Greenwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Greenwich
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Greater London
1832–1885
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	Deptford, Greenwich, Lewisham and Woolwich
Created from	Kent
1885–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Greenwich & Woolwich
Created from	Greenwich

Greenwich was a parliamentary constituency in South-East London, which returned Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1997 by the first past the post system.

History

From 1832 until 1885 it was a two-member constituency, but its representation was reduced to one Member of Parliament under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. For the 1997 general election, it was merged with part of the former Woolwich constituency to form the Greenwich and Woolwich seat.

Greenwich in the Metropolitan Board of Works area, 1885–1918

Greenwich in the County of London 1918–49

wards of Greenwich Metropolitan Borough in 1916

Greenwich in the County of London 1950–74

Its history is dominated by the area's strong maritime tradition. Its most prominent claim to fame was as the seat of William Ewart Gladstone between 1868 and 1880, and it also achieved prominence in the 1987 Greenwich by-election, when the SDP won a surprise victory.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The parishes of Greenwich, St Nicholas, Deptford, Charlton, and Kidbrooke.

1918-1974: The Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich.

1974-1983: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Blackheath, Charlton, Eastcombe, Hornfair, Kidbrooke, Marsh, Park, Trafalgar, Vanbrugh, and West.

1983-1997: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Blackheath, Charlton, Ferrier, Hornfair, Kidbrooke, Rectory Field, St Alfege, Trafalgar, Vanbrugh, and West.

Between 1983 and 1997, the constituency formed the western part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832	constituency created with two members
1832		James Whitley Deans Dundas	Liberal		Edward George Barnard	Liberal
1835		John Angerstein	Liberal
1837		Matthias Wolverley Attwood	Conservative
1841		James Whitley Deans Dundas	Liberal
1851 by-election					David Salomons	Liberal
1852 by-election		Houston Stewart	Liberal
1852		Peter Rolt	Conservative		Montague Chambers	Liberal
Feb 1857 by-election		Sir William John Codrington	Liberal
Mar. 1857					John Townsend	Liberal
Feb. 1859 by-election					David Salomons	Liberal
1859		William Angerstein	Liberal
1865		Sir Charles Tilston Bright	Liberal
1868		William Ewart Gladstone	Liberal
1873 by-election					Sir Thomas William Boord	Conservative
1880		Baron Henry de Worms	Conservative
1885	Representation reduced to one member

MPs since 1885

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir Thomas William Boord	Conservative
	1895	Lord Hugh Cecil	Conservative
	1906	Richard Stephens Jackson	Liberal
	Jan 1910	Ion Hamilton Benn	Conservative
	1922	George Hopwood Hume	Conservative
	1923	Edward Timothy Palmer	Labour
	1924	Sir George Hopwood Hume	Conservative
	1929	Edward Timothy Palmer	Labour
	1931	Sir George Hopwood Hume	Conservative
	1945	Joseph Reeves	Labour
	1959	Richard William Marsh	Labour
	1971 by-election	Guy Barnett	Labour
	1987 by-election	Rosie Barnes	Social Democratic
	1992	Nick Raynsford	Labour
	1997	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

1885 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas William Boord	3,317	52.8	n/a
	Liberal	Herbert Watney	2,961	47.2	n/a
Majority			356	5.6	n/a
Turnout				72.7	n/a
	Conservative win

1886 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas William Boord	3240	55.9	+3.1
	Liberal	George Crispe Whiteley	2551	44.1	-3.1
Majority			689	11.8
Turnout				67.1	-5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 1890s

1892 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas William Boord	4,200	52.0	-3.9
	Liberal	George Crispe Whiteley	3,877	48.0	+3.9
Majority			323	4.0	-7.8
Turnout				78.8	+11.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.9

1895 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Hugh Cecil	4,802	57.4	+5.4
	Liberal	George Crispe Whiteley	3,564	42.6	-5.4
Majority			1,238	14.8	+10.8
Turnout				76.8	-2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.4

Elections in the 1900s

Jackson

1900 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Hugh Cecil	5,454	61.0	+3.6
	Liberal	Richard Stephens Jackson	3,484	39.0	-3.6
Majority			1,970	22.0	+7.2
Turnout				73.0	-3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

1906 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Richard Stephens Jackson	4,906	45.3	+6.3
	Independent Conservative	Ion Hamilton Benn	3,565	32.9	n/a
	Conservative	Lord Hugh Cecil	2,356	21.8	-39.2
Majority			1,341	12.4	-9.6
Turnout			13,049	83.0	+10.0
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

