Hackney Central
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Seats	one
Created from	Hackney
Replaced by	Hackney South and Stoke Newington and Hackney North
1955–1983
Seats	one
Created from	Hackney South
Replaced by	Hackney North and Stoke Newington and Hackney South and Shoreditch

Hackney Central was a borough constituency in what was then the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney, in London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Hackney Central in the Metropolitan area, boundaries 1885-1918

Hackney Central in the County of London, boundaries 1918-50

Hackney Central in the County of London, boundaries 1955-74

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 from 1885, and abolished for the 1950 general election. It was recreated for the 1955 general election, and abolished again for the 1983 general election.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The wards of Dalston and De Beauvoir Town, and part of Hackney ward.

1918–1950: The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney wards of Downs, Hackney, and Kingsland, and part of West Hackney ward.

1955–1974: The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney wards of Albion, Chatham, Kenninghall, Kingsland, Kingsmead, Leabridge, Pembury, Rushmore, and Town Hall.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Hackney wards of Chatham, Downs, Kingsmead, Leabridge, Rectory, and Wick.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885-1950

Election		Name	Party
	1885	Sir William Guyer Hunter	Conservative
	1892	Andrew Scoble	Conservative
	1900	Augustus Allhusen	Conservative
	1906	Sir Albert Spicer	Liberal
	1918	William Woolcock	Coalition Liberal
	1922	Arthur Lever	National Liberal
	1923	Leonard Franklin	Liberal
	1924	Robert Gower	Conservative
	1929	Fred Watkins	Labour
	1931	John Lockwood	Conservative
	1935	Fred Watkins	Labour
	1945	Harry Hynd	Labour
1950		constituency abolished

MPs 1955-1983

Election		Name	Party
1955		constituency recreated
	1955	Herbert Butler	Labour
	1970	Stanley Clinton-Davis	Labour
1983		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Hackney Central^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Hunter	2,941	51.7
	Liberal	John Holms	2,748	48.3
Majority			193	3.4
Turnout			5,689	77.1
Registered electors			7,381
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Hunter	3,047	60.8	+9.1
	Liberal	Martin Hume	1,961	39.2	-9.1
Majority			1,086	21.6	+18.2
Turnout			5,008	67.8	-9.3
Registered electors			7,381
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.1

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Hackney Central^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Scoble	3,478	52.1	-8.7
	Liberal	John Fyfe Stewart^[2]	3,193	47.9	+8.7
Majority			285	4.2	-17.4
Turnout			6,671	74.5	+6.7
Registered electors			8,951
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.7

General election 1895: Hackney Central^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Scoble	3,278	52.5	+0.4
	Liberal	Charles Russell	2,966	47.5	-0.4
Majority			312	5.0	+0.8
Turnout			6,244	70.7	-3.8
Registered electors			8,835
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Hackney Central^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Augustus Allhusen	3,747	62.6	+10.1
	Liberal	Israel Hart	2,243	37.4	−10.1
Majority			1,504	25.2	+20.2
Turnout			5,990	68.9	−1.8
Registered electors			8,692
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.1

General election 1906: Hackney Central^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Albert Spicer	3,998	54.2	+16.8
	Conservative	Augustus Allhusen	3,382	45.8	−16.8
Majority			616	8.4	N/A
Turnout			7,380	84.1	+15.2
Registered electors			8,779
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+16.8

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Albert Spicer	4,429	53.5	-0.7
	Liberal Unionist	Felix Cassel	3,853	46.5	+0.7
Majority			576	7.0	-1.4
Turnout			8,282	88.6	+4.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.7

General election December 1910: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Albert Spicer	3,954	53.3	-0.2
	Conservative	Albert Henry Jessel	3,464	46.7	+0.2
Majority			490	6.6	-0.4
Turnout			7,418	79.4	-9.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.2

General election 1918: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes
C	Liberal	William Woolcock	Unopposed
	Liberal hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Arthur Lever	9,795	46.4	*New*
	Liberal	Thomas Wood	6,825	32.3	N/A
	Labour	Arthur Lynch	4,507	21.3	New
Majority			2,970	14.1	N/A
Turnout			21,127	60.3	N/A
	National Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Leonard Franklin	8,569	38.6	+6.3
	Unionist	Daniel Thomas Keymer	7,252	32.7	New
	Labour	Ernest E. Hunter	6,354	28.7	+7.4
Majority			1,317	5.9	-8.2
Turnout			22,175	62.8	+2.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	+10.0

