Isle of Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)

Isle of Thanet was a county constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885, until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Isle of Thanet
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Isle of Thanet in Kent, showing boundaries used from 1955-1974
1885–February 1974
Seats	one
Created from	East Kent
Replaced by	Thanet East, Thanet West

It was located on the Isle of Thanet, in Kent.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Boroughs of Margate, Ramsgate, and Sandwich, the Urban District of Broadstairs and St Peters, and the Rural District of Isle of Thanet.

1950–1974: The Boroughs of Margate and Ramsgate, the Urban District of Broadstairs and St Peters, and in the Rural District of Eastry the parishes of Acol, Minster, Monkton, St Nicholas at Wade, and Sarre.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	1885	Edward King-Harman	Conservative
	1888	James Lowther	Conservative
	1904	Harry Marks	Conservative
	1910	Norman Craig	Conservative
	1919	Esmond Harmsworth	Unionist
	1929	Harold Balfour	Unionist
	1945	Edward Carson	Conservative
	1953	William Rees-Davies	Conservative
	1974	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Isle of Thanet ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward King-Harman	3,381	55.9
	Liberal	Edmund Francis Davies [2]	2,670	44.1
Majority			711	11.8
Turnout			6,051	76.2
Registered electors			7,941
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Isle of Thanet ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward King-Harman	3,399	72.2	+16.3
	Liberal	Edward Gripper Banks[4]	1,311	27.8	−16.3
Majority			2,088	44.4	+32.6
Turnout			4,710	59.3	−16.9
Registered electors			7,941
	Conservative hold		Swing	+16.3

King-Harman's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 29 Jun 1888: Isle of Thanet ^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	3,547	55.1	−17.1
	Liberal	Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen	2,889	44.9	+17.1
Majority			658	10.2	−34.2
Turnout			6,436	78.2	+18.9
Registered electors			8,228
	Conservative hold		Swing	−17.1

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Isle of Thanet ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	3,901	57.7	−14.5
	Liberal	Heber Hart	2,857	42.3	+14.5
Majority			1,044	15.4	−29.0
Turnout			6,758	68.2	+8.9
Registered electors			9,913
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.5

General election 1895: Isle of Thanet ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Isle of Thanet ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Lowther	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

1904 Isle of Thanet by-election^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Marks	4,048	52.5	N/A
	Liberal	Joseph King	3,666	47.5	New
Majority			382	5.0	N/A
Turnout			7,714	71.3	N/A
Registered electors			10,823
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1906: Isle of Thanet ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Marks	5,154	51.3	N/A
	Liberal	Joseph King	3,961	39.5	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	Frederick E McCormick Goodhart	925	9.2	New
Majority			1,193	11.8	N/A
Turnout			10,040	84.4	N/A
Registered electors			11,891
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Isle of Thanet ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Craig	6,892	66.9	+15.6
	Liberal	Julian William Wellesley Weigall	3,410	33.1	−6.4
Majority			3,482	33.8	+22.0
Turnout			10,302	81.8	−2.6
Registered electors			12,588
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.0

General election December 1910: Isle of Thanet ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Craig	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: Norman Craig
• Liberal:

General Election 1918: Isle of Thanet^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Norman Craig	Unopposed
	Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

1919 Isle of Thanet by-election^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Esmond Harmsworth	9,711	57.9	N/A
	Liberal	William J. West	7,058	42.1	New
Majority			2,653	15.8	N/A
Turnout			16,769	52.8	N/A
Registered electors			31,767
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

1922 general election: Isle of Thanet^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Esmond Harmsworth	16,116	61.2	N/A
	Liberal	Alfred Suenson-Taylor	10,226	38.8	N/A
Majority			5,890	22.4	N/A
Turnout			26,342	68.4	N/A
Registered electors			38,500
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Isle of Thanet^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Esmond Harmsworth	13,821	50.1	−11.1
	Liberal	Reginald Rait	13,773	49.9	+11.1
Majority			48	0.2	−22.2
Turnout			27,594	69.5	+1.1
Registered electors			39,679
	Unionist hold		Swing	−11.1

