Portsmouth was a borough constituency based upon the borough of Portsmouth in Hampshire. It returned two members of parliament (MPs) to the Parliaments of England, Great Britain and from 1801 the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.

History

The constituency first elected MPs in 1295. It was abolished at the 1918 general election, when the Representation of the People Act 1918 divided it into three new constituencies; Portsmouth North, Portsmouth South and Portsmouth Central.

According to Namier and Brooke in The House of Commons 1754–1790, the right of election was in the freemen of the borough who numbered about 100. The town was known as an Admiralty borough and at least one MP was usually an Admiral.

The Earl of Sandwich was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1771 to 1782. He imposed tighter Admiralty control over the borough. This change of policy led to an independent element of the local Council supporting challengers to the Admiralty candidates between 1774 and 1780.

When party politics re-emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Portsmouth was a predominantly Whig constituency. It only once elected a Tory Member of Parliament between 1790 and 1832.

The Reform Act 1832 considerably expanded the electorate of the borough. The freemen retained their ancient right franchise, but were outnumbered by the new occupier voters amongst the 1,295 electors registered in 1832. As a result of the expanded electorate the borough became more competitive. Contested elections became the norm rather than the exception, as they had been before the Reform Act.

Candidates with naval connections continued to be frequent in Portsmouth, after the Reform Act. The borough developed into a marginal constituency, particularly in the last half century of its existence.

Boundaries

The parliamentary borough of Portsmouth was (as the area remains in the 21st century) a major seaport and naval base on the south coast of England. It is situated in the county of Hampshire.

From the 1885 general election until the dissolution before the 1918 election the constituency was surrounded (on the landward side) by the Fareham seat.

Members of Parliament

Election notes

The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.

Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Sedgwick 1715–1754, Namier and Brooke 1754–1790, Stooks Smith 1790–1832 and from Craig thereafter. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information or differs from the other sources this is indicated in a note after the result.

Election results 1715–1800

Election results 1801–1918

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Charles Bruce	6,683	26.4	−1.5
	Conservative	Henry Drummond Wolff	6,593	26.0	−2.2
	Liberal	John Freeman Norris[14]	6,040	23.8	+1.7
	Liberal	Edmund Verney	6,023	23.8	+2.0
Majority			553	2.2	-3.6
Turnout			12,670	77.0	+6.5
Registered electors			16,463
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

• Note (1880): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
• Electorate expanded by the Representation of the People Act 1884

General election 1885: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Crossman	8,367	26.3	+2.5
	Liberal	Philip Vanderbyl	8,214	25.8	+2.0
	Conservative	Thomas Charles Bruce	7,650	24.0	−2.4
	Conservative	Henry Drummond Wolff	7,595	23.9	−2.1
Majority			564	1.8	N/A
Turnout			16,068	79.2	+2.2
Registered electors			20,279
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.5
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.1

Sir John Baker

General election 1886: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Crossman	8,482	27.2	+3.2
	Conservative	Samuel Wilson	8,325	26.8	+2.9
	Liberal	Philip Vanderbyl	7,196	23.2	−2.6
	Liberal	John Baker	7,069	22.8	−3.5
Turnout			15,722	77.5	−1.7
Registered electors			20,279
Majority			1,286	4.0	N/A
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.9
Majority			1,256	4.0	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1890s

Walter Clough

General election 1892: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Baker	9,643	25.9	+3.1
	Liberal	Walter Clough	9,448	25.4	+2.2
	Conservative	George Henry Smith Willis	9,135	24.5	−2.3
	Liberal Unionist	Anthony Ashley	9,000	24.2	−3.0
Majority			313	0.9	N/A
Turnout			18,731	80.6	+3.1
Registered electors			23,237
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+3.1
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.3

Harmsworth

General election 1895: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Baker	10,451	26.2	+0.3
	Liberal	Walter Clough	10,255	25.6	+0.2
	Conservative	Alfred Harmsworth	9,717	24.3	−0.2
	Liberal Unionist	Anthony Ashley	9,567	23.9	−0.3
Majority			538	1.3	+0.4
Turnout			20,129	83.7	+3.1
Registered electors			24,057
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3

Elections in the 1900s

Bramsdon

1900 Portsmouth by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Bramsdon	10,287	51.4	−0.4
	Conservative	James Majendie	9,708	48.6	+0.4
Majority			579	2.8	+1.5
Turnout			19,995	74.9	−8.8
Registered electors			26,698
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.4

General election 1900: Portsmouth (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Majendie	10,818	26.1	+1.8
	Conservative	Reginald Lucas	10,383	25.1	+1.2
	Liberal	John Baker	10,214	24.6	−1.6
	Liberal	Thomas Bramsdon	10,031	24.2	−1.4
Majority			169	0.5	N/A
Turnout			21,072	78.9	−4.8
Registered electors			26,698
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.3

Sanders

General election 1906: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Bramsdon	10,500	22.6	−1.6
	Liberal	John Baker	10,236	22.0	−2.6
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	William Sanders	8,172	17.6	New
	Conservative	E.W. Hills	7,970	17.1	−9.0
	Conservative	A. Whitelaw	7,752	16.7	−8.4
	Naval	Fred T. Jane	1,859	4.0	New
Majority			2,530	5.5	N/A
Turnout			25,478	82.8	+3.9
Registered electors			30,754
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.7
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.9

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Beresford	16,777	28.7	+11.6
	Liberal Unionist	Bertram Falle	15,592	26.8	+10.1
	Liberal	Thomas Bramsdon	12,397	21.3	−1.3
	Liberal	Richard Lambert	9,965	17.1	−4.9
	Labour	William Sanders	3,529	6.1	−11.5
Turnout			30,100	89.4	+6.6
Registered electors			33,666
Majority			4,380	7.4	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.5
Majority			5,627	9.7	N/A
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.5

Hemmerde

General election December 1910: Portsmouth (2 seats)^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Beresford	15,125	26.9	−1.8
	Liberal Unionist	Bertram Falle	14,856	26.5	−0.3
	Liberal	Edward Hemmerde	13,146	23.4	+2.1
	Liberal	Henry Harben	13,013	23.2	+4.1
Turnout			28,236	83.9	−5.5
Registered electors			33,666
Majority			1,979	3.5	−3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.0
Majority			1,843	3.3	−6.4
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	−2.2

1916 Portsmouth by-election^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Hedworth Meux	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

References

Sources

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• The House of Commons 1715–1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
• The House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973))
• Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British members of parliament, Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British members of parliament, Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)

External links

• The Representation Of Portsmouth In Parliament