Bournemouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Created from	Christchurch
Replaced by	Bournemouth East and Christchurch and Bournemouth West

50°43′19″N 1°52′44″W / 50.722°N 1.879°W / 50.722; -1.879

Bournemouth was a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. The seat was created in 1918 and existed until it was abolished and split into two new seats in 1950. During the constituency's existence it was the most south-westerly seat in Hampshire (although the county boundary between Dorset and Hampshire was redrawn in 1974 so the town was transferred to Dorset).

Boundaries

Before 1918 the County Borough of Bournemouth formed part of the then parliamentary borough of Christchurch. Under the Representation of the People Act 1918 Bournemouth gained its own constituency, with the same boundaries as the then county borough.

The seat was bordered to the west by the constituency of Dorset East, while to the north was New Forest and Christchurch. The rest of the constituency bordered the English Channel.

In the 1950 redistribution, the Representation of the People Act 1948 provided for the division of Bournemouth (with the addition of the neighbouring town of Christchurch) into Bournemouth East and Christchurch & Bournemouth West.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party	Notes
1918	Henry Croft	National
1921	Henry Croft	Conservative	Resigned May 1940 on being raised to the peerage
1940 by-election	Leonard Lyle	Conservative	Resigned October 1945 on being raised to the peerage
1945 by-election	Brendan Bracken	Conservative
1950	constituency abolished: see Bournemouth East and Christchurch & Bournemouth West

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National	Henry Page Croft	14,048	66.3
	Labour	Frederick Jesse Hopkins	5,302	25.0
	Liberal	Thomas Dove Keighley	1,854	8.7
Majority			8,746	41.3
Turnout			21,204	64.1
	National win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Page Croft	15,690	52.3	−14.0
	Liberal	Cyril Berkeley Dallow	10,181	33.9	+25.2
	Lloyd George Conservative	Harry Keen Hargreaves	4,134	13.8	New
Majority			5,509	18.4	N/A
Turnout			30,005	79.8	+15.7
Registered electors			37,598
	Unionist gain from National		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Page Croft	15,506	50.4	−1.9
	Liberal	Cyril Berkeley Dallow	9,256	30.1	−3.8
	Labour	Minnie Pallister	5,986	19.5	New
Majority			6,250	20.3	+1.9
Turnout			30,748	79.0	−0.8
Registered electors			38,913
	Unionist hold		Swing	+1.0

General election 1924: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Page Croft	20,620	72.7	+22.3
	Labour	Minnie Pallister	7,735	27.3	+7.8
Majority			12,885	45.4	+25.1
Turnout			28,355	69.1	−9.9
Registered electors			41,038
	Unionist hold		Swing	+7.25

General election 1929: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Page Croft	25,945	52.2	−20.5
	Liberal	Arthur Mortimer	15,890	31.9	New
	Labour	Maurice Spencer	7,900	15.9	−11.4
Majority			10,055	20.3	−25.1
Turnout			49,735	74.4	+5.3
Registered electors			66,812
	Unionist hold		Swing	−26.2

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Henry Page Croft	39,859	80.03
	Labour	JH Collingbourne	9,943	19.97
Majority			29,916	60.06
Turnout			49,802	70.28
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Henry Page Croft	32,645	71.08
	Labour	Maurice Solomon Davidson	13,279	28.92
Majority			19,366	42.16
Turnout			45,924	62.62
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1940 Bournemouth by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Lyle	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1945: Bournemouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Lyle	34,544	55.45
	Liberal	Basil Wigoder	14,232	22.85	New
	Labour	Robert Spence Watson Pollard	13,522	21.71
Majority			20,312	32.60
Turnout			62,298	71.32
	Conservative hold		Swing

1945 Bournemouth by-election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brendan Bracken	22,980	46.85	−8.60
	Labour	Edward Shackleton	16,526	33.69	+11.98
	Liberal	Basil Wigoder	9,548	19.46	−3.39
Majority			6,454	13.16	−19.44
Turnout			49,054	56.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ "1945 by Elections". by-elections.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

External links

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)

[Craig-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[2] "1945 by Elections". by-elections.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

[1]

[2]

v t e Dorset constituencies
Current	Bournemouth East Bournemouth West Christchurch Mid Dorset and North Poole North Dorset Poole South Dorset West Dorset
Historic	Dorset (1290–1885) Bridport (1295–1885) Dorchester (1295–1885) Lyme Regis (1295–1868) Shaftesbury (1295–1885) Wareham (1302–1885) Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (1570–1885) Corfe Castle (1572–1832) East Dorset (1885–1950) Bournemouth (1918–1950) Bournemouth East and Christchurch (1950–1974) Christchurch and Lymington (1974–1983)