Bilston (UK Parliament constituency)

Bilston was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Bilston in what is now the southeast of the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Bilston
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1950–February 1974
Number of membersone
Replaced byWolverhampton South East
Wolverhampton Bilston
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Number of membersone
Created fromWolverhampton South

As well as the town of Bilston, which had been heavily industrialised town since the 19th century, it also incorporated the nearby communities of Sedgley and Coseley, both of which were still predominantly rural villages when the parliamentary seat was created in 1918, but by the time the constituency changed from Wolverhampton Bilston to Bilston 32 years later they were rapidly expanding into towns, and had expanded further still when the constituency was finally abolished in 1974.

History

The area was created, as a Staffordshire borough constituency, for the 1918 general election. It was named as a division of Wolverhampton. From the 1950 general election the Wolverhampton prefix was dropped from the official constituency name. The seat was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Wolverhampton South East constituency.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The constituency consisted of the then Urban Districts of Bilston, Coseley and Sedgley.

1950–1974: By 1950 Bilston was a Municipal Borough. Coseley and Sedgley were still Urban Districts in the constituency. In 1966 most of Sedgley was incorporated into an expanded borough of Dudley, which also took in the south of Coseley, while the remainder of Sedgley was transferred to Wolverhampton and Seisdon and sections of Coseley were transferred to Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

Members of Parliament
YearMemberParty
1918 T. E. Hickman Coalition Conservative
1922 Charles Howard-Bury Conservative
1924 John Baker Labour
1931 Geoffrey Peto Conservative
1935 Ian Hannah Conservative
1944 by-election William Gibbons Conservative
1945 Will Nally Labour
1955 Bob Edwards Labour Co-op
Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see Wolverhampton South East

Election results

Elections in the 1910s
General election 1918: Bilston[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
C Unionist T. E. Hickman 10,343 60.5 n/a
Labour John William Kynaston 6,744 39.5 n/a
Majority 3,599 21.0 n/a
Turnout 59.9 n/a
Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s
General election 1922: Bilston[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Charles Howard-Bury 12,297 54.2 -6.3
Labour John Baker 10,392 45.8 +6.3
Majority 1,905 8.4 -12.6
Turnout 73.8 +13.9
Unionist hold Swing -6.3
General election 1923: Bilston [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Charles Howard-Bury 10,186 41.6 -12.6
Labour John Baker 9,085 37.1 -8.7
Liberal John Prentice 5,205 21.3 n/a
Majority 1,101 4.5 -3.9
Turnout 74.9 +1.1
Unionist hold Swing -1.9
General election 1924: Bilston[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour John Baker 14,583 53.2 +16.1
Unionist Charles Howard-Bury 12,840 46.8 -5.2
Majority 1,743 6.4 10.9
Turnout 82.0 +7.1
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +5.5
General election 1929: Bilston [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour John Baker 18,679 50.7 -2.5
Unionist S.J. Thompson 13,635 37.1 -9.7
Liberal Gilbert Salter 4,475 12.2 n/a
Majority 5,044 13.6 +7.2
Turnout 85.4 +3.4
Labour hold Swing +3.6

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1931 : Bilston
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Geoffrey Peto 20,620 55.04
Labour John Baker 16,847 44.96
Majority 3,773 10.07
Turnout 81.37
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935 : Bilston
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ian Hannah 18,689 51.2
Labour David Mort 17,820 48.8
Majority 869 2.4
Turnout 70.9
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s
1944 Bilston by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative William Gibbons 9,693 50.63
Ind. Labour Party A. Eaton 9,344 49.08
Majority 349 1.55
Turnout 19,037
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1945: Bilston
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Will Nally 31,493 66.96
Conservative William Gibbons 14,691 31.24
Ind. Labour Party A. Eaton 849 1.81
Majority 16,802 35.72
Turnout 73.08
Labour Co-op gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1950s
General election 1950: Bilston
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Will Nally 29,919 62.62
Conservative J Godrich 17,858 37.38
Majority 12,061 25.24
Turnout 83.50
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1951: Bilston
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Will Nally 31,381 61.86
National Liberal and Conservative Charles Gordon-Spencer 19,352 38.14
Majority 12,029 23.71
Turnout 82.76
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1955: Bilston[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 26,490 57.62
Conservative E Anne Marsh 19,482 42.38
Majority 7,008 15.24
Turnout 74.36
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1959: Bilston[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 27,068 53.50
Conservative F John Oxford 23,523 46.50
Majority 3,545 7.01
Turnout 76.81
Labour Co-op hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s
General election 1964: Bilston[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 27,986 53.13
Conservative F John Oxford 24,686 46.87
Majority 3,300 6.27
Turnout 74.18
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 1966: Bilston
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 29,794 56.93
Conservative F John Oxford 22,541 43.07
Majority 7,253 13.86
Turnout 73.21
Labour Co-op hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s
General election 1970: Bilston
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Bob Edwards 27,240 50.9
Conservative Charles Irving 26,240 49.1
Majority 1,000 1.9
Turnout 69.4
Labour Co-op hold Swing
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See also

References
  1. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  4. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
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