Westminster (UK Parliament constituency) Totally Explained

Everything about Westminster Uk Parliament Constituency totally explained

Westminster was a former parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter.
The constituency was first known to have been represented in Parliament in 1545 and continued to exist until the redistribution of seats in 1918. The constituency's most famous former representatives are Charles James Fox and John Stuart Mill.

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

The City of Westminster is a district of Inner London. Its southern boundary is on the north bank of the River Thames. It is located to the west of the City of London, to the south of Holborn and St. Pancras and to the east of Kensington and Chelsea.
   Before 1545 the area which became this borough constituency was represented as part of the county constituency of Middlesex. Until 1885 the constituency had two representatives.
   In the 1885 redistribution of seats the Westminster area (within the expanded boundaries of what became the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster which was created in 1900) was divided into three single-member seats. The south-eastern part, including the traditional heart of Westminster and such important centres of power as the Houses of Parliament and the seat of government in Whitehall, continued to be a constituency called Westminster. The official definition of the areas included was "the Westminster district and Close of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter". In the north-east was the constituency of Strand and to the west that of St George, Hanover Square.
   In the 1918 redistribution the Metropolitan Borough was divided into two single member constituencies, Westminster St George's in the west and Westminster Abbey in the east. The Abbey division incorporated the area of the 1885-1918 Westminster constituency.

History

This was a prestigious constituency, because it represented the centre of British government and had such a large electorate that it was independent of the control of a patron.
   Before the Reform Act 1832 the right to vote was held by the male inhabitants paying Scot and Lot (a kind of local property tax). This was an extensive franchise, by the standards of that era. Westminster had the largest electorate of any borough in the Kingdom. Only the largest county constituency of Yorkshire had more voters. Sedgwick estimated the electorate at about 8,000 in the first half of the eighteenth century. Namier and Brooke estimated that there were about 12,000 voters later in the century. The large size of the electorate made contested elections immensely expensive.
   In the sixteenth century the Church officials associated with Westminster Abbey had a large influence in the area, but as the community became bigger that became less important. The Court (or His Majesty's Treasury) had some legitimate influence (by the standards of the age), because of the royal residences and government offices in the borough. The use of public funds to bribe the electorate wasn't unknown, during close elections (see the comments about the cost of the 1780 and 1784 contests below). Local landowners who were prepared to stir up ill-will by threatening to evict or raise the rents of tenants voting the wrong way, could also affect the result.
   Unlawful means were sometimes used to make sure that the right candidates were elected. In 1722 the election of two Tories was declared void because of rioting which prevented some Whigs voting. In 1741 a Whig returning officer called upon the assistance of some troops to close the poll before the Tory candidates could catch up to the Whig votes.
   The House of Commons declared the 1741 election void with the ringing resolution that "the presence of a regular body of armed soldiers at an election of members to sit in Parliament, is a high infringement of the liberties of the subject, a manifest violation of the freedom of election and an open defiance of the laws and constitution of this kingdom".
   By the eighteenth century it was normal for the members to be Irish peers, the sons of peers or baronets, as it was thought appropriate for them to be of high social standing so as to be worthy to represent the seat.
   The Treasury spent the enormous sums of more than £8,000 in 1780 and £9,000 in 1784, in unsuccessful attempts to defeat the opposition Whig leader Charles James Fox. So expensive were these contests that for the next general election in 1790, the government and opposition leaders reached a formal agreement for each to have one member returned unopposed. However in the event a second Whig candidate did appear, but the Tory (the famous Admiral Lord Hood) and Fox were re-elected without too much difficulty.
   The last MP for this constituency, William Burdett-Coutts, was connected with a family prominent in City of Westminster politics since the eighteenth century. He himself was born in the United States in 1851, his grandparents on both sides having been British subjects. After he married Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1881 he changed his surname from Bartlett to Burdett-Coutts. He represented the area from 1885 until 1918 and continued to sit for the Abbey division until his death in 1921.

