Bexley (UK Parliament constituency)

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.

Bexley
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bexley in Kent for the 1955 general election
County	Kent (Pre 1965) Greater London (Post 1965)
1945–February 1974
Seats	One
Created from	Dartford
Replaced by	Bexleyheath, Sidcup

Boundaries and boundary changes

Dates	Local authority	Maps	Wards
1945–1974	Municipal Borough of Bexley (before 1965) London Borough of Bexley (after 1965)		The Municipal Borough of Bexley[1][2][3]

1945–1974

The constituency was formed entirely from the existing of constituency Dartford

History

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	Member for Dartford (1937–1945); resigned 1946
	1946 by-election	Ashley Bramall	Labour
	1950	Edward Heath	Conservative	Leader of the Conservative Party 1965–1975; Prime Minister 1970–1974 Contested Sidcup following redistribution
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Bexleyheath & Sidcup

Election results

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Bexley^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jennie Adamson	24,686	56.9
	Conservative	John Lockwood	12,923	29.8
	Liberal	Ward Smith	5,750	13.3
Majority			11,763	27.1
Turnout			43,359	76.7
Registered electors			56,557
	Labour win (new seat)

1946 Bexley by-election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	19,759	52.5	–4.5
	Conservative	John Lockwood	17,908	47.5	+17.7
Majority			1,851	4.9	–22.2
Turnout			37,667	62.6	–14.0
Registered electors			60,152
	Labour hold		Swing	–11.1

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bexley^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	25,854	46.0	+16.2
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	25,721	45.7	–11.2
	Liberal	Mary Hart	4,186	7.4	–5.8
	Communist	Charlie Job[6]	481	0.9	New
Majority			133	0.2	N/A
Turnout			56,242	88.7	+12.0
Registered electors			63,429
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+13.7

General election 1951: Bexley^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	29,069	51.5	+5.5
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	27,430	48.5	+2.8
Majority			1,639	2.9	+2.7
Turnout			56,499	87.8	–0.9
Registered electors			64,343
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General election 1955: Bexley^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	28,610	54.3	+2.8
	Labour	Rubeigh Minney	24,111	45.7	–2.8
Majority			4,499	8.5	+5.6
Turnout			52,721	82.6	–5.3
Registered electors			63,863
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.8

General election 1959: Bexley^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	32,025	57.8	+3.5
	Labour	Ashley Bramall	23,392	42.2	–3.5
Majority			8,633	15.6	+7.0
Turnout			55,517	85.4	+2.8
Registered electors			64,906
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bexley^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	25,716	47.4	–10.4
	Labour	Leslie Reeves	21,127	38.9	–3.3
	Liberal	Peter 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
Registered electors			64,240
	Conservative hold		Swing	–3.6

General election 1966: Bexley^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	26,377	48.1	+0.7
	Labour	Russell Butler	24,044	43.9	+4.9
	Liberal	Richard Lloyd	4,405	8.0	−3.3
Majority			2,333	4.3	–4.2
Turnout			54,826	85.8	+1.3
Registered electors			63,886
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bexley^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Heath	27,075	53.0	+4.9
	Labour	John Cartwright	19,017	37.2	−6.6
	Liberal	Edward Harrison	3,222	6.3	−1.7
	Independent	Edward J R L Heath	938	1.8	New
	Ind. Conservative	Michael Coney	833	1.6	New
Majority			8,058	15.8	+11.5
Turnout			51,085	76.3	−9.5
Registered electors			66,980
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.8