Portsmouth (UK Parliament constituency)

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Portsmouth
Borough constituency
Created: 1295
Abolished: 1918
Type: House of Commons
Members: two

Portsmouth was a borough constituency based upon the borough of Portsmouth in Hampshire. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Contents

[edit] History

The constituency first elected MPs in 1295. It was abolished at the 1918 general election, when the Representation of the People Act 1918 divided it into three new constituencies; Portsmouth North, Portsmouth South and Portsmouth Central.

According to Namier and Brooke in The House of Commons 1754-1790, the right of election was in the freemen of the borough who numbered about 100. The town was known as an Admiralty borough and at least one MP was usually an Admiral.

The Earl of Sandwich was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1771 to 1782. He imposed tighter Admiralty control over the borough. This change of policy led to an independent element of the local Council supporting challengers to the Admiralty candidates between 1774 and 1780.

When party politics re-emerged in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Portsmouth was a predominantly Whig constituency. It only once elected a Tory Member of Parliament between 1790 and 1832.

The Reform Act 1832 considerably expanded the electorate of the borough. The freemen retained their ancient right franchise, but were outnumbered by the new occupier voters amongst the 1,295 electors registered in 1832. As a result of the expanded electorate the borough became more competitive. Contested elections became the norm rather than the exception, as they had been before the Reform Act.

Candidates with naval connections continued to be frequent in Portsmouth, after the Reform Act. The borough developed into a marginal constituency, particularly in the last half century of its existence.

[edit] Boundaries

The parliamentary borough of Portsmouth, was (as the area remains in the 21st century), a major seaport and naval base on the south coast of England. It is situated in the county of Hampshire.

From the 1885 general election until the dissolution before the 1918 election the constituency was surrounded (on the landward side) by the Fareham seat.

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] 1295-1640

  • 1572-1583: Sir Henry Radclyffe
  • 1584-1586: Thomas Bodley
  • 1592-1593: Edward Radclyffe
  • 1604-1611: John Corbett
  • 1604-1611: Richard Jenrye
  • 1621-1622: Sir Daniel Norton
  • 1621-1625: Sir Benjamin Rudyerd
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] 1640-1918

Year First member First party Second member Second party
April 1640 The Earl of Lanark Hon. Henry Percy [1] Royalist
November 1640 Hon. George Goring Royalist
1640 (?) Edward Dowce [2] Parliamentarian
August 1642 Goring disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1646 Edward Boote
December 1648 Boote not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge Dowce died late 1648 - seat left vacant
1653 Portsmouth was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1654 Nathaniel Whetham Portsmouth had only one seat in the First and
Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656 Thomas Smith
January 1659 Francis Willoughby John Child
May 1659 Portsmouth was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660 Richard Norton Henry Whithed
May 1660 Andrew Henley
1661 Richard Norton Sir George Carteret
February 1679 Admiral George Legge Sir John Kempthorne
August 1679 Richard Norton
1685 William Legge Henry Slingsby
1689 Richard Norton
1690 Edward Russell Nicholas Hedger
1695 Vice-Admiral Matthew Aylmer
1696 Colonel John Gibson
1698 Major-General Thomas Erle Admiral Sir George Rooke
January 1702 Colonel John Gibson
July 1702 Major-General Thomas Erle [3]
December 1702 William Gifford
May 1708 Major-General Thomas Erle [4] Admiral George Churchill Tory
December 1708 Sir Thomas Littleton
January 1710 [5] Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Wager
October 1710 Admiral Sir John Jennings
1711 Admiral Sir James Wishart Sir William Gifford
1713 Sir Thomas Mackworth
1715 Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Wager Sir Edward Ernle
1722 Admiral Sir John Norris
1734 Thomas Lewis Admiral Philip Cavendish
1737 Vice-Admiral Charles Stewart
February 1741 Admiral Edward Vernon
May 1741 Martin Bladen
1743 Captain Sir Charles Hardy
1744 Admiral Isaac Townsend
1746 Thomas Gore [6]
15 December 1747 Captain the Hon. Edward Legge [7] Whig
28 December 1747 Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hawke [8]
1754 Admiral Sir William Rowley
1761 Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh
1774 Peter Taylor
1776 Captain Maurice Suckling
1777 Sir William Gordon
1778 Lieutenant-General the Hon. Robert Monckton
1782 Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh
1783 Hon. Thomas Erskine Whig
1784 Captain the Hon. William Cornwallis
1790 Hon. Thomas Erskine Whig
1796 Rear-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour
1801 Captain John Markham [9] Whig
February 1806 Hon. David Montague Erskine
November 1806 Sir Thomas Miller Whig
1816 John Bonham Carter Whig
1818 Admiral Sir George Cockburn Tory
1820 John Markham Whig
1826 Francis Thornhill Baring Whig
1838 Sir George Thomas Staunton Whig
1852 The Viscount Monck Whig
1857 Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone Conservative
1865 William Henry Stone Liberal Stephen Gaselee Liberal
1868 Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone Conservative
1874 Thomas Charles Bruce Conservative
1880 Sir Henry Drummond Wolff Conservative
1885 Sir William Crossman Liberal Philip Vanderbyl Liberal
1886 Liberal Unionist Sir Samuel Wilson Conservative
1892 Sir John Baker Liberal Walter Owen Clough Liberal
May 1900 Thomas Arthur Bramsdon Liberal
October 1900 James Henry Alexander Majendie Conservative Reginald Jaffray Lucas Conservative
1906 Sir John Baker Liberal Thomas Arthur Bramsdon Liberal
January 1910 Lord Charles de la Poer Beresford Conservative Sir Bertram Falle [10] Liberal Unionist
1912 Conservative
1916 Sir Hedworth Meux Conservative
1918 Constituency abolished

