Kensington South (UK Parliament constituency)

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Kensington South
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–February 1974
Number of membersone
Replaced by Kensington
Created from Chelsea

Kensington South was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Kensington district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Contents

Kensington South in the Metropolitan area 1885-1918 KensingtonSouth1885.png
Kensington South in the Metropolitan area 1885-1918
Kensington South in the Parliamentary County of London 1918-50 KensingtonSouth1918.png
Kensington South in the Parliamentary County of London 1918-50
Kensington South in the Parliamentary County of London 1950-74 KensingtonSouth1950.png
Kensington South in the Parliamentary County of London 1950-74
Kensington Metropolitan Borough wards in 1916 Kensington Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg
Kensington Metropolitan Borough wards in 1916

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election. In every postwar election until its abolition, it was the safest Conservative seat (excluding Northern Irish constituencies) in the country.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1885 Sir Algernon Borthwick Conservative
1895 by-election Lord Warkworth (known as Earl Percy from 1899) Conservative
1910 Lord Claud Hamilton Conservative
1918 Sir William Davison Conservative
1945 by-election Richard Law Conservative
1950 Sir Patrick Spens Conservative
1959 William Roots Conservative
1968 by-election Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams Conservative
Feb 1974 constituency abolished

Boundaries

Prior to 1885, the area was originally part of the Chelsea constituency. Following the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the new Kensington South seat was a single-member constituency consisting of all of the parliamentary borough of Kensington south of the Uxbridge Road.

Following boundary changes under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the constituency was defined as consisting of the Royal Borough of Kensington wards of Brompton, Earl's Court, Holland, Queen's Gate, and Redcliffe.

In the 1950 redistribution, Brompton ward was transferred to the Chelsea constituency. The constituency was thus now defined as consisting of the Royal Borough of Kensington wards of Earl's Court, Holland, Queen's Gate, and Redcliffe. It then remained unchanged until its abolition in 1974.

In 1965, under major local government boundary changes, the London County Council area was absorbed by the new Greater London Council, and the constituency was included in a new London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This did not affect parliamentary boundaries for another nine years, however.

In the 1974 redistribution, this constituency disappeared. Earl's Court and Redcliffe wards became part of the redrawn Chelsea constituency, while Holland and Queen's Gate wards became part of the new Kensington constituency.

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Kensington, South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Algernon Borthwick 4,602 68.3
Liberal Montagu Hughes Cookson2,13831.7
Majority2,46436.6
Turnout 6,74076.1
Registered electors 8,859
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1886: Kensington, South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Algernon Borthwick 4,156 80.3 +12.0
Liberal Henry Fearnside Speed1,02219.7-12.0
Majority3,13460.6+24.0
Turnout 5,17858.4−17.7
Registered electors 8,859
Conservative hold Swing +12.0

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Kensington, South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Algernon Borthwick Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1895: Kensington, South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Algernon Borthwick Unopposed
Conservative hold
By-election: 28 November 1895 [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Henry Percy Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Kensington, South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Henry Percy Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1906: Kensington, South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Henry Percy 4,835 74.9 N/A
Liberal Edward O'Malley 1,62425.1New
Majority3,21149.8N/A
Turnout 6,45970.0N/A
Registered electors 9,223
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Kensington, South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Claud Hamilton 5,771 81.6 +6.7
Liberal G.S. MacIlwaine1,30118.4-6.7
Majority4,47063.2+13.4
Turnout 9,15977.2+7.2
Conservative hold Swing
General election December 1910: Kensington, South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Claud Hamilton 5,093 83.1 +1.5
Liberal George Rodhouse Reid1,03316.9-1.5
Majority4,06066.2+3.0
Turnout 9,15966.9-10.3
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1918: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Unionist William Davison 10,69366.8−16.3
National Ernest Makins 5,30633.2New
Majority5,38733.6−32.6
Turnout 15,99951.8−15.1
Registered electors 30,888
Unionist hold Swing −16.3
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist William Davison 15,760 76.0 +9.2
Independent * Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck 4,96424.0New
Majority10,79652.0+18.4
Turnout 20,72458.1+6.3
Registered electors 35,684
Unionist hold Swing +9.2

*Cavendish-Bentinck was incorrectly labelled by the media as a National Liberal but corrected this label as 'anti-Conservative'.

General election 1923: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist William Davison Unopposed
Unionist hold
General election 1924: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist William Davison Unopposed
Unionist hold
General election 1929: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist William Davison 28,049 66.9 N/A
Liberal Hugh Seely 7,57018.0New
Ind U Rayner Goddard 6,35415.1New
Majority20,47948.9N/A
Turnout 41,97359.5N/A
Registered electors 70,593
Unionist hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Davison UnopposedN/AN/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General election 1935: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Davison 38,297 88.9 N/A
Labour Charles Henry Hartwell4,77911.1New
Majority33,51877.8N/A
Turnout 69,52062.0N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Davison 22,166 69.8 -19.1
Labour Patricia Strauss 6,01418.9+8.8
Liberal Francis N Beaufort-Palmer3,58611.3New
Majority16,15250.9-26.9
Turnout 46,72767.9+5.9
Conservative hold Swing
By-election, 20 November 1945
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Richard Law 15,846 81.7 +11.9
Liberal Lancelot Spicer 3,55918.3+7.0
Majority12,28768.4+17.5
Turnout 52,75036.8-29.1
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Patrick Spens 32,870 73.1 +3.3
Labour Marcel Philip Picard8,00217.8-1.1
Liberal John Frankenburg 4,0799.1-2.2
Majority24,86855.3+4.4
Turnout 63,31971.0+3.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1951: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Patrick Spens 34,592 79.5 +6.4
Labour Michael Clynes Parker8,89420.5+2.7
Majority25,69859.0+5.7
Turnout 63,41968.6-2.4
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Patrick Spens 32,051 82.5 +3.0
Labour Marjorie Macrae Crane6,80417.5-3.0
Majority25,24765.0+6.0
Turnout 62,72462.0-6.6
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Roots 26,606 74.3 -8.2
Liberal Gurth Hoyer-Millar 4,66613.0New
Labour Ivor Richard 4,52512.6-4.9
Majority21,94061.3-3.7
Turnout 58,02361.7-0.3
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Roots 21,668 68.0 -3.3
Labour Barrington J Stead5,30016.6+4.0
Liberal Anthony A W Dix4,91615.4+2.4
Majority16,36851.3-10.0
Turnout 56,15756.8-3.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Roots 21,050 65.1 -2.9
Labour Jonathan V Rosenhead6,41919.8+3.2
Liberal Thomas Kellock 4,87115.1-0.3
Majority14,63145.3-6.0
Turnout 55,66058.1+1.3
Conservative hold Swing
By-election of 14 March 1968 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Brandon Rhys-Williams 16,489 75.5 +10.4
Liberal Thomas Kellock 2,74212.6-2.5
Labour Clive Bradley (executive)1,8748.6-11.2
Independent Sinclair Eustace6753.1New
Independent William Gold590.3New
Majority13,74762.9+17.6
Turnout 21,83940.0-18.1
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Kensington South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Brandon Rhys-Williams 21,591 75.7 +10.6
Labour Faith M Bridges6,92824.3+4.5
Majority14,66351.4+6.1
Turnout 57,18249.9-8.2
Conservative hold Swing

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
  2. ↑ "By Elections - News website specialising in political pieces". Archived from the original on 21 August 2009.
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