Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)

Chatham
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County Kent
Major settlements Chatham
1832–1950
Number of members One
Replaced by Rochester & Chatham
Created from Kent

Chatham was a parliamentary constituency in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1832 general election, when the borough of Chatham was enfranchised under the Reform Act 1832.

It was abolished for the 1950 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Rochester and Chatham constituency. This then became Medway in 1983. When the boroughs of Rochester upon Medway and Gillingham merged to form the larger unitary Borough of Medway in 1998, the Parliamentary constituency of Medway only covered part of the new borough, so for the next election it will be renamed Rochester and Strood.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Rochester except part of St Peter's ward, and the Municipal Borough of Chatham wards of Luton and St John.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1832 William Leader Maberly Liberal
1834 by-election George Stevens Byng Liberal
1835 Sir John Poo Beresford, Bt. Conservative
1837 George Stevens Byng Liberal
1852 Sir John Mark Frederick Smith Conservative
1853 by-election Leicester Viney Vernon Conservative
1857 Sir John Mark Frederick Smith Conservative
1865 Arthur Otway Liberal
1874 George Elliot Conservative
1875 by-election Sir John Eldon Gorst Conservative
1892 Lewis Vivian Loyd Conservative
1895 Sir Horatio David Davies Conservative
1906 John Hagan Jenkins Labour
1910 Gerald Fitzroy Hohler Conservative
1918 John Moore-Brabazon Conservative
1929 Sydney Frank Markham Labour
1931 National Labour
1931 Sir Park Goff Conservative
1935 Leonard Plugge Conservative
1945 Arthur Bottomley Labour
1950 constituency abolished: see Rochester and Chatham

Elections

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1923: Chatham [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon 9,994 41.6 -9.9
Liberal Sir Alfred John Callaghan 8,227 34.3 -14.2
Labour Mary Agnes Hamilton 5,794 24.1 n/a
Majority 1,767 7.3 +4.3
Turnout 74.6
Unionist hold Swing +2.1
General Election 1929: Chatham [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Sydney Frank Markham 13,007 42.6
Unionist John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon 12,221 40.1
Liberal George H Bryans 5,284 17.3
Majority 786 2.5
Turnout
Labour gain from Unionist Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Chatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Park Goff 19,991 62.54
Labour Oliver Ridsdale Baldwin 10,837 33.90
New Party Martin F Woodroffe 1,135 3.55
Majority 9,154 28.64
Turnout 75.46
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

The sitting MP Sydney Frank Markham sought re-election as a National Labour candidate. However, the Conservatives refused to withdraw in his favour. As a result, he was forced to withdraw. Communist candidate Walter Hannington was also adopted[3] but subsequently withdrew.[4]

General Election 1935: Chatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Leonard Frank Plugge 19,212 59.06
Labour Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell 13,315 40.94
Majority 5,897 18.13
Turnout 74.65
Conservative hold Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Chatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Arthur George Bottomley 19,250 55.34
Conservative Leonard Frank Plugge 15,534 44.66
Majority 3,716 10.68
Turnout 72.06
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

References

  1. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  2. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. ↑ OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. "Kent." Times [London, England] 14 Oct. 1931: 6. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "General Election: List Of Nominations." Times [London, England] 17 Oct. 1931: 6. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 July 2016.

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)

Coordinates: 51°22′N 0°32′E / 51.367°N 0.533°E / 51.367; 0.533

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