Portsmouth Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Portsmouth Central
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
PortsmouthCentral1945Constituency.svg
Boundary of Portsmouth Central in Hampshirefor the 1945 general election
County Hampshire
Major settlements Portsmouth
19181950
SeatsOne
Created from Portsmouth
Replaced by Portsmouth South and Portsmouth West

Portsmouth Central was a borough constituency in Portsmouth. It returned one member of parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

Contents

History

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, when the Representation of the People Act 1918 divided the two-member Portsmouth constituency into three new constituencies; North, South and Central.

It was abolished for the 1950 general election, with Buckland, Fratton and St Mary wards forming part of the new Portsmouth West seat, while the others were transferred to Portsmouth South.

Boundaries and boundary changes

DatesLocal authorityMaps Wards
1918–1950 County Borough of Portsmouth PortsmouthCentral1945Constituency.svg Buckland, Fratton, Kingston, St Mary, and Town Hall.

1918–1950

The constituency was formed from splitting the existing of constituency Portsmouth

Members of parliament

ElectionMemberPartyNotes
1918 Sir Thomas Bramsdon Liberal Member for Portsmouth (1900, 1906–1910)
1922 Frank Privett Conservative
1923 Sir Thomas Bramsdon Liberal
1924 Harry Foster Conservative
1929 Glenvil Hall Labour
1931 Ralph Beaumont Conservative
1945 Julian Snow Labour Contested Lichfield and Tamworth following redistribution
1950 constituency abolished: see Portsmouth South and Portsmouth West

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Liberal Thomas Bramsdon 10,929 52.2
C Unionist William Dupree 6,00828.7
Labour Hugh Hinshelwood 4,00419.1
Majority4,92123.5
Turnout 20,94158.2
Registered electors 35,964
Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Frank Privett 7,666 26.8 –1.9
National Liberal Thomas Fisher7,65926.8New
Liberal Thomas Bramsdon 7,12924.9–27.2
Labour Arthur Gourd 6,12621.4+2.3
Majority70.0N/A
Turnout 28,58077.9+19.7
Registered electors 36,695
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +12.7
General election 1923: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Thomas Bramsdon 11,493 38.7 +13.7
Unionist Frank Privett 10,23134.4+7.6
Labour Frank Crozier 7,99126.9+5.5
Majority1,2624.2N/A
Turnout 29,71578.2+0.3
Registered electors 37,991
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +3.1
General election 1924: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Harry Foster 14,028 46.0 +11.6
Labour Glenvil Hall 10,52534.5+7.6
Liberal Frank Gray 5,92619.4–19.2
Majority3,50311.5N/A
Turnout 30,47980.3+2.1
Registered electors 37,966
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +15.4
General election 1929: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Glenvil Hall 15,153 42.4 +7.8
Unionist Thomas Comyn-Platt13,62838.1–7.9
Liberal Charles Cohen 6,99319.5+0.1
Majority1,5254.3N/A
Turnout 35,77474.3–6.0
Registered electors 48,146
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +7.9

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Ralph Beaumont 24,623 62.9 +24.8
Labour Glenvil Hall 14,51237.1–5.3
Majority10,11125.8N/A
Turnout 39,13578.4+4.1
Registered electors 49,927
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +15.1
General election 1935: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Ralph Beaumont 21,578 60.1 –2.9
Labour David Freeman10,73329.9–7.2
Liberal Ernest Thornley3,61210.1New
Majority10,84530.2+4.4
Turnout 35,92371.1–7.3
Registered electors 50,558
Conservative hold Swing +2.2

Elections in the 1940s

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

General election 1945: Portsmouth Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Julian Snow 14,745 55.3 +25.4
Conservative Ralph Beaumont 11,34542.6–17.5
Democratic Walter Foster5612.1New
Majority3,40012.8N/A
Turnout 26,65173.5+2.5
Registered electors 36,255
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +21.5

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Craig, Fred W. S (1969). British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949. Political Reference Publications. ISBN   0900178019 . Retrieved 5 April 2025.