West Kent (UK Parliament constituency)

West Kent (formally known as "Kent, Western") was a county constituency in Kent in South East England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

West Kent
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Context of 1832-1868. Extract from 1837 result: the non-south coast striped area, south-east of London.
County	Kent
1832–1885
Number of members	2
Replaced by	Medway Sevenoaks Ashford Dartford Lewisham
Created from	Kent

History

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

All three two-member constituencies in Kent were abolished in 1885: East Kent, Mid Kent and West Kent. They were replaced by eight new single-member constituencies: Ashford, Dartford, Faversham, Isle of Thanet, Medway, St Augustine's, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge.

Boundaries

1832–1868: The Lathes of Sutton-at-Hone and Aylesford, and the Lower Division of the Lathe of Scray.[1]

1868–1885: The Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone.[2]

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		Thomas Law Hodges	Whig[3][4][5][6][7]		Thomas Rider	Whig[4]
1835					Sir William Geary, Bt	Conservative[4]
1838 by-election					Sir Edmund Filmer, Bt	Conservative[4]
1841		Viscount Marsham	Conservative[4]
1845 by-election		Thomas Austen	Conservative
1847		Thomas Law Hodges	Whig[3][4][5][6][7]
1852		William Masters Smith	Conservative
Feb 1857 by-election					Charles Wykeham Martin	Peelite[8][9]
Apr 1857		James Whatman	Radical[10][11][12]
1859		Viscount Holmesdale	Conservative		Sir Edmund Filmer, Bt	Conservative
1865					William Hart Dyke	Conservative
1868		Sir Charles Mills, Bt	Conservative		John Gilbert Talbot	Conservative
1878 by-election					Viscount Lewisham	Conservative
1885	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Thomas Law Hodges	3,364	37.5
	Whig	Thomas Rider	3,100	34.5
	Tory	William Geary	2,518	28.0
Majority			582	6.5
Turnout			5,562	83.3
Registered electors			6,678
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Geary	2,558	38.4	+10.4
	Whig	Thomas Law Hodges	2,092	31.4	−6.1
	Whig	Thomas Rider	2,007	30.1	−4.4
Turnout			4,549	66.4	−16.9
Registered electors			6,850
Majority			466	7.0	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+10.5
Majority			85	1.3	−5.2
	Whig hold		Swing	−5.7

• Rider retired at the close of the first day's poll

General election 1837: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Geary	3,584	35.3	+16.1
	Whig	Thomas Law Hodges	3,334	32.9	−28.6
	Conservative	Edmund Filmer	3,229	31.8	+12.6
Turnout			6,641	78.8	+12.4
Registered electors			8,432
Majority			250	2.4	−4.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+15.2
Majority			105	1.1	−0.2
	Whig hold		Swing	−28.7

Geary resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 5 March 1838: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Edmund Filmer	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edmund Filmer	Unopposed
	Conservative	Charles Marsham	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,089
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Whig

Marsham succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Romney and causing a by-election.

By-election, 25 April 1845: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Austen	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edmund Filmer	3,219	34.1	N/A
	Whig	Thomas Law Hodges	3,127	33.2	New
	Conservative	Thomas Austen	3,082	32.7	N/A
Turnout			6,278 (est)	66.2 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			9,489
Majority			92	0.9	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			45	0.5	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edmund Filmer	3,247	35.7	+1.6
	Conservative	William Masters Smith	3,193	35.1	+1.4
	Whig	Thomas Law Hodges	2,652	29.2	−3.0
Majority			541	6.0	+5.0
Turnout			5,872 (est)	62.6 (est)	−3.6
Registered electors			9,379
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+1.5

Filmer's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 16 February 1857: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Peelite	Charles Wykeham Martin	3,557	53.0	New
	Conservative	Sir Walter Buchanan Riddell, 10th Baronet	3,149	47.0	−23.8
Majority			408	6.0	N/A
Turnout			6,706	74.9	+12.3
Registered electors			8,949
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Peelite	Charles Wykeham Martin	3,896	36.6	N/A
	Radical	James Whatman	3,578	33.6	+4.4
	Conservative	William Masters Smith	3,171	29.8	−41.0
Turnout			5,323 (est)	59.5 (est)	−3.1
Registered electors			8,949
Majority			318	3.0	N/A
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A
Majority			407	3.8	N/A
	Radical gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.5

