Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)

Chatham was a parliamentary constituency in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1832 general election, when the borough of Chatham was enfranchised under the Reform Act 1832.

Chatham
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Kent
Major settlements	Chatham
1832–1950
Seats	One
Created from	Kent
Replaced by	Rochester & Chatham

It was abolished for the 1950 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Rochester and Chatham constituency. This then became Medway in 1983. When the boroughs of Rochester upon Medway and Gillingham merged to form the larger unitary Borough of Medway in 1998, the Parliamentary constituency of Medway only covered part of the new borough, so for the 2010 election it was renamed Rochester and Strood.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Borough of Rochester except part of St Peter's ward, and the Borough of Chatham wards of Luton and St John.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1832	William Leader Maberly	Whig[1][2]
	1834 by-election	George Byng	Whig[2][3][4][5][6]
	1835	Sir John Beresford, Bt.	Conservative
	1837	George Byng	Whig[2][3][4][5][6]
	1852	Sir Frederick Smith	Conservative
	1853 by-election	Leicester Viney Vernon	Conservative
	1857	Sir Frederick Smith	Conservative
	1865	Arthur Otway	Liberal
	1874	George Elliot	Conservative
	1875 by-election	Sir John Eldon Gorst	Conservative
	1892	Lewis Vivian Loyd	Conservative
	1895	Sir Horatio Davies	Conservative
	1906	John Jenkins	Labour
	1910	Gerald Hohler	Conservative
	1918	John Moore-Brabazon	Conservative
	1929	Frank Markham	Labour
	1931		National Labour
	1931	Sir Park Goff	Conservative
	1935	Leonard Plugge	Conservative
	1945	Arthur Bottomley	Labour
	1950	constituency abolished: see Rochester and Chatham

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Chatham ^[7][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Leader Maberly	363	59.4
	Radical	Thomas Erskine Perry	248	40.6
Majority			115	18.8
Turnout			611	90.3
Registered electors			677
	Whig win (new seat)

Maberly resigned on appointment as a Commissioner of Customs, causing a by-election.

By-election, 26 June 1834: Chatham ^[7][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Byng	262	57.7	−1.7
	Tory	William Ching	192	42.3	New
Majority			70	15.4	−3.4
Turnout			454	67.2	−23.1
Registered electors			676
	Whig hold		Swing

General election 1835: Chatham ^[7][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Beresford	323	52.0	N/A
	Whig	George Byng	298	48.0	−11.4
Majority			25	4.0	N/A
Turnout			621	92.4	+2.1
Registered electors			672
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing

General election 1837: Chatham ^[7][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Byng	Unopposed
Registered electors			785
	Whig gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Byng	457	66.1	N/A
	Conservative	Price Blackwood	234	33.9	New
Majority			223	32.2	N/A
Turnout			691	80.2	N/A
Registered electors			862
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1847: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Byng	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,145
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	636	56.9	New
	Whig	James Stirling[8][9]	482	43.1	N/A
Majority			154	13.8	N/A
Turnout			1,118	81.5	N/A
Registered electors			1,371
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing

The election was declared void on petition, due to bribery, causing a by-election.^[10]

By-election, 23 June 1853: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leicester Viney Vernon	610	50.5	−6.4
	Whig	James Stirling[9]	598	49.5	+6.4
Majority			12	1.0	−12.8
Turnout			1,208	90.2	+8.7
Registered electors			1,339
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.4

General election 1857: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	672	51.1	−5.8
	Whig	William Govett Romaine[11]	643	48.9	+5.8
Majority			29	2.2	−11.6
Turnout			1,315	89.9	+8.4
Registered electors			1,463
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.8

General election 1859: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	713	52.2	+1.1
	Liberal	Arthur Otway	652	47.8	−1.1
Majority			61	4.4	+2.2
Turnout			1,365	88.4	−1.5
Registered electors			1,544
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Otway	986	58.3	+10.5
	Conservative	George Elliot	704	41.7	−10.5
Majority			282	16.6	N/A
Turnout			1,690	80.3	−8.1
Registered electors			2,104
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.5

General election 1868: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Otway	2,042	52.4	−5.9
	Conservative	George Elliot	1,858	47.6	+5.9
Majority			184	4.8	−11.8
Turnout			3,900	86.3	+6.0
Registered electors			4,518
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.9

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Elliot	2,132	59.1	+11.5
	Liberal	Arthur Otway	1,476	40.9	−11.5
Majority			656	18.2	N/A
Turnout			3,608	80.8	−5.5
Registered electors			4,468
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.5

Elliot resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 16 Feb 1875: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Eldon Gorst	2,173	52.6	−6.5
	Liberal	William Henry Stone[12]	1,958	47.4	+6.5
Majority			215	5.2	−13.0
Turnout			4,131	83.7	+2.9
Registered electors			4,935
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.5

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Eldon Gorst	2,499	51.0	−8.1
	Liberal	Henry Carr Glyn[13]	2,398	49.0	+8.1
Majority			101	2.0	−16.2
Turnout			4,897	88.3	+7.5
Registered electors			5,548
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.1

