Dudley (UK Parliament constituency)

Dudley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Dudley in Worcestershire (now in the West Midlands).

Dudley
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1832–February 1974
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Dudley East Dudley West
Created from	Worcestershire

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 borough of Dudley returned two members to Parliament in 1294, Benedict Andrew and Ralph Clerk de Duddlegh, but not to any subsequent one.[1]

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. It was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was replaced by the new Dudley East and Dudley West constituencies, which expanded beyond the town's historic boundaries to include Coseley and part of Sedgley in Dudley East (previously in the old Bilston constituency), as well as Kingswinford, Brierley Hill, and the remainder of Sedgley in Dudley West. All of these areas had been incorporated into the Dudley borough in 1966.[2]

Boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Dudley, and the parish of Dudley Castle Hill.

1950–1974: The County Borough of Dudley, and the Borough of Stourbridge.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1832	Sir John Campbell	Whig[3][4][5][6]
	Feb. 1834	Thomas Hawkes	Tory[6]
	Dec. 1834		Conservative[6]
	1844	John Benbow	Conservative[6]
	1855	Sir Stafford Northcote	Conservative
	1857	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	Independent[7][8][9]
	1859		Liberal
	1886	Brooke Robinson	Conservative
	1906	Arthur George Hooper	Liberal
	1910	Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen	Conservative
	1921	James Wilson	Labour
	1922	Cyril Lloyd	Unionist
	1929	Oliver Baldwin	Labour
	1931	Dudley Joel	Conservative
	1941	Cyril Lloyd	Conservative
	1945	George Wigg	Labour
	1968	Donald Williams	Conservative
	1970	John Gilbert	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Dudley [10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Campbell	318	58.1
	Tory	Horace St Paul	229	41.9
Majority			89	16.3
Turnout			547	81.6
Registered electors			670
	Whig win (new seat)

Campbell was appointed as Attorney General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 28 February 1834: Dudley [10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Tory	Thomas Hawkes	322	55.9	+14.0
	Whig	John Campbell	254	44.1	−14.0
Majority			68	11.8	N/A
Turnout			576	80.6	−1.0
Registered electors			715
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	+14.0

General election 1835: Dudley [10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Hawkes	360	56.3	+14.4
	Whig	John Forbes	279	43.7	−14.4
Majority			81	12.7	N/A
Turnout			639	87.9	+6.3
Registered electors			727
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+14.4

General election 1837: Dudley [10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Hawkes	385	57.1	+0.8
	Whig	William Merryweather Turner	289	42.9	−0.8
Majority			96	14.2	+1.5
Turnout			674	79.9	−8.0
Registered electors			844
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Dudley [10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Hawkes	436	69.8	+12.7
	Whig	William Adams Smith	189	30.2	−12.7
Majority			247	39.5	+25.4
Turnout			625	64.4	−15.5
Registered electors			971
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.7

Hawkes resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 August 1844: Dudley [10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Benbow	388	68.9	−0.9
	Radical	William Rawson	175	31.1	+0.9
Majority			213	37.8	−1.7
Turnout			563	61.8	−2.6
Registered electors			911
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.9

General election 1847: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Benbow	Unopposed
Registered electors			791
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Benbow	400	63.4	N/A
	Radical	James Baldwin[11][12][13]	231	36.6	N/A
Majority			169	26.8	N/A
Turnout			631	69.2	N/A
Registered electors			912
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Benbow's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 8 March 1855: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Stafford Northcote	346	99.1	+35.7
	Radical	James Baldwin	3	0.9	−35.7
Majority			343	98.3	+71.5
Turnout			349	38.5	−30.7
Registered electors			907
	Conservative hold		Swing	+35.7

General election 1857: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	Unopposed
Registered electors			884
	Independent gain from Conservative

General election 1859: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	432	54.5	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Monck	361	45.5	N/A
Majority			71	9.0	N/A
Turnout			793	79.9	N/A
Registered electors			992
	Liberal gain from Independent		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	526	65.7	+11.2
	Conservative	Francis Wyatt Truscott[14]	275	34.3	−11.2
Majority			251	31.3	+22.3
Turnout			801	59.0	−20.9
Registered electors			1,358
	Liberal hold		Swing	+11.2

General election 1868: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	Unopposed
Registered electors			11,847
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	5,149	55.2	N/A
	Conservative	Frederick Smith-Shenstone[15]	4,181	44.8	N/A
Majority			968	10.4	N/A
Turnout			9,330	63.9	N/A
Registered electors			14,593
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