Lists of Members of Parliament

Preliminary note: The English civil year started on 25 March until 1752 (Scotland having changed to 1 January in 1600). The years used in this article have been converted to the new style where necessary. It should be noted that old style dates would be a year earlier than the new style for days between 1 January and 24 March. No attempt has been made to compensate for the eleven days which didn't occur in September 1752 in both England and Scotland as well as other British controlled territories (when the day after 2 September was 14 September), so as to bring the British Empire fully in line with the Gregorian calendar.
Members of Parliament 1545-1660
Some of the members elected during this period have been identified. The year first given is for the initial meeting of the Parliament, with the month added where there was more than one Parliament in the year. If a second year is given this is a date of dissolution. Early Parliaments sometimes only existed for a few days or weeks, so dissolutions in the same year as the first meeting are not recorded in this list If a specific date of election is known this is recorded in italic brackets. The roman numerals in brackets, following some names, are those used to distinguish different politicians of the same name in 'The House of Commons' 1509-1558 and 1558-1603.
1545-1547: Robert Smallwood; John Russell (II)
1547-1552: (Sir) George Blagge; John Rede (I) Change: By 23 January 1552: Robert Nowell vice Blagge deceased
1553 (March): (Sir) Robert Southwell; Arthur Stourton
1553 (October): Robert Southwell; William Gyes
1554 (April): William Gyes; Richard Hodges
1554 (November)-1555: William Jennings; William Gyes
1555: Arthur Stourton; Richard Hodges
1558: Nicholas Newdigate; John Best (II)
1559 (elected 7 January 1559): Richard Hodges; John Best (II)
1563-1567 (elected 1562/3): Robert Nowell; William Bowyer (II)
1571: Sir William Cordell; William Staunton
1572-1583: Thomas Wilbraham; John Dodington Change: 1576: John Osborne vice Wilbraham deceased
1584-1585: Hon. Robert Cecil, Thomas Knyvett (I)
1586-1587: Hon. Robert Cecil, Thomas Knyvett (I)
1589 (elected 20 December 1588): Thomas Knyvett (I), Peter Osborne
1593: Richard Cecil, Thomas Cole
1597-1598 (elected 27 September 1597): Thomas Knyvett (I), Thomas Cole Change: January 1598: Anthony Mildmay vice Cole deceased
1601 (elected 26 September 1601): Thomas Knyvett (I), William Cooke (II)
1604-1611: ?
1614: ?
1621-1622: ?
1624-1625: ?
1625: ?
1626: ?
1628-1629: ?
1640 (April): ?
1640 (November)-1648: John Glynne, William Bell Glynne excluded 1647, readmitted 1648. Both excluded in Pride's Purge, December 1648
Westminster unrepresented in the Rump and Barebones Parliament
1654-1655: ?
1656-1658: Edward Cary, Colonel Grosvenor
1659: Colonel Grosvenor, ?
Members of Parliament 1660-1918
Key to parties: C Conservative from 1832, L Liberal from 1832, NP Non Partisan candidate (no party or no party identified), T Tory to 1832, W Whig to 1832.

