Everything about Portsmouth Uk Parliament Constituency totally explained
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.
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'd 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.
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.
Members of Parliament
1295-1640
1640-1918
Notes
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.
Election results 1715-1800
Elections in the 1710s
Seat vacated when Wager was appointed to an office
Seat vacated when Wager was appointed to an office
Elections in the 1720s
Elections in the 1730s
Death of Lewis
Elections in the 1740s
Death of Stewart
Seat vacated when Cavendish was appointed to an office
Death of Cavendish
Death of Hardy
Death of Bladen
Gore chose to sit for Bedford
Election declared void on 19 December 1747 as, unknown to anyone in England on 15 December, Legge had died on 19 September 1747.
Elections in the 1750s
Seat vacated when Rowley was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
Elections in the 1760s
Seat vacated when Hawke was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
Death of Fetherstonhaugh
Elections in the 1770s
Creation of Hawke as a peer
Death of Taylor
Death of Suckling
Elections in the 1780s
Death of Monckton
Seat vacated on the grant of a pension, at the pleasure of the Crown, to Gordon
Source for party: Stooks Smith
Elections in the 1790s
Seymour is referred to as Hugh Seymour-Conway in the above list of Members of Parliament
Election results 1801-1918
Elections in the 1800s
Death of Seymour
Markham is referred to as John Markham in the above list of Members of Parliament
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 doesn't record this election
Elections in the 1810s
Death of Miller
Elections in the 1820s
Elections in the 1830s
Seat vacated on the appointment of Baring as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
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.
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.
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
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.
Elections in the 1840s
Seat vacated on the appointment of Baring as First Lord of the Admiralty..
Elections in the 1850s
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.
Note (1857): Number of voters unknown. The turnout is estimated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that electors didn't use both their votes, the figure given will be an underestimate of actual turnout.
Note (1859): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Elections in the 1860s
Note (1865): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Expansion of the electorate provided for by the Reform Act 1867
Note (1868): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Elections in the 1870s
Note (1874): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Seat vacated on the appointment of Elphinstone as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
Elections in the 1880s
Note (1880): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Electorate expanded by the Representation of the People Act 1884
Crossman became a Liberal Unionist when the party was formed shortly before the dissolution of Parliament in 1886
Elections in the 1890s Ashley's middle names were Evelyn Melbourne
Elections in the 1900s
Resignation of Clough in April 1900
Elections in the 1910s
Death of Baker - seat vacant at dissolution
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
Constituency divided in (1918)Further Information
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