Bethnal Green South West
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Bethnal Green South West in London 1885-1918
Bethnal Green South West in London 1918-50
1885–1950
Seatsone
Created fromHackney
Replaced byBethnal Green

Bethnal Green South West was a constituency in London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

It was created for the 1885 general election and abolished for the 1950 general election, when it was combined with Bethnal Green North East to form a new Bethnal Green constituency, reflecting the area's substantial fall in population.

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the south and west wards of the civil parish of Bethnal Green, Middlesex (later the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green in the County of London).

1885-1918: The South and West wards of the parish of St. Matthew, Bethnal Green.[1]

Members of Parliament

Year Member Party
1885 Edward Pickersgill Liberal
1900 Samuel Forde Ridley Conservative
1906 Edward Pickersgill Liberal
1911 Charles Masterman Liberal
1914 Sir Mathew Wilson Unionist
1922 Percy Harris Liberal
1945 Percy Holman Labour
1950 constituency abolished: see Bethnal Green

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

E.H. Pickersgill
General election 1885: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 3,088 58.4
Conservative John Evans Freke Aylmer 2,200 41.6
Majority 888 16.8
Turnout 5,288 64.0
Registered electors 8,265
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 2,550 56.0 -2.4
Conservative John Evans Freke Aylmer 2,001 44.0 +2.4
Majority 549 12.0 -4.8
Turnout 4,551 55.1 -8.9
Registered electors 8,265
Liberal hold Swing -2.4

Election in the 1890s

General election 1892: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 3,206 59.6 +3.6
Conservative Thomas Benskin 2,171 40.4 -3.6
Majority 1,035 19.2 +7.2
Turnout 5,377 68.8 +13.7
Registered electors 7,821
Liberal hold Swing +3.6
General election 1895: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 2,603 52.8 -6.8
Conservative William Arnold Statham 2,324 47.2 +6.8
Majority 279 5.6 -13.6
Turnout 4,927 62.7 -6.1
Registered electors 7,855
Liberal hold Swing -6.8

Election in the 1900s

General election 1900: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Samuel Ridley 2,862 53.2 +6.0
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 2,514 46.8 -6.0
Majority 348 6.4 N/A
Turnout 5,376 66.1 +3.4
Registered electors 8,128
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +6.0
General election 1906: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 3,542 63.2 +16.4
Conservative Samual Ridley 2,064 36.8 -16.4
Majority 1,478 26.4 N/A
Turnout 5,606 77.2 +11.1
Registered electors 7,262
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +16.4

Election in the 1910s

E.H. Pickersgill
General election January 1910: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 3,328 58.6 -4.6
Conservative Eric Alfred Hoffgaard 2,350 41.4 +4.6
Majority 978 17.2 -9.2
Turnout 5,678 79.9 +1.7
Liberal hold Swing -4.6
General election December 1910: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Pickersgill 2,768 57.0 -1.6
Conservative Eric Alfred Hoffgaard 2,086 43.0 +1.6
Majority 682 14.0 -3.2
Turnout 4,854 68.3 -11.6
Liberal hold Swing -1.6
Masterman
1911 Bethnal Green South West by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Masterman 2,745 50.4 -6.6
Conservative Eric Alfred Hoffgaard 2,561 47.1 +4.1
Independent Labour John Scurr 134 2.5 New
Majority 184 3.3 -10.7
Turnout 5,440 76.8 +8.5
Liberal hold Swing -5.3
1914 Bethnal Green South West by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Matthew Wilson 2,828 47.6 +0.5
Liberal Charles Masterman 2,804 47.1 -3.3
Independent Labour John Scurr 316 5.3 +2.8
Majority 24 0.5 N/A
Turnout 5.948 83.5 +6.7
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +1.9
Hugh Meyler
General election 1918: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Matthew Wilson 4,240 52.3 +4.7
NFDDSS Ernest Thurtle 1,941 23.9 New
Liberal Hugh Meyler 1,935 23.8 -23.3
Majority 2,299 28.4 +27.9
Turnout 6,116 41.6 -41.9
Unionist hold Swing N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Election in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Percy Harris 5,152 40.7 +17.6
Communist Joe Vaughan 4,034 31.9 New
Unionist Matthew Wilson 3,474 27.4 -24.9
Majority 1,118 8.8 N/A
Turnout 21,129 59.9 +18.3
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing N/A
General election 1923: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Percy Harris 5,735 43.3 +2.6
Labour Joe Vaughan 5,251 39.6 +7.7
Unionist John Cecil Gerard Leigh 2,267 17.1 -10.3
Majority 484 3.7 -5.1
Turnout 21,320 62.2 +2.3
Liberal hold Swing -2.5
General election 1924: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Percy Harris 6,236 42.3 -1.0
Communist Joe Vaughan 6,024 40.9 +1.3
Unionist C.P. Norman 2,467 16.8 -0.3
Majority 212 1.4 -2.3
Turnout 21,522 68.4 +6.2
Liberal hold Swing -1.1
General election 1929: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Percy Harris 8,109 45.9 +3.6
Labour Christopher John Kelly 6,849 38.7 New
Communist Robert Dunstan 1,368 7.7 -33.2
Unionist Herbert John Malone 1,365 7.7 -9.1
Majority 1,260 7.2 +5.8
Turnout 27,895 64.1 -4.3
Liberal hold Swing n/a

Election in the 1930s

General election 1931: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Percy Harris 10,176 59.6 +13.7
Labour W.J. Humphreys 3,923 23.0 -14.3
Communist Joe Vaughan 2,970 17.4 +9.7
Majority 6,253 36.6 +29.4
Turnout 27,895 61.2 -2.9
Liberal hold Swing +14.0
General election 1935: Bethnal Green South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Percy Harris 9,011 53.1 -6.5
Labour George Jeger 7,945 46.9 +23.9
Majority 1,066 6.2 -30.4
Turnout 27,484 61.7 +0.5
Liberal hold Swing -15.2

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Bethnal Green South West[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Percy Holman 6,669 57.3 +10.4
Liberal Percy Harris 4,213 36.2 -16.9
National O. Howard Leicester 750 6.5 New
Majority 2,456 21.1 N/A
Turnout 11,632
Labour gain from Liberal Swing +13.6

References

  1. ^ "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
  2. ^ Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 8. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
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