From o ame (Party) orn ied
1660 1660 Gilbert Gerard (NP) c. 1618 5 November 1683

1660 1660 Thomas Clarges (NP) c. 1618 4 October 1695

1661 1679 Sir Philip Warwick (NP) 24 December 1609 15 January 1683

1661 1679 Sir Richard Everard (NP) c. 1625 29 August 1694

1679 1679 Sir Stephen Fox (NP) 27 March 1627 28 October 1716

1679 1685 Sir William Pulteney (NP) 25 March 1624 6 September 1691

1679 1680 Francis Wythens (NP) c. 1635 9 May 1704

1680 1685 Sir William Waller (NP) c. 1639 18 July 1699

1685 1687 Charles Bonython (T) c. 1653 30 April 1705

1685 1687 Michael Arnold (T) ... 31 August 1690

1689 1691 Sir William Pulteney (W) 25 March 1624 6 September 1691

1689 1690 Hon. Philip Howard (W) 5 March 1629 September 1717

1690 1695 Sir Walter Clarges, Bt (T) 4 July 1653 March 1706

1691 1698 Sir Stephen Fox (NP) 27 March 1627 28 October 1716

1695 1701 Charles Montagu (NP) 16 April 1661 19 May 1715

1698 1702 James Vernon (NP) 1 April 1646 31 January 1727

1701 1701 Sir Thomas Crosse (T) 29 November 1664 27 May 1738

1701 1702 Sir Henry Colt (NP) c. 1646 25 April 1731

1702 1705 Sir Walter Clarges, Bt (T) 4 July 1653 March 1706

1702 1705 Sir Thomas Crosse (T) 29 November 1664 27 May 1738

1705 1710 Henry Boyle (NP) 12 July 1669 14 March 1725

1705 1708 Sir Henry Colt (NP) c. 1646 25 April 1731

1708 1715 Thomas Medlycott (NP) 22 May 1662 July 1738

1710 1722 Sir Thomas Crosse, Bt (T) 29 November 1664 27 May 1738

1715 1722 Hon. Edward Wortley-Montagu (W) 8 February 1678 22 January 1761

1722 1722 Archibald Hutcheson (T) c. 1659 12 August 1740

1722 1722 John Cotton (T) 22 October 1671 December 1736

1722 1727 Charles Montagu (W) after 1695 29 May 1759

1722 1727 1st Baron Carpenter (W) 10 February 1657 10 February 1732

1727 1734 Lord Charles Cavendish (W) after 1700 28 April 1783

1727 1741 William Clayton (1st Baron Sundon) (W) 9 November 1671 29 April 1752

1734 1741 Sir Charles Wager (W) c. 1666 24 May 1743

1741 1747 Viscount Perceval (T) 24 February 1711 20 December 1770

1741 1747 Charles Edwin (T) c. 1699 29 June 1756

1747 1754 Viscount Trentham (W) 4 August 1721 26 October 1803

1747 1752 Sir Peter Warren (W) c. 1703 29 July 1752

1753 1762 Hon. Edward Cornwallis (W,NP) 22 February 1713 14 January 1776

1754 1761 Sir John Crosse, Bt (NP) c. 1700 12 March 1762

1761 1763 Viscount Pulteney (NP) c. 1731 11 February 1763

1762 1770 Hon. Edwin Sandys (NP) 18 April 1726 11 March 1797

1763 1776 Baron Warkworth (Earl Percy) (NP) 14 August 1742 10 July 1817

1770 1774 Sir Robert Bernard, Bt (NP) c. 1739 2 January 1789

1774 1780 Lord Thomas Pelham-Clinton (NP) 1 July 1752 18 May 1795

1776 1779 Viscount Petersham (NP) 20 March 1753 15 September 1829

1779 1780 Viscount Malden (NP) 13 November 1757 23 April 1839

1780 1782 Sir George Brydges Rodney, Bt (W) 13 February 1719 24 May 1792

1780 1784 Rt. Hon. Charles James Fox (W) 24 January 1749 13 September 1806

1782 1784 Sir Cecil Wray, Bt (W) 3 September 1734 10 January 1805

1784 1788 Samuel Hood (T) 12 December 1724 27 January 1816

1784 1806 Rt. Hon. Charles James Fox (W) 24 January 1749 13 September 1806

1788 1790 Lord John Townshend (W) 19 January 1757 25 February 1833

1790 1796 Samuel Hood (T) 12 December 1724 27 January 1816

1796 1806 Sir Alan Gardner, Bt (1st Baron Gardner) (T) 12 April 1742 1 January 1809

1806 1806 Earl Percy (W) 20 April 1785 11 February 1847

1806 1807 Sir Samuel Hood (T) 27 November 1762 24 December 1814

1806 1807 Richard Brinsley Sheridan (W) 30 October 1751 7 July 1816

1807 1837 Sir Francis Burdett, Bt (W,L,C) 25 January 1770 23 January 1844

1807 1818 Lord Cochrane (W) 14 December 1775 31 October 1860

1818 1818 Sir Samuel Romilly (W) 1 March 1757 2 November 1818

1819 1820 Hon. George Lamb (T) 11 July 1784 2 January 1834

1820 1833 Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Bt (W,L) 27 June 1786 3 June 1869

