Finsbury Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Finsbury Central
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	Finsbury
Replaced by	Finsbury

Finsbury Central was a parliamentary constituency that covered the Clerkenwell district of Central London. 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 system.

History

The constituency was created when the two-member Finsbury constituency was divided by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the 1918 general election, when it was replaced by a new single-member Finsbury constituency.

Boundaries

Finsbury Central in London 1885-1918

The constituency was created, in 1885, as a division of the parliamentary borough of Finsbury, in the historic county of Middlesex to the north of the City of London. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the constituency was to consist of the parish of St James and St John, Clerkenwell.^[1]

The seat was mostly located in the Clerkenwell district, with a detached portion at Muswell Hill containing about 5% of the population. The two areas were connected for historic reasons. The Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910, explains that the Knights of St John had once owned more than half of Clerkenwell, including a deer park at Muswell Hill.

In 1889 Clerkenwell was severed from Middlesex to become part of the County of London.

In 1900 the lower tier of local government in London was rationalised. The old local boards and parish vestries were replaced, in the Clerkenwell area, by the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The Muswell Hill area formed part of the Hornsey Urban District, which became the Municipal Borough of Hornsey in 1903.

The local government changes did not affect the parliamentary boundaries until the redistribution of 1918, when the Central division ceased to be a separate constituency.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	1885	Howard Spensley	Liberal
	1886	Frederick Penton	Conservative
	1892	Dadabhai Naoroji	Liberal
	1895	William Massey-Mainwaring	Conservative
	1906	W. C. Steadman	Liberal
	1910	Martin Archer-Shee	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished: see Finsbury

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Howard Spensley	2,861	55.3
	Conservative	Saul Isaac	2,314	44.7
Majority			547	10.6
Turnout			5,175	69.4
Registered electors			7,462
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Penton	2,245	50.1	+5.4
	Liberal	Howard Spensley	2,240	49.9	−5.4
Majority			5	0.2	N/A
Turnout			4,485	60.1	−9.3
Registered electors			7,462
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.4

Elections in the 1890s

Naoroji

General election 1892: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dadabhai Naoroji	2,961	50.0	+0.1
	Conservative	Frederick Penton	2,956	50.0	−0.1
Majority			5	0.0	N/A
Turnout			5,917	71.2	+11.1
Registered electors			8,311
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+0.1

Massey-Mainwaring

General election 1895: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Massey-Mainwaring	3,588	56.3	+6.3
	Liberal	Dadabhai Naoroji	2,783	43.7	−6.3
Majority			805	12.6	N/A
Turnout			6,371	71.5	+0.3
Registered electors			8,911
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.3

Elections in the 1900s

Benson

General election 1900: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Massey-Mainwaring	2,872	53.2	−3.1
	Liberal	Joseph Benson	2,523	46.8	+3.1
Majority			349	6.4	−6.2
Turnout			5,395	63.3	−8.2
Registered electors			8,523
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.1

Goulding

Steadman

General election 1906: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	W. C. Steadman	3,493	55.5	+8.7
	Conservative	Edward Goulding	2,799	44.5	−8.7
Majority			694	11.0	N/A
Turnout			6,292	76.0	+12.7
Registered electors			8,279
	Lib-Lab gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.7

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Archer-Shee	3,559	52.8	+8.3
	Lib-Lab	W. C. Steadman	3,187	47.2	−8.3
Majority			372	5.6	N/A
Turnout			6,746	83.3	+7.3
	Conservative gain from Lib-Lab		Swing	+8.3

General election December 1910: Finsbury Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Archer-Shee	3,335	54.3	+1.5
	Liberal	Felix Rosenheim	2,804	45.7	−1.5
Majority			531	8.6	+3.0
Turnout			6,139	75.8	−7.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.5

References

1. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Sixth Schedule
2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910. by Henry Pelling (Macmillan 1967)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"