Bournemouth (UK Parliament constituency)

50°43′19″N 1°52′44″W / 50.722°N 1.879°W / 50.722; -1.879

Bournemouth
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
19181950
Created fromChristchurch
Replaced byBournemouth East and Christchurch and Bournemouth West

Bournemouth was a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. The seat was created in 1918 and existed until it was abolished and split into two new seats in 1950. During the constituency's existence it was the most south-westerly seat in Hampshire (although the county boundary between Dorset and Hampshire was redrawn in 1974 so the town was transferred to Dorset).

Boundaries

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Before 1918 the County Borough of Bournemouth formed part of the then parliamentary borough of Christchurch. Under the Representation of the People Act 1918 Bournemouth gained its own constituency, with the same boundaries as the then county borough.

The seat was bordered to the west by the constituency of Dorset East, while to the north was New Forest and Christchurch. The rest of the constituency bordered the English Channel.

In the 1950 redistribution, the Representation of the People Act 1948 provided for the division of Bournemouth (with the addition of the neighbouring town of Christchurch) into Bournemouth East and Christchurch & Bournemouth West.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member Party Notes
1918 Henry Croft National
1921 Conservative Resigned May 1940 on being raised to the peerage
1940 by-election Leonard Lyle Conservative Resigned October 1945 on being raised to the peerage
1945 by-election Brendan Bracken Conservative
1950 constituency abolished: see Bournemouth East and Christchurch & Bournemouth West

Elections

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Elections in the 1910s

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General election 1918: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Henry Page Croft 14,048 66.3
Labour Frederick Jesse Hopkins 5,302 25.0
Liberal Thomas Dove Keighley 1,854 8.7
Majority 8,746 41.3
Turnout 21,204 64.1
National win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

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C.B. Dallow
General election 1922: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry Page Croft 15,690 52.3 −14.0
Liberal Cyril Berkeley Dallow 10,181 33.9 +25.2
Lloyd George Conservative Harry Keen Hargreaves 4,134 13.8 New
Majority 5,509 18.4 N/A
Turnout 30,005 79.8 +15.7
Registered electors 37,598
Unionist gain from National Swing N/A
General election 1923: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry Page Croft 15,506 50.4 −1.9
Liberal Cyril Berkeley Dallow 9,256 30.1 −3.8
Labour Minnie Pallister 5,986 19.5 New
Majority 6,250 20.3 +1.9
Turnout 30,748 79.0 −0.8
Registered electors 38,913
Unionist hold Swing +1.0
General election 1924: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry Page Croft 20,620 72.7 +22.3
Labour Minnie Pallister 7,735 27.3 +7.8
Majority 12,885 45.4 +25.1
Turnout 28,355 69.1 −9.9
Registered electors 41,038
Unionist hold Swing +7.25
General election 1929: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry Page Croft 25,945 52.2 −20.5
Liberal Arthur Mortimer 15,890 31.9 New
Labour Maurice Spencer 7,900 15.9 −11.4
Majority 10,055 20.3 −25.1
Turnout 49,735 74.4 +5.3
Registered electors 66,812
Unionist hold Swing −26.2

Elections in the 1930s

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General election 1931: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Page Croft 39,859 80.03
Labour JH Collingbourne 9,943 19.97
Majority 29,916 60.06
Turnout 49,802 70.28
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1935: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Page Croft 32,645 71.08
Labour Maurice Solomon Davidson 13,279 28.92
Majority 19,366 42.16
Turnout 45,924 62.62
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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1940 Bournemouth by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Leonard Lyle Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1945: Bournemouth[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Leonard Lyle 34,544 55.45
Liberal Basil Wigoder 14,232 22.85 New
Labour Robert Spence Watson Pollard 13,522 21.71
Majority 20,312 32.60
Turnout 62,298 71.32
Conservative hold Swing
1945 Bournemouth by-election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Brendan Bracken 22,980 46.85 −8.60
Labour Edward Shackleton 16,526 33.69 +11.98
Liberal Basil Wigoder 9,548 19.46 −3.39
Majority 6,454 13.16 −19.44
Turnout 49,054 56.5
Conservative hold Swing

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  2. ^ "1945 by Elections". by-elections.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
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  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)