1833 1841 George de Lacy Evans (L) 1787 9 January 1870

1837 1847 John Temple Leader (L) 7 May 1810 1903

1841 1846 Hon. Henry John Rous (C) 23 January 1795 19 June 1877

1846 1865 Sir George de Lacy Evans (L) 1787 9 January 1870

1847 1852 Charles Lushington (L) 14 April 1785 23 September 1866

1852 1865 Sir John Villiers Shelley, Bt (L) 18 March 1808 26 January 1867

1865 1874 Hon. Robert Wellesley Grosvenor (L) 25 January 1834 13 November 1914

1865 1868 John Stuart Mill (NP) 20 May 1806 8 May 1873

1868 1885 William Henry Smith (C) 24 June 1825 6 October 1891

1874 1882 Sir Charles Russell, Bt (C) 22 June 1826 14 April 1883

1882 1885 Lord Algernon Percy (C) 2 October 1851 28 December 1933

1885 1918 William L.A.B. Burdett-Coutts (C) 1851 28 July 1921

Constituency abolished (1918)
Elections

General Notes
In multi-member elections the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two candidates, as they chose. The leading candidates with the largest number of votes were elected. In by-elections and all elections after 1885, to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied. After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections, when the exact number of participating voters is unknown, this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that electors didn't use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote. Change figures at by-elections are from the preceding general election or the last intervening by-election. Change figures at general elections are from the last general election. Candidates for whom no party has been identified are classified as Non Partisan. The candidate might have been associated with a party or faction in Parliament or consider himself to belong to a particular political tradition. Political parties before the nineteenth century were not as cohesive or organised as they later became. Contemporary commentators (even the reputed leaders of parties or factions) in the eighteenth century didn't necessarily agree who the party supporters were. The traditional parties, which had arisen in the late seventeenth century, became increasingly irrelevant to politics in the eighteenth century (particularly after 1760), although for some contests in some constituencies party labels were still used. It was only towards the end of the century that party labels began to acquire some meaning again, although this process was by no means complete for several more generations. Sources: The results for elections before 1790 were taken from the History of Parliament Trust publications on the House of Commons. The results from 1790 until the UK general election, 1832 are based on Stooks Smith and from 1832 onwards on Craig. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information to the other sources this is indicated in a note.
Dates of Westminster general and by-elections 1660-1918

-2 Apr 1660 GE
-- Apr 1661 GE
27 Feb 1679 GE
19 Sep 1679 GE
15 Nov 1680 BE
10 Feb 1681 GE
23 Mar 1685 GE
21 Jan 1689 GE
13 Mar 1690 GE
-9 Nov 1691 BE
29 Oct 1695 GE
22 Jul 1698 GE
21 Jan 1701 GE
-9 Dec 1701 GE
-6 Aug 1702 GE
30 May 1705 GE
-7 Jul 1708 GE
-9 Oct 1710 GE
-- --- 1713 GE
24 Jan 1715 GE
27 Mar 1722 GE (1)
-3 Dec 1722 BE

15 Aug 1727 GE
22 Apr 1734 GE
-8 May 1741 GE (1)
31 Dec 1741 BE
-1 Jul 1747 GE
15 May 1750 BE
16 Jan 1753 BE
20 Apr 1754 GE
25 Mar 1761 GE
27 Apr 1762 BE
15 Mar 1763 BE
16 Mar 1768 GE
30 Apr 1770 BE
26 Oct 1774 GE
17 Dec 1776 BE
20 Apr 1779 BE
10 Oct 1780 GE
-3 Apr 1782 BE
12 Jun 1782 BE
-7 Apr 1783 BE
17 May 1784 GE
-4 Aug 1788 BE

-2 Jul 1790 GE
13 Jun 1796 GE
15 Jul 1802 GE
13 Feb 1806 BE
-7 Oct 1806 BE
19 Nov 1806 GE
23 May 1807 GE
-8 Oct 1812 GE
-5 Jul 1814 (2)
16 Jul 1814 BE
-4 Jul 1818 GE
-3 Mar 1819 BE
25 Mar 1820 GE
-- --- 1826 GE
-- --- 1830 GE
-- --- 1831 GE
-- Feb 1832 BE
-- --- 1832 GE
-4 Apr 1833 BE
11 May 1833 BE
-- --- 1835 GE
12 May 1837 BE
27 Jul 1837 GE

-1 Jul 1841 GE
19 Feb 1846 BE
30 Jul 1847 GE
-9 Jul 1852 GE
-- --- 1857 GE
-- --- 1859 GE
12 Jul 1865 GE
18 Nov 1868 GE
-7 Feb 1874 GE
11 Aug 1877 BE
-- --- 1880 GE
10 Feb 1882 BE
29 Jun 1885 BE
26 Nov 1885 GE
-- --- 1886 GE
-- --- 1892 GE
-- --- 1895 GE
-- --- 1900 GE
-- --- 1906 GE
-- Jan 1910 GE
-- Dec 1910 GE

Notes:

(1) Election declared void
(2) Date of expulsion from the House of Lord Cochrane
Election Results (Parliament of England) 1660-1690

Note (1661): Vote totals unavailable
Note (February 1679): Vote totals unavailable Note (September 1679): Vote totals unavailable
On petition Wythens was unseated and Sir William Waller seated on 15 November 1680
Note (1681): Vote totals unavailable
Note (1685): Vote totals unavailable. The candidate in this election isn't the Gilbert Gerard elected in 1660, nor is he the Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt who was knight of the shire for Middlesex earlier in the century.
Note (1689): Vote totals unavailable. Matthews and Dewey are described by Henning as radical candidates, but shouldn't be confused with the followers of John Wilkes in the late eighteenth century or the radicals of the nineteenth century.
Election Results (Parliament of Great Britain) 1715-1800

1st Baron Molesworth (W) was proposed but withdrew before the poll.
Election declared void 6 November 1722.

