Gravesend (UK Parliament constituency)

Gravesend was a county constituency centred on the town of Gravesend, Kent which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. It is most notable for being a bellwether, with the winner of Gravesend (and its successor Gravesham) winning every election from 1918 through to the present day except for 1929, 1951, and 2005.

Gravesend
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Gravesend in Kent, showing boundaries used from 1974-1983
1868–1983
Seats	one
Created from	West Kent
Replaced by	Gravesham and Medway[1]

Boundaries

1868–1885: The parishes of Gravesend, Milton, and Northfleet.^[2]

1918–1950: The Borough of Gravesend, the Urban District of Northfleet, and the Rural Districts of Hoo and Strood.

1950–1955: The Borough of Gravesend, the Urban Districts of Northfleet and Swanscombe,^[3] and the Rural District of Strood.

1955–1983: The Borough of Gravesend, the Urban District of Northfleet, and the Rural District of Strood.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1868	Sir Charles John Wingfield	Liberal
	1874	Bedford Pim	Conservative
	1880	Thomas Bevan	Liberal
	1880 by-election	Sir Sydney Waterlow	Liberal
	1885	John Bazley White	Conservative
	1892	James Dampier Palmer	Conservative
	1898 by-election	John Ryder	Conservative
	1900	Sir Gilbert Parker	Conservative
	1918 by-election	Sir Alexander Richardson	Conservative
	1923	George Isaacs	Labour
	1924	Sir Irving Albery	Conservative
	1945	Garry Allighan	Labour
	1947 by-election	Sir Richard Acland	Labour
	1955	Peter Kirk	Conservative
	1964	Albert Murray	Labour
	1970	Roger White	Conservative
	Feb 1974	John Ovenden	Labour
	1979	Tim Brinton	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Gravesham

Election results

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Gravesend ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles John Wingfield	1,237	53.6
	Conservative	Bedford Pim	1,069	46.4
Majority			168	7.2
Turnout			2,306	84.7
Registered electors			2,722
	Liberal win (new seat)

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Gravesend ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bedford Pim	1,355	54.3	+7.9
	Liberal	Charles John Wingfield	1,142	45.7	−7.9
Majority			214	8.6	N/A
Turnout			2,497	87.4	+2.7
Registered electors			2,856
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.9

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Gravesend ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Bevan	1,544	52.1	+6.4
	Conservative	Francis Wyatt Truscott	1,422	47.9	−6.4
Majority			122	4.2	N/A
Turnout			2,966	90.3	+2.9
Registered electors			3,286
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.4

The 1880 election was declared void on account of bribery, whereby Bevan had "given his men a holiday and paid them their wages".^[5]

1880 Gravesend by-election: Gravesend ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Waterlow	1,504	53.9	+1.8
	Conservative	Robert Peel	1,284	46.1	−1.8
Majority			220	7.8	+3.6
Turnout			2,788	84.8	−5.5
Registered electors			3,286
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.8

General election 1885: Gravesend ^[6][7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Bazley White	1,916	50.9	+3.0
	Liberal	Thomas Bevan	1,850	49.1	−3.0
Majority			66	1.8	N/A
Turnout			3,766	89.7	−0.6
Registered electors			4,200
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.0

General election 1886: Gravesend ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Bazley White	1,938	57.5	+6.6
	Liberal	Edward Smyth Pryce	1,430	42.5	−6.6
Majority			508	15.0	+13.2
Turnout			3,368	80.2	−9.5
Registered electors			4,200
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.6

Elections in the 1890s

Shipman

General election 1892: Gravesend ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Dampier Palmer	2,370	59.4	+1.9
	Liberal	John Greenwood Shipman	1,619	40.6	−1.9
Majority			751	18.8	+3.8
Turnout			3,989	82.7	+2.5
Registered electors			4,821
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

Palmer

General election 1895: Gravesend ^[6][7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Dampier Palmer	2,405	66.4	+7.0
	Lib-Lab	Leslie Morton Johnson	1,218	33.6	−7.0
Majority			1,187	32.8	+14.0
Turnout			3,623	72.4	−10.3
Registered electors			5,001
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.0

Palmer resigned, causing a by-election.

