Tonbridge
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–February 1974
Seatsone
Created fromTunbridge
Replaced byTonbridge and Malling

Tonbridge was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, centred on the town of Tonbridge. 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 1918 general election, replacing the previous Tunbridge constituency. It was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was replaced by the new Tonbridge and Malling constituency.

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies proposes to re-establish the seat in its revised proposal.[1]

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells, the Urban Districts of Tonbridge and Southborough, and the Rural District of Tonbridge.

1950–1974: As 1918 but with redrawn boundaries.

Constituency profile

The proposed seat includes the commuter town of Tonbridge and its hinterland to the north, plus the smaller town of Edenbridge further west. Electoral Calculus characterises this area as "Strong Right", with right-wing economic and social views, high home ownership levels and strong support for Brexit.[2]

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party Notes
1918 Herbert Spender-Clay Conservative Died 1937
1937 by-election Sir Adrian Baillie, Bt Conservative
1945 Gerald Williams Conservative Resigned 1956
1956 by-election Richard Hornby Conservative
Feb 1974 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Tonbridge[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Herbert Spender-Clay 14,622 68.1
Labour John Palmer 5,006 23.3
Liberal Thomas Buxton 1,851 8.6
Majority 9,616 44.8
Turnout 21,479 57.4
Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Tonbridge[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Spender-Clay 14,797 53.0 -15.1
Labour Joseph Thomas Davies 7,665 27.4 +4.1
Liberal Albert Charles Crane 5,472 19.6 +11.0
Majority 7,132 25.6 -19.2
Turnout 27,934 72.5 +15.1
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1923: Tonbridge [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Spender-Clay 13,910 49.8 -3.2
Liberal Albert Charles Crane 7,433 26.6 +7.0
Labour Joseph Thomas Davis 6,610 23.6 -3.8
Majority 6,477 23.2 -2.4
Turnout 27,953 70.6 -1.9
Unionist hold Swing -5.1
General election 1924: Tonbridge[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Spender-Clay 17,392 58.2 +8.4
Labour W F Toynbee 6,564 22.0 +1.6
Liberal James Millard Tucker 5,898 19.8 -6.8
Majority 10,828 36.2 +13.0
Turnout 29,854 74.3 +3.7
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1929: Tonbridge[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Spender-Clay 19,018 49.8 -8.4
Liberal Gordon Alchin 10,025 26.2 +6.4
Labour W F Toynbee 9,149 24.0 +2.0
Majority 8,993 23.6 -12.6
Turnout 38,192 72.3 -2.0
Unionist hold Swing -7.4

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Tonbridge[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Herbert Spender-Clay 30,602 78.8 +29.0
Labour Constance Borrett 8,208 21.1 -2.9
Majority 22,394 57.7 +34.1
Turnout 38,810 69.2 -3.0
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1935: Tonbridge[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Herbert Spender-Clay 23,460 61.3 -17.5
Labour F M Landau 9,405 24.6 +3.5
Liberal Richard Pope-Hennessy 5,403 14.1 New
Majority 14,055 36.7 -21.0
Turnout 38,268 68.2 -1.0
Conservative hold Swing
1937 Tonbridge by-election[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Adrian Baillie 18,802 56.9 -4.4
Labour H Smith 8,147 24.7 +0.1
Liberal Richard Matthews 6,073 18.4 +4.3
Majority 10,655 32.2 -4.5
Turnout 33,022 58.2 -10.0
Conservative hold Swing

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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Tonbridge[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gerald Williams 23,081 49.9 -7.0
Labour Vera Dart 16,590 35.8 +11.1
Liberal John Metcalfe 5,351 11.6 -6.8
Ind. Conservative E F St John Lyburn 1,249 2.7 New
Majority 6,491 14.1 -18.1
Turnout 46,271 73.2 +15.0
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Tonbridge[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gerald Williams 27,893 51.9
Labour Brian Clapham 19,525 36.3
Liberal Leslie Albert Willard 5,634 10.5
Ind. Conservative E F St. John Lyburn 739 1.4
Majority 8,368 15.6
Turnout 53,791 83.5
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1951: Tonbridge[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gerald Williams 31,377 59.8 +7.9
Labour Bernard Bagnari 21,109 40.2 +3.9
Majority 10,268 19.6 +4.0
Turnout 52,486 80.6 -2.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Tonbridge[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gerald Williams 29,521 60.4 +0.6
Labour Robert L Fagg 19,325 39.6 -0.6
Majority 10,196 20.8 +1.2
Turnout 48,846 75.5 -5.1
Conservative hold Swing
1956 Tonbridge by-election[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Hornby 20,515 52.0 -8.4
Labour Robert L Fagg 18,913 48.0 +8.4
Majority 1,602 4.0 -16.8
Turnout 39,428
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: Tonbridge[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Hornby 31,687 59.9 -0.5
Labour Kenneth W May 21,181 40.1 +0.5
Majority 10,506 19.8 -1.0
Turnout 52,868 78.5 +3.0
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Tonbridge[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Hornby 27,802 49.2 -10.7
Labour Donald Savage 19,037 33.7 -6.4
Liberal Edward Babbs 9,682 17.1 New
Majority 8,765 15.5 -4.3
Turnout 56,521 78.7 +0.2
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: Tonbridge[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Hornby 26,896 46.7 -2.5
Labour Eric William Wolff 20,068 34.9 +1.2
Liberal Colin Bloy 10,586 18.4 +1.3
Majority 6,828 11.8 -3.7
Turnout 57,550 77.3 -1.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Tonbridge[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Hornby 31,890 53.2 +4.5
Labour Maureen Colquhoun 17,897 29.9 -5.0
Liberal Harry E Hill 10,167 17.0 -1.4
Majority 13,993 23.3 +11.4
Turnout 59,954 72.0 -5.3
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ 2023 review South West Boundary Commission for England
  2. ^ Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/calcwork23.py?seat=Tonbridge
  3. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  4. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  5. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  6. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  7. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  8. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  9. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  10. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  11. ^ "Parliamentary candidates' protest", The Times, 6 April 1939
  12. ^ The Liberal Magazine, 1939
  13. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  14. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  15. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  16. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  17. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
  18. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
  19. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
  20. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  21. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
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