Westminster St George's (UK Parliament constituency)

Westminster St George's, originally named St George's, Hanover Square, was a parliamentary constituency in 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 of election.

Westminster St George's
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyCounty of London
18851950
SeatsOne
Created fromWestminster
Replaced byCities of London and Westminster

History

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The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and was then named "St George Hanover Square" after the parish of the same name.

It was renamed in 1918 as "Westminster St George's", and abolished in 1950.

Boundaries

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St George Hanover Square in the Metropolitan area 1885–1918
 
St George's in the Parliamentary County of London 1918–50
 
Westminster Metropolitan Borough wards in 1916

1885–1918

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From 1885 to 1918, when the constituency was known as St George Hanover Square, it was defined as being coterminous with the civil parish of the same name.[1] In 1900 the parish was included for local government purposes in the area of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. This did not affect the name or boundaries of the constituency until 1918.[2]

1918–1950

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The Boundary Commission report of 1918 (Cd. 8756), at Schedule-Part II no. 78, defined the constituency as the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster:

The constituency also included "the part of the Charing Cross Ward which lies to the south and west of a line drawn from the ward boundary at the centre of Wellington Arch, along the middle of Constitution Hill, thence along the middle of the road to the north and east of the Queen Victoria Memorial, thence along the middle of Spur Road to boundary of St. Margaret Ward". This area included the remainder of the grounds of Buckingham Palace which were not in the Victoria Ward, but contained no electors. The boundary commissioners proposals were enacted by Schedule 9 of the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Members of Parliament

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Year Member Party
1885 Lord Algernon Percy Conservative
1887 George Goschen Liberal Unionist
1893 Conservative
1900 Hon. Heneage Legge Conservative
1906 Hon. Alfred Lyttelton Liberal Unionist
1912 Unionist
1913 Sir Alexander Henderson Unionist
1916 Sir George Reid Unionist
1918 Sir Newton Moore Unionist
1918 Walter Long Unionist
1921 James Erskine Anti-Waste League/Independent Conservative
1923 Unionist
1929 Sir Laming Worthington-Evans Unionist
1931 Duff Cooper Conservative
1945 Arthur Howard Conservative
1950 constituency abolished

Elections

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Elections in the 1880s

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Phillimore
General election 1885: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Algernon Percy 5,256 67.7
Liberal Walter Phillimore 2,503 32.3
Majority 2,753 35.4
Turnout 7,759 73.9
Registered electors 10,500
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1886: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Algernon Percy Unopposed
Conservative hold

Percy's resignation caused a by-election.

 
Goschen
By-election, 9 Feb 1887: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist George Goschen 5,702 78.7 New
Liberal James Haysman 1,545 21.3 New
Majority 4,157 57.4 N/A
Turnout 7,247 65.4 N/A
Registered electors 11,079
Liberal Unionist hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1890s

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General election 1892: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist George Goschen Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold

Goschen was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 29 Jun 1895: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Goschen Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1895: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Goschen Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

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General election 1900: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Heneage Legge 3,852 75.1 N/A
Liberal William Everitt 1,278 24.9 New
Majority 2,574 50.2 N/A
Turnout 5,130 52.2 N/A
Registered electors 9,820
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General election 1906: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Heneage Legge 4,264 66.1 −9.0
Liberal Manmath Chandra Mallik 2,191 33.9 +9.0
Majority 2,073 32.2 −18.0
Turnout 6,455 69.0 +16.8
Registered electors 9,359
Conservative hold Swing −9.0
1906 by-election: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Alfred Lyttelton Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1910s

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Lyttelton
General election January 1910: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Alfred Lyttelton 5,383 78.6 +12.5
Liberal Mackenzie Bell 1,469 21.4 −12.5
Majority 3,914 57.2 +25.0
Turnout 6,852 76.5 +7.5
Registered electors 8,954
Liberal Unionist hold Swing +12.5
 
Bell
General election December 1910: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Alfred Lyttelton 4,398 78.7 +0.1
Liberal Mackenzie Bell 1,188 21.3 −0.1
Majority 3,210 57.4 +0.2
Turnout 5,586 62.4 −14.1
Registered electors 8,954
Liberal Unionist hold Swing +0.1
1913 by-election: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Alexander Henderson Unopposed
Unionist hold
 
Reid
1916 by-election: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist George Reid Unopposed
Unionist hold
1918 by-election: St George's, Hanover Square[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Newton Moore Unopposed
Unionist hold
General election 1918: Westminster St George's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Walter Long 10,453 90.2 +11.5
Liberal Mackenzie Bell 1,140 9.8 −11.5
Majority 9,313 80.4 +23.0
Turnout 11,593 39.9 −22.5
Unionist hold Swing +11.5
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

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1921 Westminster St George's by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Anti-Waste League James Erskine 7,244 57.5 New
C Unionist Herbert Jessel 5,356 42.5 −47.7
Majority 1,888 15.0 N/A
Turnout 12,600 39.8 −0.1
Anti-Waste League gain from Unionist Swing N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
 
Mary Allen
General election 1922: Westminster St George's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Ind. Unionist James Erskine 11,252 55.9 New
Unionist Leslie Wilson 7,559 37.6 −52.6
Liberal Mary Sophia Allen 1,303 6.5 −3.3
Majority 3,693 18.3 N/A
Turnout 20,114 62.2 +21.3
Ind. Unionist gain from Anti-Waste League Swing
General election 1923: Westminster St George's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Erskine Unopposed
Registered electors
Unionist gain from Ind. Unionist Swing
General election 1924: Westminster St George's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Erskine Unopposed
Registered electors
Unionist hold Swing
 
Worthington-Evans
General election 1929: Westminster St George's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Laming Worthington-Evans 22,448 78.1 N/A
Labour Joseph George Butler 6,294 21.9 New
Majority 16,154 56.2 N/A
Turnout 28,742 53.3 N/A
Unionist hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1930s

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1931 Westminster St George's by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Duff Cooper 17,242 59.9 −18.2
Ind. Conservative Ernest Petter 11,532 40.1 New
Majority 5,710 19.8 −36.4
Turnout 28,774 53.1 −0.2
Conservative hold Swing N/A
1931 general election: Westminster St George's[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Duff Cooper Unopposed
Conservative hold
 
Duff Cooper
General election 1935: Westminster St George's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Duff Cooper 25,424 84.6 +6.5
Labour Anne Fremantle 4,643 15.4 −6.5
Majority 20,781 69.2 +13.0
Turnout 30,067 55.2 +1.9
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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General election 1945: Westminster St George's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Arthur Howard 13,086 67.2 −17.4
Common Wealth Wilfred Brown 5,314 27.3 New
Independent Dorothy Crisp 1,069 5.5 New
Majority 7,772 39.9 −29.3
Turnout 19,469 57.2 +2.0
Conservative hold Swing N/A

References

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  1. ^ "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
  2. ^ London Government Act 1899, Schedule 1
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  4. ^ Election results 1931 PoliticsResources