Runciman

1898 Gravesend by-election^[6][7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Ryder	2,372	54.8	−11.6
	Liberal	Walter Runciman	1,955	45.2	+11.6
Majority			417	9.6	−23.2
Turnout			4,327	82.0	+9.6
Registered electors			5,276
	Conservative hold		Swing	-11.6

Elections in the 1900s

Harmsworth

General election 1900: Gravesend ^[6][7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Parker	2,542	58.5	−7.9
	Liberal	Hildebrand Harmsworth	1,804	41.5	+7.9
Majority			738	17.0	−15.8
Turnout			4,346	77.6	+5.2
Registered electors			5,600
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.9

Parker

General election 1906: Gravesend ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Parker	3,102	57.6	−0.9
	Liberal	Sir William Nevill Montgomerie Geary, 5th Baronet	1,413	26.2	−15.3
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	James Macpherson	873	16.2	New
Majority			1,689	31.4	+14.4
Turnout			5,388	82.0	+4.4
Registered electors			6,568
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Gravesend ^[6][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Parker	3,286	55.7	−1.9
	Liberal	Samuel Roberts Jenkins	2,612	44.3	+18.1
Majority			674	11.4	−20.0
Turnout			5,898	87.6	+5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.0

General election December 1910: Gravesend ^[6][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilbert Parker	3,108	55.4	−0.3
	Liberal	Samuel Roberts Jenkins	2,506	44.6	+0.3
Majority			602	10.8	−0.6
Turnout			5,614	83.4	−4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.3

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: Gilbert Parker
• Liberal:

1918 Gravesend by-election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Richardson	1,312	44.0	−11.4
	Ind. Unionist	Henry Edward Davis	1,106	37.1	New
	Independent Labour	Harry Hinkley	562	18.9	New
Majority			206	6.9	−3.9
Turnout			2,980	36.6	−46.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1918: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Alexander Richardson	7,841	51.6	−3.8
	Labour	James Butts	3,254	21.5	New
	Ind. Unionist	Henry Edward Davis	1,817	12.0	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Edward Best	1,271	8.4	−36.2
	National	Harry Hinkley	985	6.5	New
Majority			4,587	30.1	+19.3
Turnout			15,168	48.8	−34.6
Registered electors			31,070
	Unionist hold		Swing	+21.6
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Richardson	8,166	40.6	−11.0
	Labour	George Isaacs	7,180	35.6	+14.1
	Ind. Unionist	*Henry Edward Davies	4,796	23.8	+11.8
Majority			986	5.0	−25.1
Turnout			20,142	63.0	+14.2
Registered electors			31,972
	Unionist hold		Swing	−12.6

* Davies stood for election as an 'Anti-Waste' candidate, but was not officially supported by the Anti-Waste League

General election 1923: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Isaacs	9,776	43.4	+7.8
	Unionist	Alexander Richardson	9,657	42.8	+2.2
	Liberal	Laurence Harry Duniam Jones	3,123	13.8	New
Majority			119	0.6	N/A
Turnout			22,556	68.8	+5.8
Registered electors			32,781
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+2.9

General election 1924: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Irving Albery	15,410	58.4	+15.6
	Labour	George Isaacs	10,969	41.6	−1.8
Majority			4,441	16.8	N/A
Turnout			26,379	78.0	+9.2
Registered electors			33,840
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+8.7

General election 1929: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Irving Albery	14,644	46.1	−12.3
	Labour	William James Humphreys	12,871	40.6	−1.0
	Liberal	Frederick William Kershaw	4,220	13.3	New
Majority			1,773	5.5	−13.3
Turnout			31,735	71.8	−6.2
Registered electors			44,226
	Unionist hold		Swing	−5.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irving Albery	22,410	64.2	+18.1
	Labour	Ben Greene	12,488	35.8	−4.8
Majority			9,922	28.4	+22.9
Turnout			34,898	75.7	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.5

