Coventry East (UK Parliament constituency)

Coventry East was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Coventry in the West Midlands. 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.

Coventry East
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1945–February 1974
Number of membersone
Replaced byCoventry North East,
Coventry South East

It was only ever represented by one Member - Labour cabinet minister Richard Crossman.

History

Until 1945, the city of Coventry was represented by a single Member. Population growth meant that it had grown to 89,001 electors at the time of the 1935 general election, and in the 1939 electoral register it had 87,487 electors.[1] The County Borough of Coventry had also expanded its boundaries in the late 1930s, taking in an additional 66,425 electors. Two nearby divisions of Warwickshire had exceptionally large electorates: Nuneaton at 112,503 and Tamworth at 118,131. Accordingly, the area was included in the Schedule to the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 as abnormally large constituencies to be divided by the Boundary Commission before the first post-war general election.

The Boundary Commission proposed to create two divisions within the new boundaries of the County Borough, with Coventry East comprising ten wards and having a 1939 electorate of 76,860.[2] On the new electoral register compiled for the 1945 general election, the constituency had 74,676 electors on the civilian residence register, 67 on the Business Premises register, and 5,166 on the service register.[3]

A new Boundary Commission review began in 1965 by which time Coventry's electorate had increased and the city was allocated four seats; they were named after the ordinal points of the compass. The recommendations of the Commission came into effect at the February 1974 general election, at which point Coventry East ceased to exist as a Parliamentary constituency. This coincided with Richard Crossman's retirement from parliament; he died of liver cancer two months after the election.

Boundaries

1945–1950: The County Borough of Coventry wards of All Saints, Foleshill, Hernall, Hillfields, Longford, Lower Stoke, St Mary's, St Paul's, Upper Stoke, and Walsgrave.

1950–1974: The County Borough of Coventry wards of Charterhouse and Binley, Longford, Lower Stoke, Upper Stoke, and Walsgrave.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1945 Richard Crossman Labour
Feb 1974 constituency abolished

Election results
General election 1945: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 34,379 60.51 N/A
Conservative Harry Weston 15,630 27.51 N/A
Communist William Alexander 3,986 7.02 N/A
Liberal Charles Payne 2,820 4.96 N/A
Majority 18,479 32.52 N/A
Turnout 56,815 71.15 N/A
Registered electors 79,853
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1950: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 30,456 59.29 −1.22
Conservative Timothy Berthier Meek 17,003 33.10 +5.59
Liberal Samuel Henry Davis 3,420 6.66 +1.70
Communist William Alexander 487 0.95 −6.07
Majority 13,453 26.19 −6.33
Turnout 51,366 88.18 +17.03
Registered electors 58,254
Labour hold Swing −3.41
General election 1951: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 32,108 62.29 +3.00
Conservative Gavin Welby 19,437 37.71 +4.61
Majority 12,671 24.58 −1.61
Turnout 51,545 85.74 −2.44
Registered electors 60,115
Labour hold Swing −0.81
General election 1955: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 27,712 56.19 −6.10
Conservative Michael Ayerst Hooker 21,608 43.81 +6.10
Majority 6,104 12.38 −12.20
Turnout 49,320 81.16 −4.58
Registered electors 60,769
Labour hold Swing −6.10
General election 1959: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 32,744 56.72 +0.53
Conservative John Biffen 24,982 43.28 −0.53
Majority 7,762 13.45 +1.07
Turnout 57,726 81.66 +0.50
Registered electors 70,689
Labour hold Swing +0.53
General election 1964: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 36,246 59.82 +3.10
Conservative Ian Gow 23,208 38.30 −4.98
Communist Harry Bourne 1,138 1.88 N/A
Majority 13,038 21.52 +8.07
Turnout 60,592 77.86 −3.80
Registered electors 77,821
Labour hold Swing +4.04
General election 1966: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 36,757 60.83 +1.01
Conservative John Wakeham 18,061 29.89 −8.41
Liberal Jan Maria Mokrzycki 4,235 7.01 N/A
Communist Harry Bourne 1,368 2.26 +0.38
Majority 18,696 30.94 +9.42
Turnout 60,421 77.33 −0.53
Registered electors 78,131
Labour hold Swing +4.71
General election 1970: Coventry East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Richard Crossman 36,275 59.34 −1.49
Conservative Maurice Edward Jones 24,010 39.27 +9.38
Communist John Hosey 841 1.38 −0.88
Majority 12,265 20.07 −10.87
Turnout 61,126 70.58 −6.75
Registered electors 86,603
Labour hold Swing −5.44
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References
  1. "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 10 of session 1943-44, p. 3.
  2. "Report of the Boundary Commission for England", Cmd. 6634, p. 36.
  3. "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 107 of session 1944-45, p. 5.
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