Stepney (UK Parliament constituency)

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Stepney Borough constituency
Created:	1885, 1950
Abolished:	1918, 1974
Type:	House of Commons
Members:	one

Stepney was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Stepney district of the East End of London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

Contents 1 History 2 Boundaries 3 Members of Parliament 4 Elections 4.1 Elections in the 1970s 4.2 Elections in the 1960s 4.3 Elections in the 1950s 5 References

[edit] History

The constituency existed for two separate periods:

• it was first created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election
• from the 1950 general election until its abolition for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new constituency of Stepney and Poplar.

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency was first created in 1885, as a division of the parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets, centred on the Stepney neighbourhood in the East End of London. The area was administered as part of the Tower division of the county of Middlesex.

In 1889 there were administrative changes. The territory of the constituency was severed from Middlesex and included in the new County of London. The lower tier of local government in the area continued to be administered by parish vestries and local boards of works.

In 1900 local government in London was rationalised. The Stepney Board of Works was abolished and the civil parish of Stepney became part of a larger Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.

In the redistribution of parliamentary seats in 1918, the Metropolitan Borough was divided between three constituencies - Limehouse, Mile End and Whitechapel and St George's. The previous Stepney constituency was abolished and largely replaced by Whitechapel and St George's.

In the next major redistribution of parliamentary seats, which took effect for the United Kingdom general election, 1950, the Stepney constituency was re-created. The 1950 version of the seat comprised the whole of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.

In 1965 Stepney became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Greater London. When parliamentary constituencies were next redistributed, for the February 1974 general election, the area was included in the Stepney and Poplar seat.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	John Charles Durant	Liberal
	1886	Frederick Wootton Isaacson	Conservative
	1898	William Charles Steadman	Liberal-Labour
	1900	Sir William Eden Evans-Gordon	Conservative
	1907	Frederick Leverton Harris	Conservative
	1910	William Samuel Glyn-Jones	Liberal
	1918	constituency abolished
	1950	constituency recreated
	1950	Walter Edwards	Labour
	1964	Peter Shore	Labour
	1974	constituency abolished

[edit] Elections

[edit] Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	18,993	74.8
	Conservative	Harry Greenway	4,922	19.4
	Communist	Solly Kaye	1,468	5.8
Majority			14,071	55.4
Turnout				44.9
	Labour hold		Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	23,098	76.1
	Conservative	B. P. Cooper	5,049	16.6
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,209	7.3
Majority			18,049	59.5
Turnout				50.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	22,184	71.4
	Conservative	I. F. H. Davison	6,466	20.7
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,454	7.9
Majority			15,818	50.7
Turnout				51.3
	Labour hold		Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Edwards	26,875	70.7
	Conservative	P. B. Calwell	8,566	22.6
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,548	6.7
Majority			18,309	48.2
Turnout				59.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Edwards	27,677	73.0
	Conservative	L. F. Sutton	5,733	15.1
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,888	7.6
	Liberal	F. Winckless	1,615	4.3
Majority			21,944	57.9
Turnout				57.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Edwards	35,849	76.5
	Conservative	M. H. B. Solomon	7,586	16.2
	Communist	Ted Bramley	3,436	7.3
Majority			28,263	60.3
Turnout				70.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Edwards	33,475	70.0	N/A
	Conservative	M. H. B. Solomon	6,238	13.1	N/A
	Communist	Phil Piratin	5,991	12.5	N/A
	Liberal	J. H. Maynard	2,105	4.4	N/A
Majority			27,237	57.0	N/A
Turnout				72.5	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

[edit] References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page