Stepney (UK Parliament constituency)

Stepney
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of members	one
1950–1974 (1974)
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Stepney and Poplar
Created from	Limehouse, Mile End and Whitechapel and St George's

Stepney was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Stepney district of the East End of London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency existed for two separate periods:

• it was first created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election
• from the 1950 general election until its abolition for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new constituency of Stepney and Poplar.

Boundaries

Stepney in the Metropolitan area, boundaries 1885-1918

File:Stepney1950.png

Stepney in the County of London, boundaries 1950-74

The constituency was first created in 1885, as a division of the parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets, centred on the Stepney neighbourhood in the East End of London. The area was administered as part of the Tower division of the county of Middlesex.

In 1889 there were administrative changes. The territory of the constituency was severed from Middlesex and included in the new County of London. The lower tier of local government in the area continued to be administered by parish vestries and local boards of works.

In 1900 local government in London was rationalised. The Stepney Board of Works was abolished and the civil parish of Stepney became part of a larger Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.

In the redistribution of parliamentary seats in 1918, the Metropolitan Borough was divided between three constituencies - Limehouse, Mile End and Whitechapel and St George's. The previous Stepney constituency was abolished and largely replaced by Whitechapel and St George's.

In the next major redistribution of parliamentary seats, which took effect for the United Kingdom general election, 1950, the Stepney constituency was re-created. The 1950 version of the seat comprised the whole of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.

In 1965 Stepney became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Greater London. When parliamentary constituencies were next redistributed, for the February 1974 general election, the area was included in the Stepney and Poplar seat.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member	Party
	1885	John Charles Durant	Liberal
	1886	Frederick Wootton Isaacson	Conservative
	1898	William Charles Steadman	Liberal
	1900	William Evans-Gordon	Conservative
	1907	Frederick Leverton Harris	Conservative
	1910 Dec.	William Samuel Glyn-Jones	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

MPs 1950–1974

Constituency re-established 1950

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Walter Edwards	Labour
	1964	Peter Shore	Labour
	Feb 1974	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter David Shore	18,993	74.8
	Conservative	Harry Greenway	4,922	19.4
	Communist	Solly Kaye	1,468	5.8
Majority			14,071	55.4
Turnout				44.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter David Shore	23,098	76.1
	Conservative	Beryl Phyllis Cooper	5,049	16.6
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,209	7.3
Majority			18,049	59.5
Turnout				50.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter David Shore	22,184	71.4
	Conservative	I. F. H. Davison	6,466	20.7
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,454	7.9
Majority			15,818	50.7
Turnout				51.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter James Edwards	26,875	70.7
	Conservative	P. B. Calwell	8,566	22.6
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,548	6.7
Majority			18,309	48.2
Turnout				59.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter James Edwards	27,677	73.0
	Conservative	L. F. Sutton	5,733	15.1
	Communist	Solly Kaye	2,888	7.6
	Liberal	Fred Winckless	1,615	4.3
Majority			21,944	57.9
Turnout				57.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter James Edwards	35,849	76.5
	Conservative	M. H. B. Solomon	7,586	16.2
	Communist	Edward F. Bramley	3,436	7.3
Majority			28,263	60.3
Turnout				70.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter James Edwards	33,475	70.0	N/A
	Conservative	M. H. B. Solomon	6,238	13.1	N/A
	Communist	Philip Piratin	5,991	12.5	N/A
	Liberal	J. H. Maynard	2,105	4.4	N/A
Majority			27,237	57.0	N/A
Turnout				72.5	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

File:William Samuel Glyn-Jones.jpg

WS Glyn-Jones

General Election December 1910: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Samuel Glyn-Jones	1,926	51.5
	Conservative	Walter Reuben Preston	1,812	48.5
Majority			114	3.0
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.5

General Election January 1910: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Leverton Harris	2,102	53.0
	Liberal	William Samuel Glyn-Jones	1,861	47.0
Majority			241	6.0
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.0

Elections in the 1900s

Stepney by-election, 1907

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Leverton Harris	2,299	63.0
	Lib-Lab	B. Cooper	1,350	37.0
Majority			949	26.0
Turnout			5,621	64.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.7

General Election 1906: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir William Eden Evans-Gordon	2,490	57.3
	Liberal	Durham Stokes	1,853	42.7
Majority			637	14.6
Turnout			5,176	83.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.5

General Election 1900: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Eden Evans-Gordon	2,783	61.8
	Lib-Lab	William Charles Steadman	1,718	38.2
Majority			1,065	23.6
Turnout			5,878	76.6
	Conservative gain from Lib-Lab		Swing	+12.0

Elections in the 1890s

File:William Charles Steadman MP.jpg

W.C. Steadman

Stepney by-election, 1898

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	William Charles Steadman	2,492	50.2
	Conservative	William Eden Evans-Gordon	2,472	49.8
Majority			20	0.4
Turnout			6,387	77.7
	Lib-Lab gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.8

F.W. Isaacson

General Election 1895: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Wootton Isaacson	2,346	55.6
	Liberal	W.H. Dickinson	1,876	44.4
Majority			470	11.2
Turnout			6,048	69.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.6

General Election 1892: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Wootton Isaacson	2,292	51.0
	Liberal	B.T.L. Thomson	2,203	49.0
Majority			89	2.0
Turnout			6,069	74.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.3

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1886: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Wootton Isaacson	2,237	56.3
	Liberal	R.S. Wright	1,735	43.7
Majority			502	12.6
Turnout			6,925	57.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.6

General Election 1885: Tower Hamlets, Stepney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Charles Durant	2,141	50.3
	Conservative	Frederick Wootton Isaacson	2,119	49.7
Majority			22	0.6
Turnout			6,925	61.5

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)