Wolverhampton East (UK Parliament constituency)

Wolverhampton East
Wolverhampton East
Former borough constituency ; for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Seats	one
Created from	Wolverhampton
Replaced by	Wolverhampton North East and Wolverhampton South West

Last updated October 13, 2025

Wolverhampton East was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire, England. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when the former two-seat Wolverhampton constituency was divided into three single-member constituencies.

It was abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Borough of Wolverhampton wards of St James's, St Mary's, and St Peter's, and the parishes of Wednesfield and Willenhall.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Wolverhampton wards of St James's, St Mary's, and St Peter's, and the Urban Districts of Short Heath, Wednesfield, Wednesfield Heath, and Willenhall.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1885	Henry Fowler	Liberal
1908	George Thorne	Liberal
1929	Geoffrey Mander	Liberal
1945	John Baird	Labour
1950	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Wolverhampton East ^[1]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	3,935	59.8
	Conservative	Walter Bird^[3]	2,648	40.2
Majority			1,287	19.6
Turnout			6,583	83.2
Registered electors			7,917
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Wolverhampton East ^[1]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	3,752	58.8	−1.0
	Conservative	John Underhill	2,629	41.2	+1.0
Majority			1,123	17.6	−2.0
Turnout			6,381	80.6	−2.6
Registered electors			7,917
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.0

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Wolverhampton East ^[1]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Fowler was appointed President of the Local Government Board, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 23 Aug 1892: Wolverhampton East ^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1895: Wolverhampton East ^[1]^[2]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	4,011	57.4	*N/A*
	Conservative	Rupert Edward Cooke Kettle*	2,977	42.6	New
Majority			1,034	14.8	N/A
Turnout			6,988	82.7	N/A
Registered electors			8,446
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

*some sources describe as Liberal Unionist

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Wolverhampton East ^[1]^[2]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1906: Wolverhampton East ^[1]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	5,610	67.1	*N/A*
	Liberal Unionist	Leo Amery	2,745	32.9	New
Majority			2,865	34.2	N/A
Turnout			8,355	85.6	N/A
Registered electors			9,756
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

1908 Wolverhampton East by-election ^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Thorne	4,514	50.0	−17.1
	Liberal Unionist	Leo Amery	4,506	50.0	+17.1
Majority			8	0.0	−34.2
Turnout			9,020	89.7	+4.1
Registered electors			10,058
	Liberal hold		Swing	−17.1

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Wolverhampton East ^[5]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Thorne	5,276	54.2	−12.9
	Liberal Unionist	Leo Amery	4,462	45.8	+12.9
Majority			814	8.4	−25.8
Turnout			9,738	95.1	+9.5
Registered electors			10,238
	Liberal hold		Swing	−12.9

General election December 1910: Wolverhampton East ^[5]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Thorne	5,072	56.7	+2.5
	Conservative	Robert Borras Whiteside	3,881	43.3	−2.5
Majority			1,191	13.4	+5.0
Turnout			8,953	87.4	−7.7
Registered electors			10,238
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.5

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Liberal: George Thorne
Unionist: Ivor Windsor-Clive

General election 1918: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Thorne	7,660	51.8	−4.9
C	National Democratic	James A Shaw	7,138	48.2	New
Majority			522	3.6	−9.8
Turnout			14,798	48.6	−38.8
	Liberal hold		Swing
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Thorne	11,577	45.9	−5.9
	Unionist	Charles Henry Pinson	9,410	37.3	New
	Labour	William Thomas Augustus Foot	3,076	12.2	New
	National Liberal	James A Shaw	1,169	4.6	−43.6
Majority			2,167	8.6	+5.0
Turnout			25,232	80.4	+31.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1923: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Thorne	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Liberal hold

General election 1924: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Thorne	11,066	42.1	*N/A*
	Unionist	Thomas Strangman	10,013	38.1	New
	Labour	D Rowland Williams	5,188	19.8	New
Majority			1,053	4.0	N/A
Turnout			26,267	80.6	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1929: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Geoffrey Mander	15,391	44.8	+2.7
	Unionist	Patrick Buchan-Hepburn	10,163	29.5	−8.6
	Labour	D Rowland Williams	8,840	25.7	+5.9
Majority			5,228	15.3	+11.3
Turnout			34,394	81.5	+0.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	+5.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Geoffrey Mander	14,945	44.1	−0.7
	Conservative	A T Waters-Taylor	12,628	37.2	+7.7
	Labour	John Smith	6,340	18.7	−7.0
Majority			2,317	6.9	−8.4
Turnout			33,913	78.6	−2.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.2

General election 1935: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Geoffrey Mander	15,935	48.5	+4.4
	Conservative	J Brockhouse	11,935	36.3	−0.9
	Labour	H E Lane	4,985	15.2	−3.5
Majority			4,000	12.2	+5.3
Turnout			32,855	73.3	−5.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1940s

A General election was due to take place before the end of 1940, but was postponed due to the Second World War. By 1939, the following candidates had been selected to contest this constituency;

Liberal: Geoffrey Mander
Conservative:

General election 1945: Wolverhampton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Baird	17,763	47.7	+32.5
	Liberal	Geoffrey Mander	11,206	30.1	−18.4
	Conservative	William Garthwaite	8,266	22.2	−14.1
Majority			6,557	17.6	N/A
Turnout			37,235	73.3	0.0
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 212. ISBN 9781349022984.
1 2 3 4 5 6 The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ "The New Parliament" . The Morning Post . 26 November 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 15 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)

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[craig1885-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 212. ISBN 9781349022984.

[The_Liberal_Year_Book,_1907-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Liberal Year Book, 1907

[3] "The New Parliament" . The Morning Post . 26 November 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 15 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.

[ReferenceA-4] 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901

[ReferenceB-5] 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

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