The election was declared void on petition, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 May 1874: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	5,607	53.4	−1.8
	Conservative	Noah Hingley	4,889	46.6	+1.8
Majority			718	6.8	−3.6
Turnout			10,496	71.9	+8.0
Registered electors			14,593
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.8

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Dudley [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	6,948	62.5	+7.3
	Conservative	Alfred Waterman[16]	4,163	37.5	−7.3
Majority			2,785	25.1	+14.7
Turnout			11,111	74.1	+10.2
Registered electors			15,000
	Liberal hold		Swing	+7.3

General election 1885: Dudley [17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	6,377	55.0	−7.5
	Conservative	Brooke Robinson	5,211	45.0	+7.5
Majority			1,166	10.0	−15.1
Turnout			11,588	77.7	+3.6
Registered electors			14,918
	Liberal hold		Swing	−7.5

General election 1886: Dudley [17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Brooke Robinson	6,475	58.8	+13.8
	Liberal	Henry Brinsley Sheridan	4,545	41.2	-13.8
Majority			1,930	17.6	N/A
Turnout			11,020	73.9	-3.8
Registered electors			14,918
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+13.8

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Dudley [17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Brooke Robinson	6,668	54.3	−4.5
	Liberal	Howard Spensley	5,619	45.7	+4.5
Majority			1,049	8.6	−9.0
Turnout			12,287	80.3	+6.4
Registered electors			15,303
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.5

General election 1895: Dudley [17][18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Brooke Robinson	6,536	53.0	-1.3
	Liberal	Charles James Fleming	5,795	47.0	+1.3
Majority			741	6.0	-2.6
Turnout			12,331	83.1	+2.8
Registered electors			14,831
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.3

Elections in the 1900s

Belcher

General election 1900: Dudley [17][18][19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Brooke Robinson	6,461	52.4	−0.6
	Lib-Lab	William Belcher	5,876	47.6	+0.6
Majority			585	4.8	−1.2
Turnout			12,337	77.8	−5.3
Registered electors			15,859
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.6

A.G. Hooper

General election 1906: Dudley[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Arthur George Hooper	8,296	52.4	+4.8
	Conservative	Gilbert Claughton	7,542	47.6	-4.8
Majority			754	4.8	9.6
Turnout			15,838	90.2	+12.4
Registered electors			17,564
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.8

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Dudley [17][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Arthur George Hooper	8,342	50.6
	Conservative	Arthur Griffith-Boscawen	8,155	49.4
Majority			187	1.2
Turnout				94.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

Griffith-Boscawen

General election December 1910: Dudley [17][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Arthur Griffith-Boscawen	8,260	51.1	+1.7
	Liberal	Arthur George Hooper	7,900	48.9	-1.7
Majority				2.2	3.4
Turnout				92.4	-2.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.7

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Arthur Griffith-Boscawen
• Liberal: Gilbert Beyfus

General election 1918: Dudley[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Unionist	Arthur Griffith-Boscawen	9,126	60.2	+9.1
	Labour	William Bridgland Steer	6,046	39.8	−9.1
Majority			3,080	20.4	+18.2
Turnout			15,174	60.4	−32.0
Registered electors			25,103
	Unionist hold		Swing	+9.1
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

1921 Dudley by-election[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	James Wilson	10,244	50.7	+10.9
C	Unionist	Arthur Griffith-Boscawen	9,968	49.3	−10.9
Majority			276	1.4	N/A
Turnout			20,212	79.9	+19.5
Registered electors			25,305
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+10.9
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Dudley[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Cyril Lloyd	12,876	60.2	-
	Labour	James Wilson	8,522	39.8	-
Majority			4,354	20.4	-
Turnout			21,398	82.5	+22.1
Registered electors			25,923
	Unionist hold		Swing	0.0

General election 1923: Dudley [23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Cyril Lloyd	10,227	49.4	−10.8
	Liberal	Francis James Ballard	8,510	41.1	N/A
	Labour	Richard Fowler Smith	1,958	9.5	−30.3
Majority			1,717	8.3	−12.1
Turnout			20,696	78.9	−3.7
Registered electors			26,257
	Unionist hold		Swing	+9.8