General election 1859: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Amherst	3,769	26.0	+11.1
	Conservative	Edmund Filmer	3,684	25.4	+10.5
	Liberal	Charles Wykeham Martin	3,584	24.7	−11.9
	Liberal	James Whatman	3,460	23.9	−9.7
Majority			100	0.7	N/A
Turnout			7,249 (est)	81.0 (est)	+21.5
Registered electors			8,949
	Conservative gain from Peelite		Swing	+11.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.7

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Amherst	4,133	25.9	−0.1
	Conservative	William Hart Dyke	4,054	25.4	0.0
	Liberal	John Lubbock	3,896	24.4	−0.3
	Liberal	William Angerstein[14]	3,861	24.2	+0.3
Majority			158	1.0	+0.3
Turnout			7,972 (est)	81.3 (est)	+0.3
Registered electors			9,811
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.0

General election 1868: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Mills	3,440	25.8	−0.1
	Conservative	John Gilbert Talbot	3,378	25.3	−0.1
	Liberal	John Lubbock	3,323	24.9	+0.5
	Liberal	William Angerstein[14]	3,196	24.0	−0.2
Majority			55	0.4	−0.6
Turnout			6,669 (est)	75.5 (est)	−5.8
Registered electors			8,828
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.1

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: West Kent[13][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Mills	5,295	30.7	+4.9
	Conservative	John Gilbert Talbot	5,227	30.3	+5.0
	Liberal	Archibald Hamilton	3,391	19.6	−5.3
	Liberal	Edward Marjoribanks	3,346	19.4	−4.6
Majority			1,836	10.6	+10.2
Turnout			8,630 (est)	72.1 (est)	−3.4
Registered electors			11,973
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.8

Talbot resigned in order to contest the 1878 Oxford University by-election.

By-election, 15 May 1878: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Legge	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Mills	6,413	35.2	+4.5
	Conservative	William Legge	5,986	32.8	+2.5
	Liberal	Henry Mason Bompas[16]	4,857	26.6	−12.4
	Conservative Tenant Farmers	John May[17]	977	5.4	New
Majority			1,129	6.2	−4.4
Turnout			11,270 (est)	75.8 (est)	+3.7
Registered electors			14,873
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.4

Legge was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 6 Jul 1885: West Kent[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Legge	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

References

1. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
2. "Representation of the People Act 1867" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-07-27.
3. "The Election for West Kent". Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser. 3 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 7 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-900178-13-2. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
5. Atkinson, Brian (2001). "Conservative and Liberal: National Politics in Kent from the late 1820s to 1914". In Lansberry, Frederick (ed.). Government and Politics in Kent, 1640-1914. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-85115-586-3. LCCN 2001035616. Retrieved 7 August 2018 – via Google Books.
6. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1836. p. 97. Retrieved 7 August 2018 – via Google Books.
7. Dyck, Ian (1992). William Cobbett and Rural Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 139. ISBN 0-521-41394-X. LCCN 91017636. Retrieved 7 August 2018 – via Google Books.
8. "The Elections". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 28 July 1852. p. 8. Retrieved 10 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Newport". Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette. 3 July 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 10 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Elections in Kent". Kentish Gazette. 13 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 27 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Maidstone". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 10 July 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 27 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Notice to Correspondents". Sussex Agricultural Express. 4 April 1857. p. 6. Retrieved 27 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book)|format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 406–407. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
14. "Kent Elections". Kentish Gazette. 24 November 1868. p. 6. Retrieved 19 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "West Kent Election". Daily Telegraph and Courier. 2 February 1874. p. 9. Retrieved 1 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "Liberal Candidate for West Kent". Kentish Mercury. 3 April 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Mr John May - The Tenant Farmer's Candidate". Woolwich Gazette. 3 April 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 1)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 406–407. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.