Bexley (UK Parliament constituency)

Bexley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Bexley district of what is now south-east London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Bexley
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1945–February 1974
Seats	one
Created from	Chislehurst, Dartford
Replaced by	Bexleyheath, Sidcup

History

Bexley in Kent, boundaries used 1955-74

The constituency was created for the 1945 general election, from parts of the Chislehurst and Dartford seats, and abolished for the 1974 general election and replaced by two new constituencies of Bexleyheath and Sidcup.

The constituency's boundaries were co-terminous with those of the Municipal Borough of Bexley.

The MP when the constituency was abolished, the then Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath, fought and won the new Sidcup constituency in 1974. He went on to represent the new seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup from 1983 until he retired from parliament in 2001 after being an MP for 50 years.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1945	Jennie Adamson	Labour	Previously MP for Dartford from 1937; resigned 1946
	1946 by-election	Ashley Bramall	Labour
	1950	Rt Hon Edward Heath	Conservative	Leader of the Conservative Party 1965–1975; Prime Minister 1970–1974; subsequently MP for Sidcup
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Bexleyheath & Sidcup

Election results

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Adamson	24,686	56.93
	Conservative	John Lockwood	12,923	29.80
	Liberal	Ward Smith	5,750	13.26
Majority			11,763	27.13
Turnout			43,359	76.65
	Labour win (new seat)

1946 Bexley by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	19,759	52.46	−4.47
	Conservative	John Lockwood	17,908	47.54	+17.74
Majority			1,851	4.92	−22.21
Turnout			37,667
	Labour hold		Swing	-11.1

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	25,854	46.0	+16.2
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	25,721	45.7	−11.2
	Liberal	Mary Edith Hart	4,186	7.4	−5.9
	Communist	Charlie Job	481	0.9	New
Majority			133	0.3	N/A
Turnout			56,242	88.7	+12.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+13.6

General election 1951: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	29,069	51.45	+4.57
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	27,430	48.55	+2.82
Majority			1,639	2.99	+2.75
Turnout			56,499	87.80	−0.87
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.86

General election 1955: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	28,610	54.27	+2.73
	Labour	Rubeigh James Minney	24,111	45.73	−2.82
Majority			4,499	8.54	+5.55
Turnout			42,721	82.55	−5.25
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.76

General election 1959: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	32,025	57.79	+3.52
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	23,392	42.21	−3.52
Majority			8,633	15.58	+7.04
Turnout			55,517	85.38	−2.83
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.52

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	25,716	47.4	−10.4
	Labour	Leslie Leonard Reeves	21,127	38.9	−3.3
	Liberal	Peter L. MacArthur	6,161	11.4	New
	Anti-Common Market League	John Paul	1,263	2.3	New
Majority			4,589	8.5	−7.1
Turnout			54,227	84.5	−0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.6

General election 1966: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	26,377	48.1	+0.7
	Labour	Russell L. Butler	24,044	43.9	+5.0
	Liberal	Richard Faulkner Lloyd	4,405	8.0	−3.4
Majority			2,333	4.2	−4.3
Turnout			54,826	85.8	+1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	27,075	53.0	+4.9
	Labour	John Cartwright	19,017	37.2	−6.7
	Liberal	Edward Harrison	3,222	6.3	−1.7
	Independent	Edward James Robert Lambert Heath	938	1.8	New
	Ind. Conservative	Michael Paul Coney	833	1.6	New
Majority			8,058	15.8	+11.6
Turnout			51,085	76.2	−9.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.8

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)

Notes