Bristol North (UK Parliament constituency)
Bristol North | |
---|---|
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
Major settlements | Bristol |
1885–1950 | |
Seats | One |
Created from | Bristol (abolished) |
Replaced by | Bristol North East (majority) Bristol Central (part) |
Bristol North was a borough constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.
History
[edit]The seat was one of a small minority spanning the period which never elected a Conservative and Unionist Party candidate. In its early history Bristol North three times elected a Liberal Unionist who was affiliated with the Conservative Party; the latter having declined to field a candidate in those elections and in three others of the eight before World War I. In the eight elections from and including 1918 the Labour Party fielded candidates and won three times; a Unionist stood once without success; candidates considered Lloyd-George Coalition Liberal, National Liberal and Liberal National (reflecting complex splinter groups of the Liberal Party during the period) stood once apiece and an Independent Liberal who was the MP as a mainstream Liberal since the previous election in 1924 ran against the official party's new candidate in 1929, unsuccessfully. In two of these four instances the splinter arguably centrist Liberal candidate won. The Liberal incumbent Bernays also defected from the main body of his party in 1936 to join the National Liberal (1931) Party despite being re-elected as a candidate of the more established party in 1935.
Boundaries
[edit]1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bristol wards of District, St James's, and St Paul's, and part of North ward, and the local government district of Stapleton.
1918–1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards of District, St Philip and Jacob North, and Stapleton, and part of Easton ward.
Members of Parliament
[edit]Note: * denotes re-elected.
Elections
[edit]Elections in the 1880s
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Charles_Colston.jpg/120px-Charles_Colston.jpg)
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Lewis Fry | 4,110 | 57.4 | ||
Conservative | Charles Edward Hungerford Athol Colston | 3,046 | 42.6 | ||
Majority | 1,064 | 14.8 | |||
Turnout | 7,156 | 79.5 | |||
Registered electors | 9,002 | ||||
Liberal win (new seat) |
![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/de/Lewis_Fry.jpg/120px-Lewis_Fry.jpg)
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Unionist | Lewis Fry | 3,587 | 56.7 | +14.1 | |
Liberal | Alfred Carpenter | 2,737 | 43.3 | −14.1 | |
Majority | 850 | 13.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 6,324 | 70.3 | −9.2 | ||
Registered electors | 9,002 | ||||
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +14.1 |
Elections in the 1890s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Charles Townsend | 4,409 | 52.0 | +8.7 | |
Liberal Unionist | Lewis Fry | 4,064 | 48.0 | −8.7 | |
Majority | 345 | 4.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 8,473 | 78.0 | +7.7 | ||
Registered electors | 10,862 | ||||
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | +8.7 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Unionist | Lewis Fry | 4,702 | 51.3 | +3.3 | |
Liberal | Charles Townsend | 4,464 | 48.7 | −3.3 | |
Majority | 238 | 2.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 9,166 | 79.8 | +1.8 | ||
Registered electors | 11,490 | ||||
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +3.3 |
Elections in the 1900s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Unionist | Sir Frederick Wills | 4,936 | 54.1 | +2.8 | |
Liberal | Sir Clarence Smith | 4,182 | 45.9 | −2.8 | |
Majority | 754 | 8.2 | +5.6 | ||
Turnout | 9,118 | 75.0 | −4.8 | ||
Registered electors | 12,157 | ||||
Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | +2.8 |
![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Augustine_Birrell.jpg/120px-Augustine_Birrell.jpg)
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell | 6,953 | 63.4 | +17.5 | |
Liberal Unionist | John Alderson Foote | 4,011 | 36.6 | −17.5 | |
Majority | 2,942 | 26.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 10,964 | 83.9 | +8.9 | ||
Registered electors | 13,061 | ||||
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | +17.5 |
Elections in the 1910s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell | 6,805 | 55.5 | −7.9 | |
Liberal Unionist | Maurice Henry Woods | 5,459 | 44.5 | +7.9 | |
Majority | 1,346 | 11.0 | −15.8 | ||
Turnout | 12,264 | 87.7 | +3.8 | ||
Liberal hold | Swing | -7.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell | 6,410 | 55.8 | +0.3 | |
Conservative | Laurie Magnus | 5,084 | 44.2 | −0.3 | |
Majority | 1,326 | 11.6 | +0.6 | ||
Turnout | 11,494 | 82.2 | −5.5 | ||
Liberal hold | Swing | +0.3 |
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
- Liberal: Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell
- Unionist: Laurie Magnus
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Liberal | Edwin Stanley Gange | 11,400 | 60.2 | +4.4 |
Labour | James Kaylor | 5,007 | 26.5 | New | |
National | Ernest Willoughby Petter | 2,520 | 13.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 6,393 | 33.7 | +22.1 | ||
Turnout | 18,927 | ||||
Liberal hold | |||||
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. |
Elections in the 1920s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Liberal | Christian Henry Charles Guest | 17,495 | 64.6 | +4.4 | |
Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 9,567 | 35.4 | +8.9 | |
Majority | 7,928 | 29.2 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 27,062 | 73.2 | +18.5 | ||
Registered electors | 36,985 | ||||
National Liberal gain from National Liberal |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 10,432 | 37.5 | +2.1 | |
Liberal | Christian Henry Charles Guest | 8,770 | 31.5 | −33.1 | |
Unionist | Ernest Willoughby Petter | 8,643 | 31.0 | New | |
Majority | 1,663 | 6.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 27,845 | 74.4 | +1.2 | ||
Registered electors | 37,424 | ||||
Labour gain from National Liberal | Swing | +17.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest | 17,799 | 59.1 | +27.6 | |
Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 12,319 | 40.9 | +3.4 | |
Majority | 5,480 | 18.2 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 30,118 | 79.6 | +5.2 | ||
Registered electors | 37,821 | ||||
Liberal gain from Labour | Swing | +12.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 18,619 | 48.7 | +7.8 | |
Independent Liberal | Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest | 12,932 | 33.8 | −25.3 | |
Liberal | John Osborne Marshall Skelton | 6,713 | 17.5 | −41.6 | |
Majority | 5,687 | 14.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 38,264 | 78.1 | −1.5 | ||
Registered electors | 49,014 | ||||
Labour gain from Liberal |
Elections in the 1930s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Robert Hamilton Bernays | 27,040 | 66.2 | +48.7 | |
Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 13,826 | 33.8 | −14.9 | |
Majority | 13,214 | 32.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 40,866 | 80.9 | +2.8 | ||
Liberal gain from Labour | Swing | +31.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Robert Hamilton Bernays | 20,977 | 56.5 | −9.7 | |
Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 16,149 | 43.5 | +9.7 | |
Majority | 4,828 | 13.0 | −19.4 | ||
Turnout | 37,126 | 73.2 | −7.7 | ||
Liberal hold | Swing | -9.7 |
Elections in the 1940s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | William Coldrick | 22,819 | 57.8 | +14.3 | |
National Liberal | John Henshaw Britton | 16,648 | 42.2 | −14.3 | |
Majority | 6,171 | 15.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 39,467 | 74.0 | +1.8 | ||
Labour Co-op gain from National Liberal |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
- ^ a b c d e f The Liberal Year Book, 1907
- ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
- ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
- ^ Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 107. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.