West Ham South (UK Parliament constituency)

West Ham South
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1950–1974 (1974)
Seats	One
Created from	Plaistow and Silvertown
Replaced by	Newham South
1885–1918
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	South Essex
Replaced by	Plaistow and Silvertown

West Ham South was a parliamentary constituency in the County Borough of West Ham, in what was then Essex but is now Greater 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 voting system.

Boundaries

1950–1974: The County Borough of West Ham wards of Beckton Road, Bemersyde, Canning Town and Grange, Custom House and Silvertown, Hudsons, Ordnance, Plaistow, and Tidal Basin.

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

It was re-established for the 1950 general election, and abolished again for the February 1974 general election.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Joseph Leicester	Lib-Lab
	1886	George Edward Banes	Conservative
	1892	Keir Hardie	Independent Labour
	1893		Independent Labour Party
	1895	George Edward Banes	Conservative
	1906	Will Thorne	Labour
	1918	constituency abolished

MPs 1950–1974

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Elwyn Jones	Labour
	Feb 1974	constituency abolished: see Newham South

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: West Ham South^[1]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	Joseph Leicester	3,527	58.1
	Conservative	Alfred John Pound	2,545	41.9
Majority			982	16.2
Turnout			6,072	67.9
Registered electors			8,942
	Lib-Lab win (new seat)

General election 1886: West Ham South^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Edward Banes	2,778	52.9	+11.0
	Lib-Lab	Joseph Leicester	2,472	47.1	−11.0
Majority			306	5.8	N/A
Turnout			5,250	58.7	−9.2
Registered electors			8,942
	Conservative gain from Lib-Lab		Swing	+11.0

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: West Ham South^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	Keir Hardie	5,268	56.6	+9.5
	Conservative	George Edward Banes	4,036	43.4	−9.5
Majority			1,232	13.2	N/A
Turnout			9,304	59.8	+1.1
Registered electors			15,548
	Independent Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.5

General election 1895: West Ham South^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Edward Banes	4,750	54.4	+11.0
	Ind. Labour Party	Keir Hardie	3,975	45.6	−11.0
Majority			775	8.8	N/A
Turnout			8,725	55.4	−4.4
Registered electors			15,745
	Conservative gain from Independent Labour		Swing	+11.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: West Ham South^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Edward Banes	5,615	55.8	+1.4
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Will Thorne	4,439	44.2	−1.4
Majority			1,176	11.6	+2.8
Turnout			10,054	51.2	−4.2
Registered electors			19,631
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

Thorne

General election 1906: West Ham South^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Will Thorne	10,210	67.2	+23.0
	Conservative	Sir John Gardiner Nutting, 1st Baronet	4,973	32.8	−23.0
Majority			5,237	34.4	N/A
Turnout			15,183	66.7	+15.5
Registered electors			22,753
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative		Swing	+23.0

Elections in the 1910s

General election, January 1910: West Ham South^[1]^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Will Thorne	11,791	63.1	−4.1
	Conservative	James Grimwood	6,909	36.9	+4.1
Majority			4,882	26.2	−8.2
Turnout			18,700	70.1	+3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.1

General election, December 1910: West Ham South^[1]^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Will Thorne	9,508	66.4	+3.3
	Conservative	Thomas Walter Colby Carthew	4,820	33.6	−3.3
Majority			4,688	32.8	+6.6
Turnout			14,328	53.7	−16.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: West Ham South^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elwyn Jones	36,754	82.42
	Conservative	Mabel de la Motte	5,422	12.16
	Liberal	Geoffrey George Young	1,686	3.78
	Communist	W Norris	730	1.64
Majority			31,332	70.26
Turnout			44,592	77.89
	Labour win (new seat)

General election 1951: West Ham South^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elwyn Jones	37,195	84.96	+2.54
	Conservative	Mabel de la Motte	6,586	15.04	+2.88
Majority			30,609	69.92	−0.34
Turnout			43,781	77.31	−0.58
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.17

General election 1955: West Ham South^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elwyn Jones	29,451	83.08	−1.88
	Conservative	Elias J Emden	5,997	16.92	+1.88
Majority			23,454	66.16	−2.76
Turnout			35,448	65.81	−11.50
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.88

General election 1959: West Ham South^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elwyn Jones	28,017	75.26	−7.82
	Conservative	Peter Goldman	5,188	13.94	−2.98
	Liberal	Oliver French	4,020	10.80	New
Majority			22,829	61.32	−2.86
Turnout			37,225	71.12	+5.31
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.42

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: West Ham South^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elwyn Jones	23,599	74.45	−0.81
	Liberal	Eugene Johnson	4,264	13.45	+2.65
	Conservative	Robert Mitchell	3,835	12.10	−1.84
Majority			19,335	61.00	−0.32
Turnout			31,698	63.94	−7.18
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.73

General election 1966: West Ham South^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elwyn Jones	22,902	77.17	+2.72
	Conservative	Robert Mitchell	3,410	11.49	−0.61
	Liberal	Eugene Johnson	3,367	11.34	−2.11
Majority			19,492	65.68	+4.68
Turnout			29,679	61.84	−2.10
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.67

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: West Ham South^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elwyn Jones	18,899	77.71	+0.54
	Conservative	Brian C Balcomb	5,422	22.29	+10.80
Majority			13,477	55.42	−10.26
Turnout			24,321	48.84	−13.00
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.13

See also

• West Ham North, 1918–1950

References

1. compiled; edited by Craig, F.W.S. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918 (1. publ. ed.). London: MacMillan. ISBN 0-333-17153-5. {{cite book}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
2. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
3. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
4. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
5. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
6. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
7. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
8. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
9. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
10. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

External links

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)