Wandsworth (UK Parliament constituency)

Wandsworth
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	County of London
1885–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Balham and Tooting, Clapham, Putney, Streatham and Wandsworth Central
Created from	East Surrey

Wandsworth was the name of a borough constituency in the Wandsworth area of South 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 voting system.

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

Wandsworth in London 1885-1918

In 1885 this was a parliamentary borough constituency located in the northern part of the county of Surrey.

In 1889 the County of London was created. Wandsworth formed part of the new county. In 1900 the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was formed, as a local authority within the County of London. The Metropolitan Borough included a larger area than the parliamentary constituency, as it added Clapham to the areas which had been in the parliamentary borough.

The constituency grouped a number of communities in northern Surrey, which were converted into South London suburbs, due to the rapid expansion of the London conurbation before and during the existence of the constituency. When the County of London was created most of the comparatively empty land within its boundaries was in South London.

The constituency consisted of two blocks of territory, joined by a comparatively thin piece of land in the middle. In the north of the constituency, Putney was an area declining somewhat in status in the period. Working class housing was also spreading from the neighbouring area of Battersea, along the part of the south bank of the River Thames included in the parliamentary borough. However, overall the district was middle class in character, with new estates being developed in the south-east end of the seat at Tooting and Streatham (to the south of Clapham).

The neighbouring parliamentary seats were Fulham (on the north bank of the Thames, opposite to the constituency); to the east of the northern part of the seat and to the north of the middle and south-eastern parts were Battersea and Clapham; to the east of the south-eastern part was Norwood; to the south-east of the constituency was Croydon; to the south was Wimbledon and to the west was Kingston.

In 1918 the Metropolitan Borough was split into five divisions. These divisions were Balham and Tooting, Clapham, Putney, Streatham and Wandsworth Central.

History

The constituency was, throughout its existence, a Conservative seat. The electorate expanded from 10,088 in 1885 to 39,911 in 1913, without altering the partisan leanings of the area.

The first MP for the seat was Henry Kimber, who was created a baronet in 1904. Kimber was a solicitor by profession. He continued to represent the constituency until he resigned in 1913. Even during the 1906 general election, which was a national Liberal landslide, Kimber only had his majority reduced to 545 (2.2%).

In the 1913 by-election the Conservative candidate, businessman Samuel Samuel, defeated the Liberal-Labour former MP for Middlesbrough (UK Parliament constituency) - Joseph Havelock Wilson. Samuel continued to hold the seat until the constituency was split up in the 1918 redistribution.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir Henry Kimber, Bt	Conservative
	1913 by-election	Samuel Samuel	Conservative
	1918	constituency abolished

Election results

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
By-election, June 1913  Resignation of Kimber Electorate: 39,911 Turnout: 20,513 (51.4%) −15.4		Conservative hold Majority: 6,337 (30.8%) +12.8 Swing: 6.4% from Lib-Lab to Con		Samuel Samuel	Conservative	13,425	65.4	+6.4
				Joseph Havelock Wilson	Lib-Lab	7,088	34.6	−6.4
General election, December 1910  Electorate: 38,523 Turnout: 25,722 (66.8%) −16.1		Conservative hold Majority: 4,614 (18.0%) +4.2 Swing: 2.1% from Lib to Con		Sir Henry Kimber, Bt	Conservative	15,168	59.0	+2.1
				James Fairbairn	Liberal	10,554	41.0	−2.1
General election, January 1910  Electorate: 38,523 Turnout: 31,937 (82.9%) +5.4		Conservative hold Majority: 4,439 (13.8%) +11.6 Swing: 5.8% from Lib to Con		Sir Henry Kimber, Bt	Conservative	18,188	56.9	+5.8
				Walter Richard Warren	Liberal	13,749	43.1	−5.8
General election, January 1906  Electorate: 31,398 Turnout: 24,321 (77.5%)		Conservative hold Majority: 545 (2.2%)		Sir Henry Kimber, Bt	Conservative	12,433	51.1	N/A
				A. E. Reed	Liberal	11,888	48.9	N/A
General election, October 1900		Conservative hold		Henry Kimber	Conservative	unopposed
General election, July 1895  Electorate: 17,075 Turnout: 9,735 (57.0%) −7.3		Conservative hold Majority: 3,239 (33.2%) +10.0 Swing: 5.0% from Lib to Con		Henry Kimber	Conservative	6,487	66.6	+6.0
				M. Mayhew	Liberal	3,248	33.4	−5.0
General election, July 1892  Electorate: 14,936 Turnout: 9,603 (64.3%)		Conservative hold Majority: 2,223 (23.2%)		Henry Kimber	Conservative	5,913	61.6	N/A
				W. M. Crook	Liberal	3,690	38.4	N/A
General election, July 1886		Conservative hold		Henry Kimber	Conservative	unopposed
General election, November 1885  New seat Electorate: 10,088 Turnout: 7,742 (76.7%)		Conservative win Majority: 1,176 (15.2%)		Henry Kimber	Conservative	4,459	57.6	N/A
				Robert Wallace	Liberal	3,283	42.4	N/A

Sources

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910. by Henry Pelling (Macmillan 1967)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)