Notes

  1. ^ Percy was re-elected to serve in the Long Parliament but was also elected for Northumberland, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Portsmouth
  2. ^ This list follows that given by Brunton & Pennington. Cobbett lists Dowce as elected after the Civil War to replace Nicholas Weston, disabled from sitting in 1642, but Brunton & Pennington's more recent research records Weston as MP for Newtown (Isle of Wight).
  3. ^ Erle was also elected for Wareham, which he chose to represent, and did not for Portsmouth in this Parliament
  4. ^ Erle was also elected for Wareham, which he chose to represent, and did not for Portsmouth in this Parliament
  5. ^ On petition, the result of the 1710 election was overturned, and Wager and Jennings were declared not to have been duly elected
  6. ^ Gore was re-elected in 1747, but had also been elected for Bedford, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Portsmouth
  7. ^ It was afterwards discovered that Legge, who had been elected in his absence, had been dead some days before his election, which was declared void
  8. ^ Admiral from 1757
  9. ^ Rear-Admiral from 1805
  10. ^ Falle was a Liberal Unionist, until that party formally merged with the Conservative Party in 1912

[edit] Election notes

The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.

Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Sedgwick 1715-1754, Namier and Brooke 1754-1790, Stooks Smith 1790-1832 and from Craig thereafter. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information or differs from the other sources this is indicated in a note after the result.

[edit] Election results 1715-1800

1710s – 1720s – 1730s – 1740s – 1750s – 1760s – 1770s – 1780s – 1790s

[edit] Elections in the 1710s

General Election 31 January 1715: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Ernle Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Charles Wager Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Seat vacated when Wager was appointed to an office
By-Election 7 April 1715: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Charles Wager Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Seat vacated when Wager was appointed to an office
By-Election 28 March 1718: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Charles Wager Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1720s

General Election 24 March 1722: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir John Norris Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Charles Wager Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 19 August 1727: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir John Norris Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Charles Wager Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1730s

General Election 24 April 1734: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Thomas Lewis Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Philip Cavendish Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Lewis
By-Election 10 February 1737: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Charles Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1740s

  • Death of Stewart
By-Election 21 February 1741: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Edward Vernon Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
General Election 6 May 1741: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Philip Cavendish 60 48.78 N/A
Non Partisan Martin Bladen 54 43.90 N/A
Non Partisan Edward Vernon 9 7.32 N/A
Turnout 123 N/A N/A
  • Seat vacated when Cavendish was appointed to an office
By-Election 23 March 1742: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Philip Cavendish Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Death of Cavendish
By-Election 14 December 1743: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Charles Hardy Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Death of Hardy
By-Election 28 December 1744: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Isaac Townsend Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Death of Bladen
By-Election 3 March 1746: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Thomas Gore Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
General Election 1 July 1747: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Isaac Townsend Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Thomas Gore Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 15 December 1747: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Hon. Edward Legge Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Election declared void on 19 December 1747 as, unknown to anyone in England on 15 December, Legge had died on 19 September 1747.
By-Election 28 December 1747: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Hawke Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1750s