Clayton created an Irish peer as 1st Baron Sundon 2 June 1735
Election declared void 22 December 1741.

Trentham appointed a Lord of the Admiralty
After a scrutiny the member returned was unchanged and vote totals were amended to Trentham 4,103; Vandeput 3,933.
Death of Warren 29 July 1752

Cornwallis appointed Governor of Gibraltar
Death of Pulteney 11 February 1763
Lord Warkworth became known by the courtesy title of Earl Percy from 1766, when his father was advanced in the peerage from Earl to Duke of Northumberland
Succession of Sandys as 2nd Baron Sandys 21 April 1770
Succession of Percy to his mother's title, as 3rd Baron Percy on 5 December 1776
Succession of Petersham as 3rd Earl of Harrington 1 April 1779
Pelham-Clinton was known by the courtesy title of Earl of Lincoln, following the death of his brother in 1779
Note: (1780): Poll 21 days; 9,136 voted; party labels. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Appointment of Fox as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 27 March 1782
Creation of Rodney as 1st Baron Rodney 19 June 1782
Appointment of Fox as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 2 April 1783

Note (1784): Poll 40 days; 12,301 voted. After a scrutiny the members returned were unchanged and vote totals were amended to the figures as above. Original votes Hood 6,694; Fox 6,234; Wray 5,998. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Hood and Fox were declared elected 4 March 1785
Appointment of Hood as a Commissioner of the Admiralty 16 July 1788
Note (1788): Poll 15 days. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Note (1790): Poll 15 days. Mr Tooke proposed himself. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Expulsion of Fox from the Privy Council 9 May 1798
Creation of Gardner as an Irish peer, 1st Baron Gardner 29 December 1800
Election Results (Parliament of the United Kingdom)

Note (1802): Poll 9 days. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Appointment of Fox as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 7 February 1806
Death of Fox 13 September 1806

Note (1806): Poll 15 days; 10,277 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith) Note (1807): Poll 15 days; 8,622 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Expulsion of Cochrane from the House of Commons, after being convicted of conspiracy, 5 July 1814
Note (1818): Poll 15 days; 10,277 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Death of Romilly 2 November 1818 Note (1819): Poll 15 days. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Note (1820): Poll 15 days; 9,280 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)

Appointment of Hobhouse as Secretary at War

Note (1832): 4,453 voted. Burdett and Hobhouse were classified as Whigs and Evans as a Radical. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Appointment of Hobhouse as Chief Secretary for Ireland
Note (1833 April): Hobhouse was classified as a Whig. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Resignation of Hobhouse after he left the Ministry in opposition to the House and Window taxes. Note (1833 May): Evans was classified as a Radical, Hobhouse as a Whig and Escott as a Tory. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Note (1835): 4,254 voted. Burdett was classified as a Whig, Evans as a Radical and Cochrane as a Tory. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Resignation of Burdett to seek re-election on changing parties. Note (1837): Burdett was classified as a Tory and Leader as a Radical. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Note (1837): 6,350 voted. Leader and Evans were classified as Radicals and Murray as a Tory. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Note (1841): 14,254 registered (Craig's figure above used for the turnout calculation); 6,596 voted. Leader and Evans were classified as Radicals (pink and white colours) and Rous as a Tory (blue colour). (Source: Stooks Smith)
Appointment of Rous as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty Note (1846): Evans was classified as a Radical and Rous as a Tory. (Source: Stooks Smith) Note (1847): 14,125 registered (Craig's figure above used for the turnout calculation); 7,185 voted. Evans was classified as a Radical, Lushington and Cochrane as Whigs and Rous as a Tory. (Source: Stooks Smith) Note (1852): In earlier elections Evans and Coningham were classified as Radicals, Shelley as a Whig and Mandeville as a Tory. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Note (1857): In earlier elections Evans was classified as a Radical and Shelley as a Whig. (Source: Stooks Smith)
Note (1859): In earlier elections Evans was classified as a Radical and Shelley as a Whig. (Source: Stooks Smith)

Appointment of Smith as First Lord of the Admiralty
Resignation of Russell
Appointment of Smith as Secretary of State for War
Constituency reduced to one seat and boundaries changed in the redistribution of 1885

Positive swing is Liberal to Conservative Constituency abolished in the redistribution of 1918Further Information
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