Kingston-upon-Thames (UK Parliament constituency)

Kingston or Kingston-upon-Thames was a parliamentary constituency which covered the emerging southwest, outer London suburb of Kingston upon Thames (until 1965 in Surrey) and which existed between 1885 and 1997 and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The Conservative candidate won each election during its 112-year existence.

Kingston-upon-Thames
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	1885–1965: Surrey 1965–1997: Greater London
Major settlements	Kingston upon Thames
1918–1997
Seats	One
Replaced by	Kingston & Surbiton Richmond Park
1885–1918
Seats	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	Mid Surrey
Replaced by	seat shown above and Richmond (Surrey)

History

The seated was created for the 1885 general election as a county division called Kingston equivalent to the northwest corner of the former two-seat Mid Surrey division. It became a borough constituency for the present purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer at the 1918 general election, when it was formally renamed Kingston-upon-Thames.

It was abolished for the 1997 general election. Its territory was then divided between the new constituencies of Kingston and Surbiton and Richmond Park.

The constituency's most high-profile MP was the Conservative Norman Lamont, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 to 1993.

Boundaries

1950–1955: The boroughs of Kingston upon Thames, and Surbiton.^[1]

1955–1983: The boroughs of Kingston upon Thames, and Malden and Coombe.^[2]

1983–1997: The London Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Burlington, Cambridge, Canbury, Coombe, Grove, Hill, Malden, Manor, Norbiton, Norbiton Park, St James, and Tudor.

The seat since 1950 omitted all southern wards of Kingston upon Thames. These fell into the 1950-established seat of Surbiton, which replicated its own borough that merged with Kingston's borough in 1965.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [3]	Party [4][5]	Senior Frontbench positions
	1885	Sir John Ellis	Conservative	none
	1892	Sir Richard Temple	Conservative	none
	1895	Thomas Skewes-Cox	Conservative	none
	1906	George Cave	Conservative	Home Secretary (1916-1919) Later Lord (High) Chancellor
	1918	John Campbell	Unionist	none
	1922	Sir Frederick Penny	Unionist	none
	1937 b-e	Sir Percy Royds	Conservative	none
	1945	John Boyd-Carpenter	Conservative	Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1962-1964)
	1972 b-e	Norman Lamont	Conservative	Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1989-1990) Chancellor of the Exchequer (1990-1993)
	1997	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Whittaker Ellis	4,915	60.5
	Liberal	Charles Duncan Hodgson	3,206	39.5
Majority			1,709	21.0
Turnout			8,121	73.1
Registered electors			11,102
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Whittaker Ellis	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Temple	5,100	53.9	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Duncan Hodgson	4,357	46.1	New
Majority			743	7.8	N/A
Turnout			9,457	73.7	N/A
Registered electors			12,825
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

T. Skewes-Cox

General election 1895: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[8][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Skewes-Cox	5,745	61.5	+7.6
	Liberal	Charles Burt	3,600	38.5	−7.6
Majority			2,145	23.0	+15.2
Turnout			9,345	68.6	−5.1
Registered electors			13,631
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.6

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[8][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Skewes-Cox	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

George Cave

General election 1906: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Cave	7,656	53.6	N/A
	Liberal	Robert Whyte	6,637	46.4	New
Majority			1,019	7.2	N/A
Turnout			14,293	82.8	N/A
Registered electors			17,270
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

Holzapfel

General election January 1910: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[9][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Cave	10,918	65.3	+11.7
	Liberal	Albert George Holzapfel	5,814	34.7	−11.7
Majority			5,104	30.6	+23.4
Turnout			16,732	85.2	+2.4
Registered electors			19,647
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.7

General election December 1910: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[9][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Cave	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and, by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected:

• Unionist: George Cave
• Liberal:

By-election, 1915: Kingston-upon-Thames ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Cave	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

General election 1918: Kingston upon Thames^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	John Campbell	13,596	73.8	N/A
	Labour	Thomas Henry Dumper	2,502	13.6	New
	Liberal	Arnold Ellis Ely	2,325	12.6	New
Majority			11,094	60.2	N/A
Turnout			18,423	51.7	N/A
Registered electors			35,656
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Kingston upon Thames^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Penny	15,136	66.7	−7.1
	Independent Labour	* Harry Day	7,563	33.3	New
Majority			7,573	33.4	−36.8
Turnout			22,699	59.3	+7.6
Registered electors			38,265
	Unionist hold		Swing	−7.1

* Day was supported by the local Labour and Liberal parties.

General election 1923: Kingston upon Thames^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Penny	12,968	61.6	−5.1
	Liberal	William Freeman	8,095	38.4	New
Majority			4,873	23.2	−10.2
Turnout			21,063	53.9	−5.4
Registered electors			39,044
	Unionist hold		Swing	−5.1

General election 1924: Kingston upon Thames^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Penny	19,933	70.2	+8.6
	Labour	Arthur Balfour Bishop	5,640	19.8	New
	Liberal	William Freeman	2,850	10.0	−28.4
Majority			14,293	50.4	+27.2
Turnout			28,423	71.3	+17.4
Registered electors			39,868
	Unionist hold		Swing	+18.5