General Election 18 April 1754: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir William Rowley Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Edward Hawke Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 25 April 1757: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir William Rowley Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1760s

General Election 31 March 1761: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Hawke Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 10 December 1766: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Hawke Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
General Election 22 March 1768: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Hawke Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Fetherstonhaugh

[edit] Elections in the 1770s

By-Election 29 March 1774: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Peter Taylor 39 61.90 N/A
Non Partisan Joshua Iremonger 24 38.10 N/A
Majority 15 23.81 N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
General Election 10 October 1774: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Hawke 65 47.79 N/A
Non Partisan Peter Taylor 37 27.21 N/A
Non Partisan Joshua Iremonger 34 25.00 N/A
  • Creation of Hawke as a peer
By-Election 18 May 1776: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Maurice Suckling Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Death of Taylor
By-Election 26 November 1777: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir William Gordon 23 65.71 N/A
Non Partisan Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh Bt 12 34.29 N/A
Majority 11 31.43 N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Death of Suckling
By-Election 10 August 1778: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Robert Monckton Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1780s

General Election 9 September 1780: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Robert Monckton 34 52.31 N/A
Non Partisan Sir William Gordon 20 30.77 N/A
Non Partisan Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh Bt 11 16.92 N/A
  • Death of Monckton
By-Election 5 June 1782: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
  • Seat vacated on the grant of a pension, at the pleasure of the Crown, to Gordon
By-Election 28 July 1783: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Hon. Thomas Erskine Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig gain from Non Partisan Swing N/A
  • Source for party: Stooks Smith
General Election 1 April 1784: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan William Cornwallis Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1790s

General Election 1790: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Hon. Thomas Erskine Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1796: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Hon. Thomas Erskine Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Lord Hugh Seymour Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Seymour is referred to as Hugh Seymour-Conway in the above list of Members of Parliament

[edit] Election results 1801-1918

1800s – 1810s – 1820s – 1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – 1890s – 1900s – 1910s

[edit] Elections in the 1800s

  • Death of Seymour
By-Election November 1801: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Jonathan Markham Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig gain from Non Partisan Swing N/A
  • Markham is referred to as John Markham in the above list of Members of Parliament
General Election 1802: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Hon. Thomas Erskine Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Jonathan Markham Unopposed N/A N/A
  • The above list of Members of Parliament includes David Montagu Erskine as an MP in 1806, in succession to his father the Hon. Thomas Erskine (who became Lord Chancellor and was elevated to the peerage as the 1st Baron Erskine in 1806). Stooks Smith does not record this election
General Election 1806: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Jonathan Markham Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir Thomas Miller Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1807: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Jonathan Markham Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir Thomas Miller Bt Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1810s

General Election 1812: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Jonathan Markham Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir Thomas Miller Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Miller
By-Election February 1817: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Bonham Carter Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig hold Swing N/A
General Election 1818: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Bonham Carter Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Sir George Cockburn Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1820s

General Election 1820: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Bonham Carter 53 48.62 N/A
Whig Jonathan Markham 34 31.19 N/A
Tory Sir George Cockburn 22 20.18 N/A
General Election 1826: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Bonham Carter Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1830s

General Election 1830: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Bonham Carter Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election November 1830: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig hold Swing N/A
General Election 1831: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Bonham Carter Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1832: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Bonham Carter 826 46.12 N/A
Liberal Francis Thornhill Baring 707 39.48 N/A
Liberal Charles Napier 258 14.41 N/A
Turnout 1,791 (983 voted) 75.91 N/A
Registered Electors 1,295

Note (1832): Stooks Smith was the source for the number of electors voting and classified Carter and Baring as Whigs and Napier as a Radical candidate.

General Election 1835: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Bonham Carter 643 30.53 -15.59
Liberal Francis Thornhill Baring 571 27.11 -12.37
Conservative Sir C. Rowley 557 26.45 N/A
Liberal Charles Napier 335 15.9 +1.50
Turnout 2,106 (1,143 voted) 85.30 +9.39
Registered Electors 1,340

Note (1835): Stooks Smith was the source for the number of electors voting. He classified Carter and Baring as Whigs, Rowley as a Tory and Napier as a Radical candidate.