General election 1924: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Gower	11,414	42.7	+10.0
	Labour	Ernest E. Hunter	9,684	36.3	+7.6
	Liberal	Leonard Franklin	5,594	21.0	-17.6
Majority			1,730	6.4	N/A
Turnout			26,692	74.2	+11.4
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+13.8

General election 1929: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Watkins	12,462	37.3	+1.0
	Unionist	Alfred Bossom	10,814	32.3	-10.4
	Liberal	Leonard Franklin	10,186	30.4	+9.4
Majority			1,648	5.0	N/A
Turnout			33,462	70.0	-4.2
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lockwood	16,963	52.1	+19.8
	Labour	Fred Watkins	9,295	28.5	-8.8
	Liberal	Leonard Franklin	6,316	19.4	-11.0
Majority			7,668	23.6	N/A
Turnout			32,574	67.8	-2.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+14.3

General election 1935: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Watkins	15,332	51.6	+23.1
	Conservative	John Lockwood	14,375	48.4	-3.7
Majority			957	3.2	N/A
Turnout			29,707	60.6	-7.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.4

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;

Labour: Fred Watkins
Conservative: William Arthur Fearnley-Whittingstall^[3]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Hynd	14,810	67.2	+15.6
	Conservative	R.R. Harris	4,889	22.2	-26.2
	Liberal	Samuel Woolf Magnus	2,348	10.6	New
Majority			9,921	45.0	+41.8
Turnout			22,047	65.7	+5.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+18.9

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1955: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert Butler	27,012	61.74
	Conservative	James Allason	15,212	34.77
	Communist	John R Betteridge	1,530	3.50	New
Majority			11,800	26.97
Turnout			43,754	66.11
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Herbert Butler	25,407	61.50
	Conservative	John C T Waring	15,905	38.50
Majority			9,502	23.00
Turnout			41,312	66.03
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Herbert Butler	23,110	66.32
	Conservative	H Martin L Morton	11,376	33.68
Majority			11,376	32.66
Turnout			34,844	57.09
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert Butler	21,466	63.76
	Conservative	H Martin L Morton	7,440	22.10
	Liberal	Cecil V Gittins	4,762	14.14	New
Majority			14,026	41.66
Turnout			33,668	57.54
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.5

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Clinton-Davis	17,380	64.4	+0.6
	Conservative	Kenneth S Lightwood	9,339	34.6	+12.5
	Independent	Aftab Qureshi	252	0.9	New
Majority			8,041	29.8	-12.1
Turnout			26,971	50.8	-6.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Clinton-Davis	18,705	61.81
	Conservative	Kenneth S Lightwood	6,302	20.82
	Liberal	MG Snow	5,256	17.37	New
Majority			12,403	40.99
Turnout			30,263	62.70
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Stanley Clinton-Davis	17,650	68.89
	Conservative	Kenneth S Lightwood	4,797	18.72
	Liberal	MG Snow	3,174	12.39
Majority			12,853	50.17
Turnout			25,621	52.80
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Hackney Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Clinton-Davis	16,506	59.34
	Conservative	Nicholas Bennett	7,718	27.75
	Liberal	Elikkos Georghiades	1,835	6.60
	National Front	Ronald May	1,418	5.10	New
	Workers Revolutionary	Mark Johnson	340	1.22	New
Majority			8,788	31.59
Turnout			46,464	59.87
	Labour hold		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
^ Kennedy, Thomas Cummins (2001). British Quakerism, 1860-1920: The transformation of a religious community. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 144. ISBN 9780198270355.
^ The Law Journal - Volume 86 (1938)

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
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
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
1974	Acton Barking Battersea North Battersea South Beckenham Bermondsey Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing North Edmonton Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith North Hampstead Harrow Central Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras South Hornchurch Hornsey Ilford North Ilford South Islington Central Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lambeth Central Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Orpington Paddington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond Romford Ruislip-Northwood St Marylebone St Pancras North Sidcup Southall Stepney and Poplar Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Wimbledon Wood Green Woolwich East Woolwich West