Middlesbrough West
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyNorth Riding of Yorkshire
1918–1974 (1974)
SeatsOne
Created fromMiddlesbrough
Replaced byThornaby,
Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough West was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Middlesbrough in North East England. 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 voting system.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Middlesbrough wards of Acklam, Ayresome, Cannon, Cleveland, Linthorpe, and Newport.

1950–1964: The County Borough of Middlesbrough wards of Acklam, Ayresome, and Linthorpe, and the Borough of Thornaby-on-Tees.[1]

1964–1974: The County Borough of Middlesbrough wards of Acklam, Ayresome, Crescent, Gresham, Linthorpe, Park, and Whinney Banks, and the Borough of Thornaby-on-Tees.[2]

Members of Parliament

Year Member Party
1918 Trevelyan Thomson Liberal
1928 F. Kingsley Griffith Liberal
1940 Harcourt Johnstone Liberal
1945 Don Bennett Liberal
1945 Geoffrey Cooper Labour
1951 Sir Jocelyn Simon Conservative
1962 Jeremy Bray Labour
1970 John Sutcliffe Conservative
Feb 1974 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Trevelyan Thomson * 10,958 67.2
Labour Charlie Cramp 5,350 32.8
Majority 5,608 34.4
Turnout 16,308 50.5
Registered electors 32,286
Liberal win (new seat)

* Thomson was issued with the Coalition Coupon but rejected it.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Trevelyan Thomson 16,811 69.4 +2.2
National Liberal Harry Driffield Levick 7,422 30.6 N/A
Majority 9,389 38.8 +4.4
Turnout 24,233 68.4 +17.9
Registered electors 35,448
Liberal hold Swing +2.2
General election 1923: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Trevelyan Thomson 16,837 69.4 0.0
Labour J. D. White 7,443 30.6 New
Majority 9,424 38.8 0.0
Turnout 24,280 68.6 +0.2
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1924: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Trevelyan Thomson Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal hold
1928 Middlesbrough West by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Frank Griffith 10,717 36.2 N/A
Labour Alonza Ellis 10,628 36.0 New
Unionist Stanley Sadler 8,213 27.8 New
Majority 89 0.2 N/A
Turnout 29,558 83.2 N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A
General election 1929: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Frank Griffith 14,674 40.6 N/A
Labour Alonza Ellis 13,328 36.9 N/A
Unionist Albert E. Baucher 8,137 22.5 N/A
Majority 1,346 3.7 N/A
Turnout 36,139
Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Frank Griffith 26,011 66.61
Labour Henry Kegie 13,040 33.39
Majority 12,971 33.32
Turnout 39,051 85.02
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1935: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Frank Griffith 13,689 36.18
Labour Henry Kegie 12,764 33.73
National Labour William Arthur Spofforth 11,387 30.09 N/A
Majority 925 2.45
Turnout 37,840 79.39
Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40:

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;

1940 Middlesbrough West by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Harcourt Johnstone Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal hold
1945 Middlesbrough West by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Don Bennett Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal hold
General election 1945: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Cooper 20,071 53.48 New
Liberal Don Bennett 17,458 46.52 N/A
Majority 2,613 6.96 N/A
Turnout 37,529 77.23 N/A
Labour gain from Liberal Swing N/A

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Cooper 21,593 46.31
Conservative L Wright 17,760 38.09 New
Liberal Philip Fothergill 7,273 15.60
Majority 3,833 8.22
Turnout 46,626 86.42
Labour hold Swing
General election 1951: Middlesbrough West[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jocelyn Simon 24,622 52.22
Labour Co-op David Dunwoodie 22,525 47.78
Majority 2,097 4.44
Turnout 47,147 86.29
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1955: Middlesbrough West[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jocelyn Simon 25,495 58.44
Labour Co-op Rita Alison Smythe 18,134 41.56
Majority 7,361 16.88
Turnout 43,629 82.45
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jocelyn Simon 24,602 54.88
Labour Edward Fletcher 15,892 35.45
Liberal George Wharton Ian Hodgson 4,336 9.67 New
Majority 8,710 19.43
Turnout 44,830 84.49
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1962 Middlesbrough West by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jeremy Bray 15,095 39.67 +4.22
Conservative Bernard Connelly 12,825 33.70 -21.18
Liberal George Scott 9,829 25.83 +16.16
Independent Russell Ernest Eckley 189 0.50 New
Independent Malcolm Thompson 117 0.31 New
Majority 2,270 5.97 N/A
Turnout 38,055
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1964: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jeremy Bray 19,904 44.75
Conservative Anthony Sumption 18,759 42.17
Liberal John Rettie 5,816 13.08
Majority 1,145 2.58
Turnout 44,479 84.07
Labour hold Swing
General election 1966: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jeremy Bray 23,649 54.48
Conservative John Sutcliffe 19,756 45.52
Majority 3,893 8.96
Turnout 43,405 81.47
Labour hold Swing

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Middlesbrough West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Sutcliffe 22,374 50.44
Labour Jeremy Bray 21,986 49.56
Majority 388 0.88 N/A
Turnout 44,360 75.05
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

See also

References

  1. ^ "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 27 October 2023
  2. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Gateshead) Order 1955. SI 1960/451". Statutory Instruments 1960. Part III. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1961. pp. 2856–2857.
  3. ^ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 27 February 1939
  4. ^ The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
  5. ^ The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.
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