Wolverhampton West (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Wolverhampton West was a borough constituency in the town of Wolverhampton
in the West Midlands
of England
. It returned one Member of Parliament
to the House of Commons
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
.
for the 1885 general election
, when the former two-seat Wolverhampton constituency
was divided into three single-member constituencies.
It was abolished for the 1950 general election
, when it was largely replaced by the new Wolverhampton South West constituency.
. The seat comprised five wards of the municipal borough
of Wolverhampton (St. Mark's, St. Paul's, St. John's Ward, St. George's and St. Matthew's) and the neighbouring Ettingshall
area which lay outside the borough boundaries.
. Wolverhampton's municipal boundaries had been enlarged and it had become a county borough
in the period since 1885. The Wolverhampton West seat was redefined to reflect this, and was described as comprising nine wards of the county borough: Blakenhall
, Dunstall
, Graiseley
, Merridale
, Park, St. George's, St. John's, St. Mark's and St. Matthew's.
1 Brown was elected in 1929, as a Labour Party candidate, but later sat as an "Independent Labour" MP. He sought re-election in 1931 and 1935 as an Independent Labour candidate, opposed in 1935 by an official Labour Party
candidate, but lost on both occasions
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
in the West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It returned one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
History
The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...
for the 1885 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
, when the former two-seat Wolverhampton constituency
Wolverhampton East (UK Parliament constituency)
Wolverhampton East was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
was divided into three single-member constituencies.
It was abolished for the 1950 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
, when it was largely replaced by the new Wolverhampton South West constituency.
1885–1918
The original boundaries of the constituency were set in the sixth schedule of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...
. The seat comprised five wards of the municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
of Wolverhampton (St. Mark's, St. Paul's, St. John's Ward, St. George's and St. Matthew's) and the neighbouring Ettingshall
Ettingshall
Ettingshall is an area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, and is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council.-History:Ettingshall was mentioned as an ancient manor in the Domesday Book of 1086...
area which lay outside the borough boundaries.
1918-1950
Constituencies throughout Great Britain were redrawn by the Representation of the People Act 1918Representation of the People Act 1918
The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in the United Kingdom. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act...
. Wolverhampton's municipal boundaries had been enlarged and it had become a county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
in the period since 1885. The Wolverhampton West seat was redefined to reflect this, and was described as comprising nine wards of the county borough: Blakenhall
Blakenhall
Blakenhall is a ward in Wolverhampton, England.-Toponymy and history:Blakenhall's name, according to topynmists comes from the Old English 'blæc', meaning 'black' or dark coloured, & 'halh' meaning 'nook' or 'corner'...
, Dunstall
Dunstall
Dunstall is a small village and civil parish in the borough of East Staffordshire, Staffordshire, England. It lies between Burton upon Trent and Barton-under-Needwood. The population of the parish at the 2001 census was 215....
, Graiseley
Graiseley
Graiseley is both an inner-city area of Wolverhampton, situated immediately to the south-west of the city centre, and the name of a ward of Wolverhampton City Council.-Place-name:...
, Merridale
Merridale
Merridale is an area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated to the south-west of the city centre, on the border of the city council's Graiseley and Park wards.- Origins and history :...
, Park, St. George's, St. John's, St. Mark's and St. Matthew's.
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:... |
Alfred Hickman Sir Alfred Hickman, 1st Baronet Sir Alfred Hickman was an industrialist and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1906.... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1886 United Kingdom general election, 1886 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**... |
Sir William Chichele Plowden William Chichele Plowden Sir William Chichele Plowden KCSI was a Civil Servant and Member of the Legislative Council in India, and subsequently a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1886 to 1892.... |
Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day... |
|
| 1892 United Kingdom general election, 1892 The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election... |
Sir Alfred Hickman Sir Alfred Hickman, 1st Baronet Sir Alfred Hickman was an industrialist and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1906.... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1906 United Kingdom general election, 1906 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**... |
Thomas Frederick Richards Thomas Frederick Richards Thomas Frederick Richards was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician. Born in Wednesbury, in the English Black Country, he was the son of a commercial traveller. Following an elementary education, he started work at the age of eleven. He moved to Leicester, a centre for the... |
Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
| 1910 | Sir Alfred Frederick Bird Sir Alfred Bird, 1st Baronet Sir Alfred Frederick Bird, 1st Baronet was a British chemist, food manufacturer and Conservative Party politician... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1922 by-election Wolverhampton West by-election, 1922 The Wolverhampton West by-election, 1922 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Wolverhampton West in Wolverhampton on 7 March 1922... |
Sir Robert Bland Bird Sir Robert Bird, 2nd Baronet Sir Robert Bland Bird, 2nd Baronet KBE was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.- Biography :... , Bt. |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929 -Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***... |
William Brown 1 | Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
| 1929 | Independent Labour | ||
| 1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the... |
Sir Robert Bland Bird Sir Robert Bird, 2nd Baronet Sir Robert Bland Bird, 2nd Baronet KBE was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.- Biography :... , Bt. |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to... |
Herbert Delauney "Billy" Hughes Billy Hughes (educationist) Herbert Delauney Hughes , known as Billy Hughes, was a British adult educationist and Labour Party politician... |
Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
| 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five... |
constituency abolished: see Wolverhampton South West | ||
1 Brown was elected in 1929, as a Labour Party candidate, but later sat as an "Independent Labour" MP. He sought re-election in 1931 and 1935 as an Independent Labour candidate, opposed in 1935 by an official Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
candidate, but lost on both occasions
Elections in the 1910s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s
See also
- List of Members of Parliament for Wolverhampton
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in Wolverhampton