Deptford
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Major settlements	Deptford and New Cross
1885–February 1974
Seats	one
Created from	Greenwich
Replaced by	Lewisham Deptford

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

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new constituency of Lewisham Deptford.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The parish of St Paul, Deptford, inclusive of Hatcham.^[1]

1918–1974: The Metropolitan Borough of Deptford.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member^[2]	Party
	1885	William John Evelyn	Conservative
	1888	Charles Darling	Conservative
	1897	Arthur Henry Aylmer Morton	Conservative
	1906	C. W. Bowerman	Labour
	1931	Denis Hanley	Conservative
	1935	Walter Green	Labour
	1945	John Wilmot	Labour
	1950	Jack Cooper	Labour
	1951	Sir Leslie Plummer	Labour
	1963	John Silkin	Labour
1974		constituency abolished

Election results

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Silkin	14,672	62.96
	Conservative	Michael Brotherton	7,355	31.56
	National Front	Martin Vaux	1,277	5.48
Majority			7,317	31.40
Turnout			23,304	54.67
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Silkin	17,983	66.80
	Conservative	John R Giles	7,033	26.12
	British National	Gerald Rowe	1,906	7.08	New
Majority			10,950	40.68
Turnout			26,922	60.27
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Silkin	17,676	62.44
	Conservative	Murray M Leask	8,248	29.13
	Independent	Colin M H Atkins^[3]	2,386	8.43	New
Majority			9,428	33.31
Turnout			28,310	60.08
	Labour hold		Swing

1963 Deptford by-election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Silkin	12,209	58.25	-3.70
	Liberal	David John Howard Penwarden	4,726	22.55	n/a
	Conservative	John D Brimacombe	4,023	19.20	-18.85
Majority			7,483	35.70	+11.80
Turnout			20,958
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Leslie Plummer	21,226	61.95
	Conservative	John D Brimacombe	13,038	38.05
Majority			8,188	23.90
Turnout			34,264	69.34
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Leslie Plummer	23,925	65.73
	Conservative	Irene Dowling	12,472	34.27
Majority			11,453	31.46
Turnout			36,397	69.62
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Leslie Plummer	28,878	65.17
	Conservative	Irene Dowling	15,431	34.83
Majority			13,447	30.34
Turnout			44,309	80.27
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1950: Deptford^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Cooper	28,230	63.07
	Conservative	Geoffrey F. Sarjeant	13,330	29.78
	Liberal	Edward Isaac Miller	2,637	5.89	new
	Communist	Leslie Francis Stannard	562	1.26	new
Majority			14,900	33.29
Turnout			44,759	81.61
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Wilmot	22,313	73.47
	Conservative	Eric Cuddon	8,059	26.53
Majority			14,254	46.94
Turnout			30,372
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1930s

General election 1935: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Walter Green	27,021	57.31
	Conservative	Malcolm Campbell	20,129	42.69
Majority			6,892	14.62	N/A
Turnout			47,150
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1931: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Denis Hanley	26,558	54.42
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	22,244	45.58
Majority			4,314	8.84	N/A
Turnout			48,802
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Election in the 1920s

General election 1929: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	26,848	55.2	+0.7
	Unionist	Ernest Gates	14,832	30.5	−15.0
	Liberal	H. Charles Bevan	6,935	14.3	New
Majority			12,016	24.7	+15.7
Turnout			48,615	68.2	−3.8
Registered electors			71,242
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.9

General election 1924: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	21,903	54.5	−8.5
	Unionist	James Hargreaves	18,279	45.5	+8.5
Majority			3,624	9.0	−17.0
Turnout			40,182	72.0	+8.7
Registered electors			55,797
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.5

General election 1923: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	21,576	63.0	+10.4
	Unionist	Marshall James Pike	12,666	37.0	−10.4
Majority			8,910	26.0	+20.8
Turnout			34,242	63.3	−2.9
Registered electors			54,135
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.4

General election 1922: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	18,512	52.6	−1.8
	Unionist	Marshall James Pike	16,687	47.4	+9.9
Majority			1,825	5.2	−11.7
Turnout			35,199	66.2	+16.0
Registered electors			53,195
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.9

Elections in the 1910s

^[6]

General election 1918: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	14,073	54.4	+3.0
	Conservative	John Prestige	9,711	37.5	−11.1
	NFDDSS	Frederick Alfred Rumsey	2,106	8.1	New
Majority			4,362	16.9	+14.1
Turnout			25,890	50.2	−31.3
Registered electors			51,611
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.1

General election December 1910: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	6,357	51.4	-0.6
	Conservative	Stuart Coats	5,999	48.6	+0.6
Majority			358	2.8	−1.2
Turnout			12,356	81.5	−5.8
Registered electors			15,159
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.6

General election January 1910: Deptford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. W. Bowerman	6,880	52.0	-0.2
	Conservative	Stuart Coats	6,358	48.0	+6.3
Majority			522	4.0	−6.5
Turnout			13,238	87.3	+9.8
Registered electors			15,159
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.3