General election 1935: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irving Albery	20,438	56.1	−8.1
	Labour	Ben Greene	15,994	43.9	+8.1
Majority			4,444	12.2	−16.2
Turnout			36,432	72.4	−3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.1

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Garry Allighan	21,609	52.5	+8.6
	Conservative	Irving Albery	14,553	35.3	−20.8
	Liberal	Reginald Edwin Goodfellow	5,033	12.2	New
Majority			7,056	17.2	N/A
Turnout			41,195	74.5	+2.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	14.7

1947 Gravesend by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Acland	24,692	51.8	−0.7
	Conservative	Frank K. Taylor	23,017	48.2	+12.9
Majority			1,675	3.6	−13.6
Turnout			47,709
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.1

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Acland	28,297	53.07
	Conservative	John Gerrard Lowe	22,726	42.62
	Liberal	Mavis Doreen Ayliffe	2,298	4.31
Majority			5,571	10.45
Turnout			53,321	86.29
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Acland	30,055	55.29
	Conservative	Charles P T Burke	24,300	44.71
Majority			5,755	10.58
Turnout			54,355	85.74
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	22,058	46.22
	Labour	Victor Mishcon	19,149	40.13
	Independent	Richard Acland	6,514	13.65
Majority			2,909	6.09	N/A
Turnout			47,721	80.75
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1959: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	27,124	52.08	+5.86
	Labour	Victor Mishcon	24,962	47.92	+7.79
Majority			2,162	4.16	−1.93
Turnout			52,086	82.29	+1.54
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.0

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Murray	26,074	45.41	−3.81
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	25,326	44.11	−7.97
	Liberal	Jack Harris Barnett	6,015	10.48	New
Majority			748	1.30	N/A
Turnout			57,415	80.40
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.1

General election 1966: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Murray	30,276	49.75	+4.34
	Conservative	Roger White	25,484	41.88	−2.23
	Liberal	Jack Harris Barnett	5,092	8.37	−2.11
Majority			4,792	7.87	+6.57
Turnout			60,852	82.04
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger White	29,924	46.85	+4.97
	Labour	Albert Murray	28,711	44.95	−4.80
	Liberal	Michael J Dunn	5,234	8.19	−0.18
Majority			1,213	1.90	N/A
Turnout			63,869	75.93
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.9

General election February 1974: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Ovenden	29,571	40.83
	Conservative	Roger White	27,989	38.65
	Liberal	DC Mumford	13,136	18.14
	National Front	JD Turner	1,726	2.38	New
Majority			1,582	2.18	N/A
Turnout			72,422	83.73
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election October 1974: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Ovenden	29,569	43.09
	Conservative	Richard Needham	27,264	39.73
	Liberal	L Cartier	10,244	14.93
	National Front	JD Turner	1,304	1.90
	More Prosperous Britain	Tom Keen	239	0.35	New
Majority			2,305	3.36
Turnout			68,620	78.63
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Gravesend

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Brinton	37,592	51.95
	Labour	John Ovenden	28,246	39.04
	Liberal	Ian Goodwin	5,917	8.18
	National Front	George Willden	603	0.83
Majority			9,346	12.91	N/A
Turnout			72,358	81.40
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

See also

• 1947 Gravesend by-election

References

1. "'Gravesend', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
2. "Representation of the People Act 1867" (PDF). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
3. In 1955 Swanscombe was returned to the westerly Dartford seat where it was temporarily removed from and where it remains.
4. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
5. "The Week". Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales. 16 June 1880. p. 8. Retrieved 27 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
7. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
8. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
9. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
10. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

Bibliography

• 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 "G" (part 2)