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Portsmouth Central (UK Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portsmouth Central
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyHampshire
Major settlementsPortsmouth
19181950
SeatsOne
Created fromPortsmouth
Replaced byPortsmouth South, Portsmouth West and Portsmouth Langstone

Portsmouth Central was a borough constituency in Portsmouth. 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 system.

History

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The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, when the Representation of the People Act 1918 divided the two-member Portsmouth constituency into three new constituencies; North, South and Central. It was abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries

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The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Buckland, Fratton, Kingston, St Mary, and Town Hall.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member Party
1918 Sir Thomas Bramsdon Liberal
1922 Frank Privett Conservative
1923 Sir Thomas Bramsdon Liberal
1924 Harry Foster Conservative
1929 Glenvil Hall Labour
1931 Ralph Beaumont Conservative
1945 Julian Snow Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Elections in the 1910s

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General election 1918: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Bramsdon 10,929 52.2
C Unionist William Dupree 6,008 28.7
Labour Hugh Hinshelwood 4,004 19.1
Majority 4,921 23.5
Turnout 20,941 58.2
Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

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General election 1922: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Frank Privett 7,666 26.9 −1.8
National Liberal Thomas Fisher 7,659 26.8 New
Liberal Thomas Bramsdon 7,129 24.9 −27.3
Labour Arthur Gourd 6,126 21.4 +2.3
Majority 7 0.1 N/A
Turnout 28,580
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing N/A
General election 1923: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Bramsdon 11,493 38.7 +13.8
Unionist Frank Privett 10,231 34.4 +7.5
Labour Frank Crozier 7,991 26.9 +5.5
Majority 1,262 4.3 N/A
Turnout 29,715 78.2
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +3.2
General election 1924: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Harry Foster 14,028 46.1 +11.7
Labour Glenvil Hall 10,525 34.5 +7.6
Liberal Frank Gray 5,926 19.4 −19.3
Majority 3,503 11.6 N/A
Turnout 30,479 80.3 +2.1
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing
General election 1929: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Glenvil Hall 15,153 42.4 +7.9
Unionist Thomas Comyn-Platt 13,628 38.1 −8.0
Liberal Charles Cohen 6,993 19.5 +0.1
Majority 1,525 4.3 N/A
Turnout 35,774 74.3 −6.0
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +7.9

Elections in the 1930s

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General election 1931: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ralph Beaumont 24,623 62.9 +24.8
Labour Glenvil Hall 14,512 37.1 −5.3
Majority 10,111 25.8 N/A
Turnout 39,135
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ralph Beaumont 21,578 60.0 −2.9
Labour David Freeman 10,733 29.9 −7.2
Liberal Ernest James Thornley 3,612 10.1 New
Majority 10,845 30.1 +5.3
Turnout 35,923 71.1
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

General election 1945: Portsmouth Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Julian Snow 14,745 55.3 +25.4
Conservative Ralph Beaumont 11,345 42.6 −17.4
Democratic Walter R C Foster 561 2.1 New
Majority 3,400 12.7 N/A
Turnout 26,651 73.5 +2.4
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +21.4

References

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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 "P" (part 2)