St George (UK Parliament constituency)

See also Westminster St George's, prev known as St George Hanover Square
St George
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of members one
Replaced by Whitechapel and St George's
Created from Tower Hamlets

St George was a parliamentary constituency in what is now the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was part of the Parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets and returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

The constituency, formally known as Tower Hamlets, St George Division, was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 by the division of the existing two-member parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets into seven divisions, each returning one MP.[1]

This was an area on the north bank of the River Thames, with a lot of its inhabitants employed as dock workers or in the sugar refining industry. Pelling comments that it had the largest proportion of immigrant Irishmen in the metropolis.

The constituency was marginal between the Conservative and Liberal parties. Pelling suggests the Conservative MP, elected in 1885, owed his victory to generosity "bordering on corruption". Political issues important in the area were protectionism (as sugar refining was damaged by foreign subsidies to rivals) and the immigration of "pauper aliens" (the neighbouring division of Whitechapel had a large population of immigrant Jews).

The seat was abolished for the 1918 general election. The area was incorporated in a new seat of Stepney, Whitechapel and St George's.

Boundaries

St George's in the Metropolitan area, showing boundaries used from 1885-1918

The constituency comprised two civil parishes: St George in the East and Wapping.[1] Although lying in Middlesex, the parishes formed part of the East End of London, and were administered as part of the Metropolis.

In 1889 the area was removed from Middlesex to the new County of London, and in 1900 it was included in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney, but no changes were made to constituency boundaries until 1918.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1885 Charles Thomson Ritchie Conservative
1892 John Williams Benn Liberal
1895 Harry Hananel Marks Conservative
1900 Sir Thomas Robert Dewar Conservative
1906 William Wedgwood Benn Liberal
1918 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Tower Hamlets, St. George
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Thomson Ritchie 1,744 59.6
Liberal Sir David Salomons 1,180 40.4
Majority 564 19.2
Turnout 4,317 67.7
General Election 1886: Tower Hamlets, St. George
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Thomson Ritchie 1,561 59.2
Liberal Richard Eve 1,076 40.8
Majority 485 18.4
Turnout 4,317 61.1
Conservative hold Swing -0.4
Charles Ritchie
St George's by-election, 1886
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Thomson Ritchie 1,546 63.5
Liberal Richard Eve 889 36.5
Majority 657 27.0
Turnout 4,317 56.4
Conservative hold Swing +4.3

Elections in the 1890s

John Benn
General Election 1892: Tower Hamlets, St. George
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Williams Benn 1,661 56.8
Conservative Charles Thomson Ritchie 1,263 43.2
Majority 398 13.6
Turnout 3,755 77.9
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +20.3
General Election 1895: Tower Hamlets, St. George
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Hananel Marks 1,583 50.1
Liberal John Williams Benn 1,579 49.9
Majority 4 0.2
Turnout 3,824 82.7
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +6.9

Elections in the 1900s

Thomas Dewar
Bertram Straus
General Election 1900: Tower Hamlets, St. George[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Robert Dewar 1,437 55.7 +5.6
Liberal Bertram Stuart Straus 1,141 44.3 -5.6
Majority 296 11.4 +11.2
Turnout 3,518 73.3 -9.4
Conservative hold Swing +5.6
General Election 1906: Tower Hamlets, St. George
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,685 61.3
Conservative H. Hallifax Wells 1,064 38.7
Majority 621 22.6
Turnout 3,246 84.7
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +17.0

Elections in the 1910s

Wedgwood Benn
General Election January 1910: Tower Hamlets, St. George[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,568 58.0 -3.3
Conservative Percy Coleman Simmons 1,134 42.0 +3.3
Majority 434 16.0 -6.6
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing -3.3
Tower Hamlets St George by-election, 1910[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,598 59.5 +1.5
Conservative Percy Coleman Simmons 1,089 40.5 -1.5
Majority 509 19.0 +3.0
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing +1.5
General Election December 1910: Tower Hamlets, St. George[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,401 57.8 -1.7
Conservative Douglas Clifton Brown 1,022 42.2 +1.7
Majority 379 15.6 -3.4
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing -1.7

References

  1. 1 2 Youngs, Frederic A, Jr. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. p. 749. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
  2. ↑ Craig, F.W.S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
  3. ↑ Craig, F.W.S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
  4. ↑ Craig, F.W.S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
  5. ↑ Craig, F.W.S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
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