Upton (UK Parliament constituency)

Upton (strictly the Upton Division of West Ham) was a parliamentary constituency in the Borough of West Ham in the South-West of Essex (now East London), which 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 voting system.

Upton
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Upton in Essex, showing boundaries used from 1918 to 1950.
CountyEssex
19181950
SeatsOne
Created fromWest Ham North
Replaced byWest Ham North

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election and abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries

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The County Borough of West Ham wards of Park, Upton, and West Ham.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member Party
1918 Sir Ernest Wild Coalition Conservative
1922 David Margesson Conservative
1923 Benjamin Walter Gardner Labour
1924 Herbert Paton Holt Conservative
1929 Benjamin Walter Gardner Labour
1931 Alfred Chotzner Conservative
1934 by-election Benjamin Walter Gardner Labour
1945 Arthur Lewis Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Elections

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Elections in the 1910s

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General election 1918: Upton[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Ernest Wild 8,813 61.2
Labour Benjamin Gardner 3,186 22.2
Liberal John Charles Nicholson 2,380 16.6
Majority 5,627 39.0
Turnout 14,379 46.8
Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

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General election 1922: Upton[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist David Margesson 10,196 46.0 −15.2
Labour Benjamin Gardner 7,268 32.8 +10.6
Liberal John Charles Nicholson 4,692 21.2 +4.6
Majority 2,928 13.2 −25.8
Turnout 22,156 69.4 +22.6
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1923: Upton [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Benjamin Gardner 8,656 39.3 +6.5
Unionist David Margesson 7,630 34.7 −11.3
Liberal John Charles Carroll 5,710 26.0 +4.8
Majority 1,026 4.6 N/A
Turnout 21,996 67.2 −2.2
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +8.9
General election 1924: Upton[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Paton Holt 13,410 54.0 +19.3
Labour Benjamin Gardner 11,443 46.0 +6.7
Majority 1,967 8.0 N/A
Turnout 24,853 74.8 +7.6
Unionist gain from Labour Swing
General election 1929: Upton[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Benjamin Gardner 14,703 49.0 +3.0
Unionist Morgan Morgan 9,681 32.3 −21.7
Liberal W. J. Austin 5,607 18.7 New
Majority 5,022 16.7 +24.7
Turnout 29,991 70.8 −4.0
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +12.3

Elections in the 1930s

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General election 1931: Upton[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alfred Chotzner 17,561 58.5 +26.2
Labour Benjamin Gardner 12,453 41.5 −7.5
Majority 5,108 17.0 N/A
Turnout 30,014 70.4 −0.4
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
1934 Upton by-election[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Benjamin Gardner 11,998 56.4 +14.9
Conservative John Macnamara 8,534 40.1 −18.4
Ind. Labour Party Fenner Brockway 748 3.5 New
Majority 3,464 16.3 N/A
Turnout 21,280 50.5 −19.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +17.0
General election 1935: Upton[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Benjamin Gardner 13,685 53.2 −3.2
Conservative Stephen Riou Benson 12,020 46.8 +6.7
Majority 1,665 6.4 −9.9
Turnout 25,705 62.7 +12.2
Labour hold Swing

General Election 1939–40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

  • Labour: D. Robert Rees[9]
  • Conservative:
  • British Union: Arthur Beaven

Elections in the 1940s

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General election 1945: Upton[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Lewis 14,281 74.5 +21.3
Conservative CK Collins 4,885 25.5 −21.3
Majority 9,396 49.0 +42.6
Turnout 19,166 67.4 +4.7
Labour hold Swing +21.3

References

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  1. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  2. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  4. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  5. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  6. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  7. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  8. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  9. ^ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  10. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig

Bibliography

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  • Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "U"