Acton (UK Parliament constituency)

Acton was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created for the 1918 general election. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Acton
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	1918–1965: Middlesex 1965–1983: Greater London
Borough	Acton London Borough of Ealing
1950–1983
Seats	1
Replaced by	Ealing Acton
1918–1950
Seats	1
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	Ealing

Acton in Middlesex, 1918–45

Acton in Middlesex, 1945–50

Map that gives each named seat and any constant electoral success for national (Westminster) elections for Middlesex, 1955 to 1974.

Third (final) version of the seat (at centre). Result in Oct. 1974.

Boundaries

The seat was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 which increased the number of seats where population had expanded such as in Middlesex due to the conurbation growing around the County of London. It was based on the town of Acton. The seat consisted of the Acton Urban District which became a Municipal Borough in 1921.

A redistribution of Parliamentary seats, which took effect at the 1950 United Kingdom general election made no change to the boundaries; its legislation, affecting election expenses and returning officer re-classified, the seat as a borough constituency.

In 1965 the area became part of the London Borough of Ealing and Greater London.

In the redistribution which took effect at the February 1974 general election, the seat to the west, Ealing South, was abolished and this seat absorbed most of its area to reach the electoral quota, it having been heavily underweight in electorate. The seat in statute and statutory instrument became variously Ealing: Acton and/or simply Acton where under a heading of London Borough of Ealing. From the review effective from the election of 1983 it became Ealing Acton.

Components

• 1918–74: Acton M.B.^[1][2] Note per the London Government Act 1963 the Metropolitan Borough ceased to exist in 1965, its functions being replaced by the larger London Borough of Ealing.
• 1974–83: Six wards (the old area plus the centre of the new larger borough, further west), namely:
  • The London Borough of Ealing wards: Central, East, Hanger Hill, Heathfield, Southfield and Springfield.^[3]

The change was extension, along all of the former western edge.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Sir Harry Brittain	Unionist
	1929	James Shillaker	Labour
	1931	Hubert Duggan	Conservative
	1943	Henry Longhurst	Conservative
	1945	Joseph Sparks	Labour
	1959	Philip Holland	Conservative
	1964	Bernard Floud	Labour
	1968	Kenneth Baker	Conservative
	1970	Nigel Spearing	Labour
	1974	Sir George Young	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Ealing Acton

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

1918 general election: Acton^[4][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Harry Brittain	11,671	73.3
	Labour	Robert Dunsmore	4,241	26.7
Majority			7,430	46.6
Turnout			15,912	53.9
Registered electors			29,539
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

1922 general election: Acton^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Brittain	10,208	49.9	−23.4
	Labour	Mary Richardson	5,342	26.2	−0.5
	Liberal	Neville Dixey	4,877	23.9	New
Majority			4,866	23.7	−22.9
Turnout			20,427	67.1	+13.2
Registered electors			30,425
	Unionist hold		Swing	−11.5

1923 general election: Acton^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Brittain	8,943	44.9	−5,0
	Labour	Herbert Alphonsus Baldwin	6,069	30.5	+4.3
	Liberal	Bertram Arthur Levinson	4,909	24.6	+0.7
Majority			2,874	14.4	−9.3
Turnout			19,921	63.5	−3.6
Registered electors			31,394
	Unionist hold		Swing	−4.7

1924 general election: Acton^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Brittain	12,799	55.2	+10.3
	Labour	Herbert Alphonsus Baldwin	5,583	24.0	−6.5
	Liberal	Bertram Arthur Levinson	3,074	13.2	−11.4
	Democratic Labour	Mary Richardson	1,775	7.6	New
Majority			7,216	31.2	+16.8
Turnout			23,231	72.6	+9.1
Registered electors			31,999
	Unionist hold		Swing	+8.4

1929 general election: Acton^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Shillaker	13,208	41.4	+17.4
	Unionist	Harry Brittain	12,739	39.9	−14.3
	Liberal	Frank Medlicott	5,981	18.7	+5.5
Majority			469	1.5	N/A
Turnout			31,926	75.5	+2.9
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+15.8

Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hubert Duggan	24,196	66.99
	Labour	James Shillaker	11,924	33.01
Majority			12,272	33.98	N/A
Turnout			36,120	75.5	0.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

1935 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hubert Duggan	19,137	58.5	−8.5
	Labour	William McLaine	13,559	41.5	+8.5
Majority			5,578	17.0	−17.0
Turnout			32,696	67.8	−7.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1943 Acton by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Longhurst	5,014	60.3	+1.8
	Ind. Labour Party	Walter Padley	2,336	28.1	New
	Independent	Dorothy Crisp	707	8.5	New
	Independent	Edward Godfrey	258	3.1	New
Majority			2,678	32.2	+15.2
Turnout			8,315
	Conservative hold		Swing