• Cecil was a free-trader and Benn was a supporter of tariff reform

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ion Hamilton Benn	6,284	55.3	+33.5
	Liberal	Richard Stephens Jackson	5,083	44.7	-0.6
Majority			1,201	10.6	-1.8
Turnout			13,153	86.4	+3.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+17.0

December 1910 General Election: Greenwich^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ion Hamilton Benn	5697	57.9	+2.6
	Liberal	Hon. John William Harris	4146	42.1	-2.6
Majority			1,551	15.8	+5.2
Turnout			13,153	74.8	-11.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

General Election 1918: Greenwich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ion Hamilton Benn	14,576
	Labour	James Bermingham	6,471
Majority			8,105
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

Hopwood Hume

General Election 1922: Greenwich ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	George Hopwood Hume	16,933	61	-8.3
	Labour	Edward Timothy Palmer	10,861	39.0	+8.3
Majority			6,072	21.8	-16.7
Turnout			27,794	60.4
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Greenwich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Timothy Palmer	12,314
	Unionist	George Hopwood Hume	10,746
	Liberal	Charles Garfield Lott Du Cann	5,806
Majority
Turnout
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

General Election 29 October 1924: Greenwich ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir George Hopwood Hume	18,473	51.5
	Labour	Edward Timothy Palmer	17,409	48.5
Majority			1,064	3.0
Turnout			35,882	75.2
	Unionist gain from Labour

General Election 30 May 1929: Greenwich ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Timothy Palmer	20,328	46.3	-2.2
	Unionist	Sir George Hopwood Hume	16,710	38.1	-13.4
	Liberal	W P Campbell	6,870	15.6	n/a
Majority			3,618	8.2	11.2
Turnout			43,908	70.4	-4.8
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.6

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Greenwich ^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir George Hopwood Hume	29,278	65.03	+26.9
	Labour	Edward Timothy Palmer	13,722	30.48	-15.8
	Communist	Mrs K Duncan	2,024	4.50	N/A
Majority			15,556	34.6	N/A
Turnout			45,024	71.03	+0.6
Registered electors			63,385
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+21.35

General Election 1935: Greenwich^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir George Hopwood Hume	22,526	52.43	-12.60
	Labour	Joseph Reeves	20,436	47.57	+17.09
Majority			2,090	3.51	-31.04
Turnout			49,213	67.79	-3.24
Registered electors			72,599
	Conservative hold		Swing	-14.85

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Greenwich^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Joseph Reeves	22,078	65.60	+18.03
	Conservative	Augustus Willington Shelton Agar	11,580	34.40	-18.03
Majority			10,498	31.19	N/A
Turnout			33,658	70.08	+2.20
Registered electors			48,025
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+18.03

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Greenwich^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Joseph Reeves	29,379	57.85	-7.75
	Conservative	Alfred Ronald Dashwood Gilbey	18,255	35.95	+1.55
	Liberal	Leslie Maurice Dale	3,148	6.20	N/A
Majority			11,124	21.91	-9.28
Turnout			50,782	82.73	+12.65
Registered electors			62,132
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.65

General Election 1951: Greenwich^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Joseph Reeves	30,326	60.38	+2.53
	Conservative	William H Bishop	19,898	39.62	+3.67
Majority			10,428	20.76	-1.15
Turnout			50,224	80.95	-2.03
Registered electors			62,042
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.57

General Election 1955: Greenwich^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Joseph Reeves	26,423	58.84	-1.54
	Conservative	William F Rhodes	18,484	41.16	+1.54
Majority			7,939	17.68	-3.08
Turnout			44,907	73.24	-7.71
Registered electors			61,314
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.54

General Election 1959: Greenwich^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Richard William Marsh	25,204	56.15	-2.69
	Conservative	J Rodney Holmes	19,679	43.85	+2.69
Majority			5,525	12.31	-5.37
Turnout			44,883	74.11	+0.87
Registered electors			60,561
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.69

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Greenwich ^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Richard William Marsh	22,814	56.18	+0.03
	Conservative	John Selwyn Gummer	12,592	31.01	-12.84
	Liberal	Michael PD Ellman	5,205	12.82	N/A
Majority			10,222	25.17	+13.14
Turnout			40,611	71.57	-2.54
Registered electors			56,742
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.44

General Election 1966: Greenwich ^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Richard William Marsh	24,359	64.86	+8.68
	Conservative	John Selwyn Gummer	13,200	35.14	+4.13
Majority			11,159	29.71	+4.54
Turnout			37,559	67.70	-3.87
Registered electors			55,477
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.41

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Greenwich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Richard William Marsh	20,804	55.75
	Conservative	J Stuart Thom	13,195	35.36
	Liberal	Mrs. Pamela Wylan	3,319	8.89
Majority			7,609	20.39
Turnout			37,318	65.66
	Labour hold		Swing

