929.2New
Majority5,75741.6+30.0
Turnout 13,81563.9+7.7
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Finsbury (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Andrew Lusk 16,128 36.5 +4.9
Liberal William McCullagh Torrens 15,247 34.5 +1.7
Conservative Francis Duncan [11] 12,80029.0+3.8
Majority2,4475.50.9
Turnout 28,928 (est)64.3 (est)+13.0
Registered electors 44,955
Liberal hold Swing +1.5
Liberal hold Swing 0.1

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Finsbury (2 seats) [10] [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William McCullagh Torrens 10,099 32.8 7.0
Liberal Andrew Lusk 9,713 31.6 6.2
Conservative Charles Wilson Randolph [13] [14] 7,73725.2+6.6
Lib-Lab Benjamin Lucraft 3,20510.4New
Majority1,9766.412.8
Turnout 18,880 (est)51.3 (est)7.0
Registered electors 36,804
Liberal hold Swing 5.2
Liberal hold Swing 4.8

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Finsbury (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William McCullagh Torrens 13,159 39.8 +2.5
Liberal Andrew Lusk 12,503 37.8 +2.8
Conservative Peter Frederick O'Malley [15] [16] 6,13718.6+14.8
Liberal William Cox 1,2383.718.7
Majority6,36619.2+6.6
Turnout 19,587 (est)58.3 (est)+12.0
Registered electors 33,601
Liberal hold Swing 6.2
Liberal hold Swing +10.8
General election 1865: Finsbury (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William McCullagh Torrens 8,480 37.3 N/A
Liberal Andrew Lusk 7,959 35.0 N/A
Liberal William Cox 5,10022.4+1.0
Conservative William Phillips [17] 8663.8New
Independent Liberal Philip William Perfitt [18] 3161.4New
Majority2,85912.64.4
Turnout 11,794 (est)46.3 (est)2.1
Registered electors 25,461
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A
By-election, 17 December 1861: Finsbury (1 seat) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William Cox 4,884 50.2 +28.8
Liberal John Remington Mills [19] 4,84849.8N/A
Majority360.416.6
Turnout 9,73243.15.3
Registered electors 22,556
Liberal hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Finsbury (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Thomas Slingsby Duncombe 8,538 40.1 +0.2
Liberal Morton Peto 8,174 38.4 N/A
Liberal William Cox 4,55621.42.3
Majority3,61817.0+0.8
Turnout 10,634 (est)48.4 (est)+6.3
Registered electors 21,951
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A
General election 1857: Finsbury (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Radical Thomas Slingsby Duncombe 6,922 39.9 1.3
Whig William Cox 4,110 23.7 New
Radical John Humffreys Parry 3,95422.8N/A
Whig Joseph Haythorne Reed 2,37813.7New
Turnout 8,682 (est)42.1 (est)+1.7
Registered electors 20,626
Majority2,81216.212.6
Radical hold Swing N/A
Majority1560.9N/A
Whig gain from Radical Swing N/A
General election 1852: Finsbury (2 seats) [10] [20]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Radical Thomas Challis 7,504 46.3 N/A
Radical Thomas Slingsby Duncombe 6,678 41.2 N/A
Radical James Wyld [21] 2,01012.4N/A
Majority4,66828.8N/A
Turnout 8,096 (est)40.4 (est)N/A
Registered electors 20,025
Radical hold Swing N/A
Radical hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Finsbury (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Radical Thomas Wakley Unopposed
Radical Thomas Slingsby Duncombe Unopposed
Registered electors 15,921
Radical hold
Radical hold
General election 1841: Finsbury (2 seats) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Radical Thomas Wakley Unopposed
Radical Thomas Slingsby Duncombe Unopposed
Registered electors 12,974
Radical hold
Radical hold

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1837: Finsbury (2 seats) [10] [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Radical Thomas Wakley 4,957 40.2 +12.2
Radical Thomas Slingsby Duncombe 4,895 39.7 +2.2
Conservative Dudley Montague Perceval [22] 2,47020.0+0.6
Majority2,42519.7+11.1
Turnout 7,48961.1+2.8
Registered electors 12,264
Radical hold Swing +6.0
Radical hold Swing +1.0
General election 1835: Finsbury (2 seats) [10] [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Radical Thomas Slingsby Duncombe 4,497 37.5 N/A
Radical Thomas Wakley 3,359 28.0 +10.6
Conservative Robert Spankie 2,33219.4N/A
Whig Henry William Hobhouse [23] 1,81715.1N/A
Majority1,0278.6N/A
Turnout 6,003 (est)58.3 (est)12.9
Registered electors 10,299
Radical gain from Whig Swing
Radical gain from Whig Swing
By-election, 2 July 1834: Finsbury (1 seat) [10] [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Radical Thomas Slingsby Duncombe 2,514 45.7 N/A
Tory Henry Pownall1,91534.8New
Radical Thomas Wakley 69512.64.8
Whig Charles Babbage 3796.911.8
Majority59910.9N/A
Turnout 5,50359.212.0
Registered electors 9,294
Radical gain from Whig Swing
General election 1832: Finsbury (2 seats) [10] [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Whig Robert Grant 4,278 34.6
Whig Robert Spankie 2,842 23.0
Whig Charles Babbage 2,31118.7
Radical Thomas Wakley 2,15117.4
Radical Christopher Temple7876.4
Majority5314.3
Turnout 7,34471.2
Registered electors 10,309
Whig win (new seat)
Whig win (new seat)

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