Bexley (UK Parliament constituency)

Bexley
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1945–February 1974
Seatsone
Created fromChislehurst, Dartford
Replaced byBexleyheath, Sidcup

Bexley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Bexley district of what is now south-east London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

Bexley in Kent, boundaries used 1955-74

The constituency was created for the 1945 general election, from parts of the Chislehurst and Dartford seats, and abolished for the 1974 general election and replaced by two new constituencies of Bexleyheath and Sidcup.

The constituency's boundaries were co-terminous with those of the Municipal Borough of Bexley.

The MP when the constituency was abolished, the then Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath, fought and won the new Sidcup constituency in 1974. He went on to represent the new seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup from 1983 until he retired from parliament in 2001 after being an MP for 50 years.

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party Notes
1945 Jennie Adamson Labour Previously MP for Dartford from 1937; resigned 1946
1946 by-election Ashley Bramall Labour
1950 Rt Hon Edward Heath Conservative Leader of the Conservative Party 1965–1975; Prime Minister 1970–1974; subsequently MP for Sidcup
Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see Bexleyheath & Sidcup

Election results

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jennie Adamson 24,686 56.93
Conservative John Lockwood 12,923 29.80
Liberal Ward Smith 5,750 13.26
Majority 11,763 27.13
Turnout 43,359 76.65
Labour win (new seat)
1946 Bexley by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ashley Bramall 19,759 52.46 −4.47
Conservative John Lockwood 17,908 47.54 +17.74
Majority 1,851 4.92 −22.21
Turnout 37,667
Labour hold Swing -11.1

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Heath 25,854 46.0 +16.2
Labour Ashley Bramall 25,721 45.7 −11.2
Liberal Mary Edith Hart 4,186 7.4 −5.9
Communist Charlie Job[1] 481 0.9 New
Majority 133 0.3 N/A
Turnout 56,242 88.7 +12.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +13.6
General election 1951: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Heath 29,069 51.45 +4.57
Labour Ashley Bramall 27,430 48.55 +2.82
Majority 1,639 2.99 +2.75
Turnout 56,499 87.80 −0.87
Conservative hold Swing +0.86
General election 1955: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Heath 28,610 54.27 +2.73
Labour Rubeigh James Minney 24,111 45.73 −2.82
Majority 4,499 8.54 +5.55
Turnout 42,721 82.55 −5.25
Conservative hold Swing +2.76
General election 1959: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Heath 32,025 57.79 +3.52
Labour Ashley Bramall 23,392 42.21 −3.52
Majority 8,633 15.58 +7.04
Turnout 55,517 85.38 −2.83
Conservative hold Swing +3.52

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Heath 25,716 47.4 −10.4
Labour Leslie Leonard Reeves 21,127 38.9 −3.3
Liberal Peter L. MacArthur 6,161 11.4 New
Anti-Common Market League John Paul 1,263 2.3 New
Majority 4,589 8.5 −7.1
Turnout 54,227 84.5 −0.9
Conservative hold Swing -3.6
General election 1966: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Heath 26,377 48.1 +0.7
Labour Russell L. Butler 24,044 43.9 +5.0
Liberal Richard Faulkner Lloyd 4,405 8.0 −3.4
Majority 2,333 4.2 −4.3
Turnout 54,826 85.8 +1.3
Conservative hold Swing +2.1

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bexley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Heath 27,075 53.0 +4.9
Labour John Cartwright 19,017 37.2 −6.7
Liberal Edward Harrison 3,222 6.3 −1.7
Independent Edward James Robert Lambert Heath 938 1.8 New
Ind. Conservative Michael Paul Coney 833 1.6 New
Majority 8,058 15.8 +11.6
Turnout 51,085 76.2 −9.6
Conservative hold Swing +5.8

References

Notes
  1. ^ Stevenson, Graham. "Job Charlie". Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition
1965–1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Constituency represented by the prime minister
1970–1974 		Succeeded by