Greenwich by-election, 1971

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Nicolas Guy Barnett	14,671	66.73	+10.98
	Conservative	J Stuart Thom	6,150	27.97	-7.39
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	792	3.60	n/a
	Independent Conservative	Reginald Simmerson	285	1.30	n/a
	Independent	David Davies	89	0.40	n/a
Turnout			21,987
Majority			8,521	38.76	+18.37
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Greenwich^[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Nicholas Guy Barnett	20.164	51.29
	Conservative	Suzette Mary Tremlett Harold	11,294	28.73
	Liberal	Alastair James Drysdale Wilson	7,855	19.98
Majority			8,870	22.56
Turnout			39,313	75.01
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: : Greenwich^[21][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Nicholas Guy Barnett	19,155	55.53	+4.24
	Conservative	Suzette Mary Tremlett Harold	9,249	26.81	-1.92
	Liberal	Alastair James Drysdale Wilson	5,838	16.92	-3.06
	Independent	David Green	254	0.74
Majority			9,906	28.72
Turnout			34,496	65.29
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.08

General Election 1979: Greenwich^[21][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Nicholas Guy Barnett	18,975	52.14	-3.38
	Conservative	Narindar Singh Saroop	12,133	33.34	+6.53
	Liberal	Graham Howard Knight	3,870	10.64	-6.29
	National Front	Helena Mary Steven	951	2.61
	Fellowship	Ronald Stephen Mallone	460	1.26
Majority			6,842	18.80
Turnout			36,389	70.63
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.96

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Greenwich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Nicolas Guy Barnett	13,361	38.2	−13.9
	Conservative	Arthur Rolfe	12,150	34.8	+1.5
	Social Democratic	T. Ford	8,783	25.1	n/a
	BNP	Ian Dell	259	0.7	n/a
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	242	0.7	−0.6
	Communist	F. Hooks	149	0.4	n/a
Majority			1,211	3.5	−15.3
Turnout				67.7	−2.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Greenwich by-election, 1987

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Social Democratic	Rosie Barnes	18,287	53.0	+27.9
	Labour	Deirdre Frances Mary Wood	11,676	33.8	−4.4
	Conservative	John Gordon Antcliffe	3,852	11.2	−23.6
	Green	Graham Bell	264	0.8	n/a
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Malcolm Hardee	124	0.3	n/a
	BNP	Ian Dell	116	0.3	−0.4
	National Front	Joe Pearce	103	0.3	n/a
	Revolutionary Communist	Kate Marshall	91	0.3	n/a
Majority			6,611	19.2	+15.7
Turnout			34,513	68.2
	Social Democratic gain from Labour		Swing	+16.2

General Election 1987: Greenwich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Social Democratic	Rosie Barnes	15,149	40.6	+15.5
	Labour	Deirdre Frances Mary Wood	13,008	34.9	−3.3
	Conservative	John Gordon Antcliffe	8,695	23.3	−11.5
	Green	J. Thomas	346	0.9	+0.9
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	59	0.2	−0.5
	Communist	Patricia Clinton	58	0.2	−0.2
Majority			2,141	5.7	+2.3
Turnout			37,315	73.4	+5.7
	Social Democratic gain from Labour		Swing	+9.4

• swings relative to 1983 election, not 1987 by-election

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Greenwich^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	14,630	41.0	+6.2
	Independent Social Democrat	Rosie Barnes	13,273	37.2	−3.4
	Conservative	Alison McNair	6,960	19.5	−3.8
	Green	Robert McCracken	483	1.4	+0.4
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	147	0.4	+0.3
	Independent	Malcolm Hardee	103	0.3	+0.3
	Natural Law	John Small	70	0.2	+0.2
Majority			1,357	3.8	−1.9
Turnout			35,666	74.6	+1.2
	Labour gain from Social Democratic		Swing	+4.8

• The swing for Rosie Barnes is relative to her performance in 1987.

References

1. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
2. "The General Election. First Returns., Polls In The Boroughs., Heavy Voting". The Times. 16 November 1922. p. 7.
3. "General Election 1924, Results in Detail". The Times. 31 October 1924. p. i.
4. "General Election 1929, Results in Detail". The Times. 1 June 1929. p. i.
5. "General Election Results 1931". The Times. 29 October 1931. p. i.
6. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1931". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
7. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1935". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
8. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1945". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
9. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
11. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
13. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
15. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
17. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
19. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
21. "'Greenwich', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
22. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
23. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
24. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
25. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Debrett’s Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
• Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901
• Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918