General Election 1837: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Francis Thornhill Baring 635 28.59 +1.48
Liberal John Bonham Carter 630 28.37 -2.16
Conservative Sir George Cockburn 518 23.32 N/A
Conservative Viscount FitzHarris 438 19.72 N/A
Turnout 2,221 (1,118 voted) 71.62 -13.68
Registered Electors 1,561

Note (1837): Stooks Smith gives a registered electorate figure of 1,517; but Craig's figure is used to calculate turnout. Stooks Smith was the source for the number of electors voting. He classified Carter and Baring as Whigs, with Cockburn and Fitzharris as Tories.

  • Death of Carter
By-Election 26 February 1838: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Sir George Thomas Staunton, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A
  • Note (1838): Stooks Smith classifies Staunton as a Whig. Dr Daniel Quarrier (Tory) was a candidate for this by-election, but retired before the poll.
  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Baring as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
By-Election 30 August 1839: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1840s

General Election 1841: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal Sir George Thomas Staunton, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Registered Electors 1,834
General Election 1847: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal Sir George Thomas Staunton, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Registered Electors 2,068
By-Election 6 February 1849: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1850s

General Election 1852: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Francis Thornhill Baring Unopposed N/A N/A
Liberal The 4th Viscount Monck Unopposed N/A N/A
Registered Electors 3,332
  • Note (1852): Monck was a peer in the peerage of Ireland.
  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Monck as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury.
By-Election 14 March 1855: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal The 4th Viscount Monck 1,478 75.76 N/A
Liberal Stephen Gaselee 473 24.24 N/A
Majority 1,005 51.51 N/A
Turnout 1,951 56.73 N/A
Registered Electors 3,439
Liberal hold Swing N/A
General Election 1857: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone, Bt 1,522 33.87 N/A
Liberal Rt Hon. Sir Francis Thornhill Baring, Bt 1,496 33.29 N/A
Liberal The 4th Viscount Monck 1,476 32.84 N/A
Turnout 4,494 61.21 N/A
Registered Electors 3,671
  • Note (1857): Number of voters unknown. The turnout is estimated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that electors did not use both their votes, the figure given will be an underestimate of actual turnout.
General Election 1859: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone, Bt 1,640 27.12 -6.75
Liberal Rt Hon. Sir Francis Thornhill Baring, Bt 1,574 26.03 -7.26
Conservative Hon. Thomas Charles Bruce 1,447 23.93 N/A
Liberal Hon. Sir Henry Keppel 1,386 22.92 N/A
Turnout 6,047 79.13 +17.92
Registered Electors 3,821
  • Note (1859): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.

[edit] Elections in the 1860s

General Election 1865: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Henry Stone 2,164 28.84 N/A
Liberal Stephen Gaselee 2,103 28.03 N/A
Conservative Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone, Bt 1,677 22.35 -4.77
Conservative Hon. Thomas Charles Bruce 1,559 20.78 -3.15
Turnout 7,503 80.33 +1.20
Registered Electors 4,670
  • Note (1865): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
  • Expansion of the electorate provided for by the Reform Act 1867
General Election 1868: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone, Bt 5,306 41.52 +19.17
Liberal William Henry Stone 3,785 29.62 +0.78
Liberal Stephen Gaselee 3,687 28.85 +0.82
Turnout 12,778 55.09 -25.24
Registered Electors 11,597
  • Note (1868): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.

[edit] Elections in the 1870s

General Election 1874: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone, Bt 5,927 28.17 -13.35
Conservative Hon. Thomas Charles Bruce 5,879 27.94 N/A
Liberal William Henry Stone 4,644 22.07 -7.55
Liberal W.S. Portal 4,588 21.81 N/A
Turnout 21,038 70.45 +14.64
Registered Electors 14,931
By-Election 16 March 1874: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1880: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hon. Thomas Charles Bruce 6,683 26.37 -1.57
Conservative Sir Henry Drummond Wolff 6,593 26.02 N/A
Liberal J.F. Norris 6,040 23.84 N/A
Liberal Edmund Hope Verney 6,023 23.77 N/A
Turnout 25,339 76.96 +6.51
Registered Electors 16,463
General Election 1885: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Sir William Crossman 8,367 26.29 N/A
Liberal Philip Vanderbyl 8,214 25.81 N/A
Conservative Hon. Thomas Charles Bruce 7,650 24.04 -2.33
Conservative Rt Hon. Sir Henry Drummond Wolff 7,595 23.86 -2.16
Turnout 31,826 (16,068 voted) 79.23 +6.51
Registered Electors 20,279
  • Crossman became a Liberal Unionist when the party was formed shortly before the dissolution of Parliament in 1886
General Election 1886: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Sir William Crossman 8,482 27.30 +1.01
Conservative Sir Samuel Wilson 8,325 26.79 N/A
Liberal Philip Vanderbyl 7,196 23.16 -2.65
Liberal John Baker 7,069 22.75 N/A
Turnout 31,072 (15,722 voted) 77.53 -1.70
Registered Electors 20,279