Gorst was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 11 Jul 1885: Chatham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Eldon Gorst	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Collier

General election 1885: Chatham ^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Eldon Gorst	3,396	56.5	+5.5
	Liberal	Robert Collier	2,610	43.5	−5.5
Majority			786	13.0	+11.0
Turnout			6,006	85.9	+2.4
Registered electors			6,988
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.5

Clarke

General election 1886: Chatham ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Eldon Gorst	3,187	56.8	+0.3
	Liberal	Andrew Clarke	2,422	43.2	−0.3
Majority			765	13.6	+0.6
Turnout			5,609	80.3	−5.6
Registered electors			6,988
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.3

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Chatham ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lewis Vivian Loyd	3,777	52.6	−4.2
	Liberal	Andrew Clarke	3,400	47.4	+4.2
Majority			377	5.2	−8.4
Turnout			7,177	83.2	+2.9
Registered electors			8,629
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.2

Davies

General election 1895: Chatham ^[14][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Horatio Davies	4,082	53.8	+1.2
	Liberal	Robert Hippisley Cox	3,499	46.2	−1.2
Majority			583	7.6	+2.4
Turnout			7,581	82.4	−0.8
Registered electors			9,199
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Chatham ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Horatio Davies	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Jenkins

General election 1906: Chatham ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	John Jenkins	6,692	62.5	New
	Conservative	John Eustace Jameson	4,020	37.5	N/A
Majority			2,672	25.0	N/A
Turnout			10,712	79.7	N/A
Registered electors			13,432
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1910s

General election, January 1910: Chatham ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerald Hohler	7,411	54.7	+17.2
	Labour	John Jenkins	6,130	45.3	−17.2
Majority			1,281	9.4	N/A
Turnout			13,541	85.7	+6.0
Registered electors			15,799
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+17.2

Bernacchi

Smith

General election, December 1910: Chatham ^[14][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerald Hohler	6,989	56.4	+1.7
	Liberal	Louis Bernacchi	4,302	34.7	New
	Labour	Frank Smith	1,103	8.9	−36.4
Majority			2,687	21.7	+12.3
Turnout			12,394	78.4	−7.3
Registered electors			15,799
	Conservative hold

Woodcock

General election 1918: Chatham ^[18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Moore-Brabazon	11,454	62.4	+6.0
	Labour	Dansy Hubbard	4,134	22.5	+13.6
	Liberal	H. B. D. Woodcock	2,778	15.1	−19.6
Majority			7,320	39.9	+18.2
Turnout			18,366	59.2	−19.2
Registered electors			31,000
	Unionist hold		Swing	-3.8

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Chatham ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Moore-Brabazon	11,335	51.5	−10.9
	Liberal	Alfred John Callaghan	10,682	48.5	+33.4
Majority			653	3.0	−36.9
Turnout			22,017	69.8	+10.6
Registered electors			31,525
	Unionist hold		Swing	−22.1

Hamilton

General election 1923: Chatham ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Moore-Brabazon	9,994	41.6	−9.9
	Liberal	Alfred John Callaghan	8,227	34.3	−14.2
	Labour	Mary Hamilton	5,794	24.1	New
Majority			1,767	7.3	+4.3
Turnout			24,015	74.6	+4.8
Registered electors			32,212
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.2

Dallow

General election 1924: Chatham ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Moore-Brabazon	13,184	52.2	+10.6
	Labour	William Harvey Moore	9,276	36.7	+12.6
	Liberal	Cyril Berkeley Dallow	2,806	11.1	−23.2
Majority			3,908	15.5	+8.2
Turnout			25,266	77.8	+3.2
Registered electors			32,481
	Unionist hold		Swing	+10.6

General election 1929: Chatham ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Markham	13,007	42.6	+5.9
	Unionist	John Moore-Brabazon	12,231	40.1	−12.1
	Liberal	George H Bryans	5,284	17.3	+6.2
Majority			776	2.5	N/A
Turnout			30,522	74.5	−3.3
Registered electors			40,980
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+9.0

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Chatham ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Park Goff	19,991	62.5	+22.4
	Labour	Oliver Baldwin	10,837	33.9	−8.7
	New Party	Martin Woodroffe	1,135	3.6	New
Majority			9,154	28.6	New
Turnout			31,963	75.5	+1.0
Registered electors			42,356
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+15.6

The sitting MP Sydney Frank Markham sought re-election as a National Labour candidate. However, the Conservatives refused to withdraw in his favour. As a result, he was forced to withdraw. Communist candidate Walter Hannington was also adopted^[20] but subsequently withdrew.^[21]

General election 1935: Chatham ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Plugge	19,212	59.1	−3.4
	Labour	Hugh Gaitskell	13,315	40.9	+7.0
Majority			5,897	18.2	−10.4
Turnout			32,527	74.6	−0.9
Registered electors			43,573
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.3

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Chatham ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Bottomley	19,250	55.3	+14.4
	Conservative	Leonard Plugge	15,534	44.7	−14.4
Majority			3,716	10.6	N/A
Turnout			34,784	72.1	−2.5
Registered electors			48,270
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.4