West Essex (UK Parliament constituency)

West Essex
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Essex
1868–1885
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	Saffron Walden and Chelmsford
Created from	North Essex

West Essex, formally known as the Western Division of Essex was a parliamentary constituency in the English county of Essex. From 1868 to 1885, it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, using the bloc vote system of election.

Boundaries

Under the Representation of the People Act 1867, the constituency covered the hundreds of Freshwell, Uttlesford, Clavering, Dunmow, Harlow, Waltham, Ongar, and Chelmsford.

Members of Parliament

The constituency was represented throughout its existence by the same two MPs, both of whom were Conservatives.^[1]

Election	Member		Party	Member		Party
1868		Lord Eustace Cecil	Conservative		Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson	Conservative
1874
1880
1885	Constituency abolished. See Saffron Walden and Chelmsford

Election results

At the 1868 general election and the 1874 general election, the two Conservative Party candidates were returned unopposed: Lord Eustace Cecil and Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson.^[1]

The only contested election in Western Essex was in 1880, when the former King's Lynn MP Sir Thomas Buxton failed to win a seat for the Liberal Party.

General Election 1880: Essex Western[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson	2,664	39.0	N/A
	Conservative	Lord Eustace Cecil	2,397	35.1	N/A
	Liberal	Sir Thomas Buxton, Bt	1,772	25.9	N/A

References

1. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 388. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.

Sources

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