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Deptford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	C. W. Bowerman	6,236	52.2	*New*
	Conservative	Arthur Morton	4,977	41.7	−20.4
	Liberal	Herbert Vivian	726	6.1	−31.8
Majority			1,259	10.5	N/A
Turnout			11,939	77.5	+10.6
Registered electors			15,397
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1900: Deptford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Morton	6,236	62.1	+6.0
	Lib-Lab	Ben Jones	3,806	37.9	−6.0
Majority			2,430	24.2	+12.0
Turnout			10,042	66.9	−6.1
Registered electors			15,000
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.0

Elections in the 1890s

1897 Deptford by-election ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Henry Aylmer Morton	5,317	51.6	-4.5
	Liberal	John Benn	4,993	48.4	+4.5
Majority			324	3.2	−9.0
Turnout			10,310	74.3	+1.3
Registered electors			13,868
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.5

General election 1895: Deptford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Darling	5,654	56.1	+3.3
	Liberal	Thomas Macnamara	4,425	43.9	-3.3
Majority			1,229	12.2	+6.6
Turnout			10,079	73.0	−3.8
Registered electors			13,815
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

General election 1892: Deptford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Darling	5,298	52.8	−1.9
	Liberal	Edmond Fitzmaurice	4,733	47.2	+1.9
Majority			565	5.6	−3.8
Turnout			10,031	76.8	+4.9
Registered electors			13,066
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.9

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 29 Feb 1888: Deptford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Darling	4,345	51.6	-3.1
	Liberal	Wilfrid Blunt	4,070	48.4	+3.1
Majority			275	3.2	−6.2
Turnout			8,415	80.3	+8.4
Registered electors			10,473
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.1

Caused by Evelyn's resignation.

General election 1886: Deptford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William John Evelyn	3,682	54.7	+2.2
	Liberal	Lalmohun Ghose	3,055	45.3	-2.2
Majority			627	9.4	+4.4
Turnout			6,737	71.9	−8.0
Registered electors			9,371
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

General election 1885: Deptford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William John Evelyn	3,927	52.5
	Liberal	Lalmohun Ghose	3,560	47.5
Majority			367	5.0
Turnout			7,487	79.9
Registered electors			9,371
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

^ "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.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)
^ Anti-immigration. Colin Murray Hazlewood Atkins (12 Aug 1929 - 21 July 2008). One of ‘The three London candidates, in Southall, Deptford and Islington East, who under different labels, fought on avowedly anti-immigrant platforms’ - David Butler, and Anthony King, The British General Election of 1964 (1965), p 119. See also Nicholas Deakin (ed.), Colour and the British Electorate 1964 (1965), Chapter 6.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ British parliamentary election results, 1950–1973, FWS Craig
^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.

British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
Debrett’s Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901
Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918

v t e Historic constituencies in London
1885	Battersea Bermondsey Bethnal Green North East Bethnal Green South West Bow and Bromley Brixton Camberwell North Chelsea City of London Clapham Deptford Dulwich Finsbury Central Finsbury East Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North Hackney South Haggerston Hammersmith Hampstead Holborn Hoxton Islington East Islington North Islington South Islington West Kennington Kensington North Kensington South Lambeth North Lewisham Limehouse Marylebone East Marylebone West Mile End Newington West Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar Rotherhithe Southwark West St George St George's Hanover Square St Pancras East St Pancras North St Pancras South St Pancras West Stepney Strand Walworth Wandsworth Westminster Whitechapel Woolwich
1918	Balham and Tooting Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey West Bethnal Green North East Bethnal Green South West Bow and Bromley Brixton Camberwell North Camberwell North West Clapham Dulwich Chelsea City of London Deptford Finsbury Fulham East Fulham West Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North Hackney South Hammersmith North Hammersmith South Hampstead Holborn Islington East Islington North Islington South Islington West Kennington Kensington North Kensington South Lambeth North Lewisham East Lewisham West Limehouse Mile End Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar South Putney Rotherhithe St Marylebone St Pancras North St Pancras South East St Pancras South West Shoreditch Southwark Central Southwark North Southwark South East Stoke Newington Streatham Wandsworth Central Westminster Abbey Westminster St George's Whitechapel and St George's Woolwich East Woolwich West
1950	Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey Bethnal Green Brixton Chelsea Cities of London and Westminster Clapham Deptford Dulwich Fulham East Fulham West Greenwich Hackney South Hammersmith North Hammersmith South Hampstead Holborn and St Pancras South Islington East Islington North Islington South West Kensington North Kensington South Lewisham North Lewisham South Lewisham West Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar Putney St Marylebone St Pancras North Streatham Shoreditch and Finsbury Southwark Stepney Stoke Newington and Hackney North Vauxhall Wandsworth Central Woolwich East Woolwich West
1955	Barons Court Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey Bethnal Green Brixton Chelsea Cities of London and Westminster Clapham Deptford Dulwich Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hammersmith North Hampstead Holborn and St Pancras South Islington East Islington North Islington South West Kensington North Kensington South Lewisham North Lewisham South Lewisham West Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar Putney St Marylebone St Pancras North Shoreditch and Finsbury Southwark Stepney Stoke Newington and Hackney North Streatham Vauxhall Wandsworth Central Woolwich East Woolwich West