General election 1929: Kingston upon Thames^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Penny	20,911	54.1	−16.1
	Labour	John William Fawcett	8,903	23.1	+3.3
	Liberal	Frank John Powell	8,796	22.8	+12.8
Majority			12,008	31.0	−19.4
Turnout			38,610	68.9	−2.4
Registered electors			56,004
	Unionist hold		Swing	−9.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Penny	35,925	82.5	+28.4
	Labour	John William Fawcett	7,613	17.5	−5.6
Majority			28,312	65.0	+34.0
Turnout			43,538	69.2	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Kingston upon Thames^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Penny	32,953	67.5	−15.0
	Labour	George Henry Loman	10,014	20.5	+3.0
	Liberal	Frank John Powell	5,832	12.0	New
Majority			22,939	47.0	−18.0
Turnout			48,799	65.5	−3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

1937 Kingston-upon-Thames by-election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Royds	19,887	66.6	−0.9
	Labour	George Henry Loman	9,972	33.4	+12.9
Majority			9,915	33.2	−13.8
Turnout			29,859	38.1	−27.4
	Conservative 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:

• Conservative: Percy Royds
• Labour: Dennis Gordon^[12]
• Liberal: Henry Cecil Banting^[13]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	37,085	56.5	−10.1
	Labour	George Elvin	28,516	43.5	+10.1
Majority			8,569	13.0	−20.2
Turnout			65,601	74.0	+35.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	36,886	58.98
	Labour	Nora M Johns	21,229	33.94
	Liberal	Donald George Maskrey	4,429	7.08	New
Majority			15,657	25.04
Turnout			62,544	85.24
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	38,516	63.52
	Labour	Ray Hesketh	22,117	36.48
Majority			16,399	27.04
Turnout			60,633	81.14
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	31,069	65.86
	Labour	George Henry Loman	16,104	34.14
Majority			14,965	31.72
Turnout			47,173	76.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	31,649	67.26
	Labour	Tom Braddock	15,408	32.74
Majority			16,241	34.52
Turnout			47,057	77.91
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	23,973	52.79
	Labour	Tom Braddock	13,611	29.97
	Liberal	Stanley Rundle	7,827	17.24
Majority			10,362	22.82
Turnout			45,411	77.12
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	22,781	51.29
	Labour	James Stewart Cook	14,915	33.58
	Liberal	Michael F Burns	6,722	15.13
Majority			7,866	17.71
Turnout			44,418	76.97
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Kingston-Upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Boyd-Carpenter	23,426	56.67
	Labour	Robin H Crockett	13,090	31.67
	Liberal	Stephen J. Wells	4,822	11.66
Majority			10,336	25.00
Turnout			41,338	69.13
	Conservative hold		Swing

1972 Kingston-upon-Thames by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	16,679	52.32	−4.35
	Labour	Anthony Judge	9,892	31.03	−0.64
	Liberal	Stephen J. Wells	3,601	11.30	−0.36
	Anti-Common Market Conservative	Edgar Scruby	1,705	5.35	New
Majority			6,787	21.29	−3.71
Turnout			31,877
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	23,006	48.57
	Liberal	Stephen J. Wells	12,699	28.81
	Labour	Chris Mullin	11,369	24.00
	Anti-Common Market Conservative	M.J. Christie	288	0.61
Majority			10,307	21.76
Turnout			47,362	80.53
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	20,680	48.63
	Labour	A. Quick	12,266	28.84
	Liberal	Stephen J. Wells	9,580	22.53
Majority			8,414	19.79
Turnout			42,526	71.77
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Kingston upon Thames

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	24,944	57.85
	Labour	John A. Torode	11,400	26.44
	Liberal	Declan Terry	6,771	15.70
Majority			13,544	31.41
Turnout			43,115	74.89
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Kingston upon Thames^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	22,094	54.1
	Liberal	Roger Hayes	13,222	32.4
	Labour	Peter J. Smith	4,977	12.2
	Ecology	Alexandra Presant-Collins	290	0.7	New
	Loony Society	Peter Dodd	259	0.6	New
Majority			8,872	21.7
Turnout			40,842	71.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1987: Kingston upon Thames^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	24,198	56.2	+2.1
	Liberal	Roger Hayes	13,012	30.2	−2.2
	Labour	Robert Markless	5,676	13.2	+1.0
	CPWSML	Jack Baker	175	0.4	New
Majority			11,186	26.0	+4.3
Turnout			43,061	78.5	+6.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Kingston upon Thames^[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	20,675	51.6	−4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Osbourne	10,522	26.3	−3.9
	Labour	Robert Markless	7,748	19.3	+6.1
	Liberal	Adrian Amer	771	1.9	New
	Monster Raving Loony	David Beaupré	212	0.5	New
	Natural Law	Graham Woollcoombe	81	0.2	New
	Anti-Federalist League	Anthony Scholefield	42	0.1	New
Majority			10,153	25.3	−0.7
Turnout			40,051	78.4	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

References

1. "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 23 July 2023
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton and Wimbledon) Order 1955. SI 1955/175". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2140–2141.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 366. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
5. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 399. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
6. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
7. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
8. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
9. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
10. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
11. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918, Craig, F. W. S.
12. "Parliamentary candidates' protest", The Times, 6 April 1939
13. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
14. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
15. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
16. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
17. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Huntingdon	Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer 1990–1993	Succeeded by Rushcliffe