[edit] Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Baker 9,643 25.90 +3.15
Liberal Walter Owen Clough 9,448 25.38 N/A
Conservative Sir G.H.S. Willis 9,135 24.54 -2.25
Liberal Unionist Rt Hon. Anthony E.M. Ashley 9,000 24.18 -3.12
Turnout 37,226 (18,731 voted) 80.61 +3.08
Registered Electors 23,237
  • Ashley's middle names were Evelyn Melbourne
General Election 1895: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Sir John Baker 10,451 26.13 +0.23
Liberal Walter Owen Clough 10,255 25.64 +0.26
Conservative ACW Harmsworth 9,717 24.30 -0.24
Liberal Unionist Rt Hon. Anthony E.M. Ashley 9,567 23.92 -0.26
Turnout 39,990 (20,129 voted) 83.67 +3.06
Registered Electors 24,057

[edit] Elections in the 1900s

  • Resignation of Clough in April 1900
By-Election 3 May 1900: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Arthur Bramsdon 10,287 51.45 N/A
Conservative James H.A. Majendie 9,708 48.55 N/A
Majority 579 2.90 N/A
Turnout 19,995 74.89 N/A
Registered Electors 26,698
Liberal hold Swing N/A
General Election 1900: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James H.A. Majendie 10,818 26.10 N/A
Conservative Reginald Jaffray Lucas 10,383 25.05 N/A
Liberal Sir John Baker 10,214 24.64 -1.49
Liberal Thomas Arthur Bramsdon 10,031 24.20 N/A
Turnout 41,446 (21,072 voted) 78.93 -4.74
Registered Electors 26,698
General Election 1906: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Arthur Bramsdon 10,500 22.59 -1.61
Liberal Sir John Baker 10,236 22.02 -2.62
Labour William Stephen Sanders 8,172 17.58 N/A
Conservative E.W. Hills 7,970 17.14 N/A
Conservative A. Whitelaw 7,752 16.67 N/A
Independent F.T. Jane 1,859 4.00 N/A
Turnout 46,489 (25,478 voted) 82.84 +3.91
Registered Electors 30,754

[edit] Elections in the 1910s

  • Death of Baker - seat vacant at dissolution
General Election January 1910: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lord Charles Beresford 16,777 28.80 N/A
Liberal Unionist Bertram Godfrey Falle 15,592 26.76 N/A
Liberal Sir Thomas Arthur Bramsdon 12,397 21.28 -1.31
Liberal Richard Cornthwaite Lambert 9,965 17.10 N/A
Labour William Stephen Sanders 3,529 6.06 -11.52
Turnout 58,260 (30,100 voted) 89.41 +6.59
Registered Electors 33,666
General Election December 1910: Portsmouth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lord Charles Beresford 15,125 26.94 -1.86
Liberal Unionist Bertram Godfrey Falle 14,856 26.46 -0.30
Liberal Edward George Hemmerde 13,146 23.42 N/A
Liberal H.D. Harben 13,013 23.18 N/A
Turnout 56,140 (28,236 voted) 83.87 -5.54
Registered Electors 33,666
  • Falle became a Conservative, when the Conservative and Liberal Unionist parties formally merged in 1912
  • Elevation to the peerage of Beresford, as the 1st Baron Beresford
By-Election 15 January 1916: Portsmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hon. Sir Hedworth Meux Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
  • Constituency divided in (1918)

[edit] References

  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
  • The House of Commons 1715-1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
  • The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
  • The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844-50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973))
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
  • Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
  • D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
  • Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [2]