1945 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Sparks	19,590	56.1	+14.6
	Conservative	Henry Longhurst	12,134	34.8	−23.7
	Liberal	Francis Joseph Halpin	3,172	9.1	New
Majority			7,456	21.3	N/A
Turnout			35,256	77.8	+10.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

1950 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Sparks	21,751	49.1	−7.0
	Conservative	George F Willment	19,116	43.1	+8.3
	Liberal	Pauline Furniss	2,781	6.3	−2.8
	Communist	Albert F Papworth	663	1.5	New
Majority			2,635	6.0	−15.3
Turnout			44,311	87.8	+10.0
	Labour hold		Swing

1951 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Sparks	23,287	52.2	+3.1
	Conservative	Leslie Frank Ramseyer	21,296	47.8	+4.7
Majority			1,991	4.4	−1.6
Turnout			44,583	86.9	−0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.7

1955 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Sparks	20,645	50.6	+1.5
	Conservative	John Leslie Bott	20,120	49.4	+6.3
Majority			525	1.2	−4.8
Turnout			40,765	82.6	−5.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.6

1959 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Holland	19,358	51.2	+1.8
	Labour	Joseph Sparks	18,438	48.8	−1.8
Majority			920	2.4	N/A
Turnout			37,796	80.7	−1.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+1.9

Elections in the 1960s

1964 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bernard Floud	17,022	49.3	+0.5
	Conservative	Philip Holland	14,423	41.8	−9.4
	Liberal	Barwys Niel Martin-Kaye	3,049	8.8	New
Majority			2,599	7.5	N/A
Turnout			34,494	77.4	−3.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

1966 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bernard Floud	18,541	57.7	+8.4
	Conservative	Kenneth Baker	13,600	42.3	+0.5
Majority			4,941	15.4	+7.9
Turnout			32,141	74.0	−3.4
	Labour hold		Swing

1968 Acton by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Baker	12,242	48.67	+6.36
	Labour	Walter Johnson	8,522	33.88	−23.81
	Liberal	Frank Davis	2,868	11.40	New
	National Front	Andrew Fountaine	1,400	5.57	New
	Independent	Harold Fox	75	0.30	New
	Independent	William Gold	44	0.17	New
Majority			3,720	14.79	N/A
Turnout			25,151
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

1970 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nigel Spearing	13,960	48.0	−9.7
	Conservative	Kenneth Baker	13,300	45.7	+3.4
	Liberal	Dion Scherer	1,583	5.4	New
	Communist	Maurice Costin	258	0.9	New
Majority			660	2.3	N/A
Turnout			29,101	66.1	−7.9
	Labour hold		Swing

February 1974 general election: Acton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Young	18,492	43.3	−2.4
	Labour	Nigel Spearing	17,041	39.9	−8.1
	Liberal	Mario Uziell-Hamilton	7,160	16.8	+11.4
Majority			1,451	3.4	+1.1
Turnout			42,693	75.7	+9.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

October 1974 general election: Acton^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Young	17,669	45.1	+1.8
	Labour	Glen Barnham	16,861	43.0	+3.1
	Liberal	Mario Uziell-Hamilton	4,569	11.7	−5.1
Majority			808	2.1	−1.3
Turnout			39,199	69.0	−16.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

1979 general election: Acton^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Young	21,056	51.9	+6.8
	Labour	Glen Barnham	15,258	37.5	−5.5
	Liberal	Simon Rowley	3,549	8.7	−3.0
	National Front	Clive Wakley	501	1.2	New
	Independent	James O'Leary[10]	243	0.6	New
Majority			5,798	14.2	+12.1
Turnout			40,607	71.4	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. Representation of the People Act 1948, Sch. 1, at Middlesex (B) Borough Constituencies (page 107) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1948/65/pdfs/ukpga_19480065_en.pdf
2. Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 number 1674), Sch 1 (list of contents of existing seats) at page 5454 (or 11 of 76)
3. Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 number 1674), Sch 2 (list of contents of new seats) at page 5491 (or 48 of 76)
4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1922
5. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 421. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
6. Walker, Michael (22 February 2009). "Labour Candidates 1922 and 1923 – West London". Hayes People History. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
7. "The General Election. First Returns, Polling in the Boroughs". The Times. 31 May 1929. p. 7.
8. "1974 - October 1974 General Election - Acton". UK general election results 1832 - 2019. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
9. "1979 - 1979 General Election - Acton". UK general election results 1832 - 2019. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
10. O'Leary stood under the label 'Irish National Party'

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)