General election 1924: Dudley[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Cyril Lloyd	11,199	52.1	+2.7
	Labour	Oliver Baldwin	10,314	47.9	+38.4
Majority			885	4.2	−4.1
Turnout			21,513	80.2	+1.4
Registered electors			26,826
	Unionist hold		Swing	−17.9

General election 1929: Dudley[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Oliver Baldwin	13,551	47.6	−0.3
	Unionist	Cyril Lloyd	10,508	36.9	−15.2
	Liberal	Thomas Illingworth Clough	4,399	15.5	N/A
Majority			3,043	10.7	N/A
Turnout			28,458	81.6	+1.4
Registered electors			34,883
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+7.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Dudley Joel	16,009	56.94
	Labour	W Hodgkiss	12,105	43.06
Majority			3,904	13.89
Turnout				80.75
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Dudley Joel	13,958	54.81
	Labour	William Wedgwood Benn	11,509	45.19
Majority			2,449	9.62
Turnout				75.29
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Dudley Joel
• Labour: Leonard Freedman[25]

1941 Dudley by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Cyril Lloyd	6,234	56.1	+1.3
	Independent	Noel Pemberton Billing	4,869	43.9	n/a
Majority			1,365	12.2	+2.6
Turnout				34.7	-40.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General election 1945: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Wigg	15,439	62.77
	Conservative	Tatton Brinton	9,156	37.23
Majority			6,283	25.55
Turnout				73.81
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Wigg	32,856	54.62
	Conservative	Roy Farran	19,825	32.96
	Liberal	Bertram Samuel White	7,470	12.42
Majority			13,031	21.66
Turnout				86.83
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Wigg	34,376	58.36
	Conservative	Harold Soref	24,525	41.64
Majority			9,851	16.72
Turnout				83.65
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Wigg	31,384	54.87
	Conservative	Thomas Wilson	20,333	35.55
	Liberal	Wallace Lawler	5,479	9.58
Majority			11,051	19.32
Turnout				79.83
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Wigg	31,826	54.94
	Conservative	Frank E. Spiller	26,101	45.06
Majority			5,725	9.88
Turnout				79.54
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Wigg	30,250	53.20
	Conservative	David Howell	19,980	35.02
	Liberal	Robert CS Fowler	6,829	11.97
Majority			10,270	18.00
Turnout				76.53
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Wigg	32,693	59.1
	Conservative	Donald Williams	22,671	40.9
Majority			10,022	18.1
Turnout			55,364	73.9
	Labour hold		Swing

1968 Dudley by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Donald Williams	28,016	58.1	+17.2
	Labour	John Gilbert	16,360	34.0	−25.1
	Liberal	Derek Bird	3,809	7.9	N/A
Majority			11,656	24.2	N/A
Turnout			48,185	63.5	-10.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+21.2

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Dudley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Gilbert	29,499	50.29
	Conservative	Donald Williams	29,163	49.71
Majority			336	0.57
Turnout				71.92
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dudley

References

1. Treadway Russell Nash, History and Antiquities of the County of Worcester I (1781), introduction, xxxii.
2. "Dudley CB/MB through time". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
3. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Campbell, John Campbell, Baron" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
4. "On Affairs in General". Dublin University Magazine, Volume 3. W. Curry, Jun., and Company. 1834. p. 481. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
5. Fisher, David R. (2009). "CAMPBELL, John II (1779-1861), of 9 New Street, Spring Gardens and 14 Paper Buildings, Temple, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
6. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 131. Retrieved 5 November 2018 – via Google Books.
7. Clark, C. F. G., ed. (1881). The Curiosities of Dudley AND THE Black Country, From 1800 to 1860. Birmingham: Buckler Brothers. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
8. "Election Proceedings". Worcester Journal. 28 March 1857. p. 6. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Dudley". Evening Mail. 25 March 1857. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book)|format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
11. "The Elections". Worcestershire Chronicle. 14 July 1852. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Dudley". Globe. 8 July 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Election Intelligence". Morning Chronicle. 8 July 1852. pp. 2–6. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "Dudley Election". Aris's Birmingham Gazette. 15 July 1865. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "Dudley". Staffordshire Advertiser. 27 October 1877. p. 5. Retrieved 29 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "The General Election". London Evening Standard. 31 Mar 1880. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
18. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
19. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
20. Vincent, J (1971). McCalmont's Parliamentary Poll Book (8th ed.). Brighton, UK: The Harvester Press. p. 72 (Section II). ISBN 0855270004.
21. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
22. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
23. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
24. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922
25. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

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