General election 1924: Isle of Thanet^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Esmond Harmsworth	21,130	65.8	+15.7
	Liberal	Arthur Luxmoore	6,779	21.1	−28.8
	Labour	Dudley Aman	4,202	13.1	New
Majority			14,351	44.7	+44.5
Turnout			32,111	77.6	+8.1
Registered electors			41,395
	Unionist hold		Swing	+22.3

General election 1929: Isle of Thanet^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harold Balfour	22,595	52.9	−12.9
	Liberal	Alfred Suenson-Taylor	15,648	36.6	+15.5
	Labour	Edgar Joseph Plaisted	4,490	10.5	−2.6
Majority			6,947	16.3	−28.4
Turnout			42,733	73.3	−4.3
Registered electors			58,330
	Unionist hold		Swing	−14.2

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Isle of Thanet^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Balfour	33,173	74.2	+21.3
	Liberal	George Ivor Phillips	11,517	25.8	−10.8
Majority			21,656	48.4	+32.1
Turnout			44,690	73.6	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Isle of Thanet^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Balfour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

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: Harold Balfour
• Liberal: Richard Pope-Hennessy^[22]
• Labour: FW Mellanby^[23]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Isle of Thanet ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Carson	15,023	48.7	N/A
	Labour	Thomas Boyd	12,075	39.2	New
	Liberal	Philip John Willmett	3,732	12.1	New
Majority			2,948	9.5	N/A
Turnout			30,830	69.2	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Isle of Thanet ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Carson	31,345	55.5	+6.8
	Labour	Christopher Boyd	20,522	36.4	−2.8
	Liberal	Charles Wrong	4,561	8.1	−4.0
Majority			10,823	19.1	+9.6
Turnout			56,431	83.0	+13.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Isle of Thanet ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Carson	33,551	61.6	+6.1
	Labour	Otto Shaw	20,892	38.4	+2.0
Majority			12,659	23.2	+4.1
Turnout			54,444	78.0	−5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

1953 Isle of Thanet by-election^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rees-Davies	25,261	61.3	−0.3
	Labour	Frank Woodbridge	15,935	38.7	+0.3
Majority			9,326	22.6	−0.6
Turnout			41,196	58.7	−19.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Isle of Thanet ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rees-Davies	31,270	62.2	+0.6
	Labour	Kingston Jones	18,981	37.8	−0.6
Majority			12,289	24.4	+1.2
Turnout			50,251	71.9	−6.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Isle of Thanet ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rees-Davies	29,453	54.5	−7.7
	Labour	Henry Fountain	17,555	32.5	−5.3
	Liberal	George MacDonald-Jones	6,998	13.0	New
Majority			11,898	22.0	−2.4
Turnout			54,007	75.1	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Isle of Thanet ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rees-Davies	27,870	47.7	−6.8
	Labour	Ernest Wistrich	20,520	35.2	+2.7
	Liberal	David Norrington	9,979	17.1	+4.1
Majority			7,350	12.5	−9.5
Turnout			58,369	74.2	−0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Isle of Thanet ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rees-Davies	29,302	47.5	−0.2
	Labour	Leonard John A Bishop	24,416	39.6	+4.4
	Liberal	Frederick G Redman	7,952	12.9	−4.2
Majority			4,886	7.9	−4.6
Turnout			61,670	75.7	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Isle of Thanet ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rees-Davies	33,434	51.9	+4.4
	Labour	Leonard John A Bishop	21,709	33.7	−5.9
	Liberal	Tudor Gates	7,176	11.1	−1.8
	Ind. Conservative	Ian Josephs	2,136	3.3	New
Majority			11,725	18.2	+10.3
Turnout			64,458	72.2	−3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
2. "The General Election". The Morning Post. 2 December 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 1 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. "The General Election". Aberdeen Free Press. 10 July 1886. p. 4. Retrieved 1 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
6. The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 146 (170 in web page), Kent
7. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
8. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
9. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
10. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
11. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
13. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
16. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
18. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
20. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
22. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
23. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
24. British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949 by FWS Craig
25. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
26. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
27. "1953 by Elections". by-elections.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
28. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
29. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
30. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
31. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
32. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "I"
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 389. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 305. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.