East Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

East Worcestershire was a county constituency in the county of Worcestershire, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

East Worcestershire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1918
Seats	1832–1885: Two 1885–1918: One
Replaced by	Kidderminster and Birmingham King's Norton

It was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, and elected two Members of Parliament (MPs), by the bloc vote system. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, its representation was reduced to one MP for the 1885 general election, elected by the first past the post voting system. The constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Petty Sessional Divisions of Stourbridge, Dudley, Droitwich, Northfield, Blockley and Pershore, and the Borough of Evesham.^[1]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

Election	First member		First party	Second member		Second party
1832		William Congreve Russell	Whig[2]		Thomas Cookes	Whig[2]
1835		Edward Holland	Whig[3][4][2]
1837		Sir Horace St Paul, Bt	Conservative[2]		John Barneby	Conservative[2]
1841		James Arthur Taylor	Conservative[2]
Jan. 1847 by-election					George Rushout-Bowles	Conservative
Jul. 1847		John Hodgetts-Foley	Whig[5][6][7]
Feb. 1859					Hon. Frederick Gough-Calthorpe	Whig[8][9][10]
Apr. 1859			Liberal			Liberal
1861 by-election		Harry Vernon	Liberal
Jun. 1868 by-election					Hon. Charles Lyttelton	Liberal
Nov 1868		Richard Amphlett	Conservative
1874		Henry Allsopp	Conservative		Thomas Eades Walker	Conservative
1880		William Henry Gladstone	Liberal		George Hastings	Liberal
1885	representation reduced to one member

MPs 1885–1918

Year		Member	Party
	1885	George Hastings	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	Austen Chamberlain	Liberal Unionist
	1912		Unionist
	1914	Leverton Harris	Unionist
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Decades:

1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Congreve Russell	2,576	36.8
	Whig	Thomas Cookes	2,517	35.9
	Tory	John Pakington	1,916	27.3
Majority			601	8.6
Turnout			4,348	84.2
Registered electors			5,161
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Holland	2,254	34.2	−2.6
	Whig	Thomas Cookes	2,192	33.3	−2.6
	Conservative	Horace St Paul	2,145	32.5	+5.2
Majority			47	0.7	−7.9
Turnout			c. 3,296	c. 63.8	c. −20.4
Registered electors			5,164
	Whig hold		Swing	−2.6
	Whig hold		Swing	−2.6

General election 1837: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Horace St Paul	2,595	27.4	+11.2
	Conservative	John Barneby	2,528	26.7	+10.5
	Whig	Edward Holland	2,175	23.0	−11.2
	Whig	John Hodgetts-Foley	2,168	22.9	−10.4
Majority			427	4.5	N/A
Majority			353	3.7	N/A
Turnout			4,771	79.6	c. +15.8
Registered electors			5,995
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+11.0
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+10.7

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Arthur Taylor	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Barneby	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,367
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Barneby's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 11 January 1847: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Rushout	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Hodgetts-Foley	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Rushout	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,269
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Hodgetts-Foley	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Rushout	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,515
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Hodgetts-Foley	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Rushout	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,065
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

Rushout succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Baron Northwick and causing a by-election.

By-election, 24 February 1859: East Worcestershire^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Frederick Gough-Calthorpe	2,304	54.0	N/A
	Conservative	Sir John Pakington, 2nd Baron Hampton	1,965	46.0	N/A
Majority			339	8.0	N/A
Turnout			4,269	71.4	N/A
Registered electors			5,983
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1859: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Hodgetts-Foley	Unopposed
	Liberal	Frederick Gough-Calthorpe	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,983
	Liberal hold
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1860s

Hodgetts-Foley's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 20 December 1861: East Worcestershire^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Vernon	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Vernon	Unopposed
	Liberal	Frederick Gough-Calthorpe	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,875
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Gough-Calthorpe succeeded to the peerage, becoming 5th Baron Calthorpe and causing a by-election.

By-election, 1 June 1868: East Worcestershire^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Lyttelton	2,688	52.5	N/A
	Conservative	William Laslett	2,429	47.5	New
Majority			259	5.0	N/A
Turnout			5,117	74.4	N/A
Registered electors			6,875
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Amphlett	4,108	34.3	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Lyttelton	4,093	34.1	N/A
	Liberal	Richard Martin	3,789	31.6	N/A
Majority			319	2.7	N/A
Turnout			8,049 (est)	78.0 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			10,313
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Allsopp	4,421	29.5	+12.3
	Conservative	Thomas Eades Walker	4,159	27.8	+10.6
	Liberal	Charles Lyttelton	3,508	23.4	−10.7
	Liberal	Arthur Albright[12]	2,831	18.9	−12.7
	Conservative	William Laslett	55	0.4	N/A
Majority			651	4.4	N/A
Turnout			7,487 (est)	67.8 (est)	−10.2
Registered electors			11,039
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.2

• Laslett withdrew from the race in order to contest Worcester.^[13]

Elections in the 1880s

Hastings

General election 1880: East Worcestershire (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Henry Gladstone	4,879	26.5	+3.2
	Liberal	George Hastings	4,833	26.3	+7.4
	Conservative	Richard Temple	4,417	24.0	−3.8
	Conservative	Henry Allsopp	4,258	23.2	−6.3
Majority			621	3.3	N/A
Majority			416	2.3	N/A
Turnout			9,194 (est)	76.6 (est)	+8.8
Registered electors			12,000
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.5
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.9

General election 1885: East Worcestershire ^[14][15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Hastings	3,685	53.6	+0.8
	Conservative	Albert Bosanquet	3,194	46.4	−0.8
Majority			491	7.2	+4.9
Turnout			6,879	84.0	+7.4 (est)
Registered electors			8,187
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.8

General election 1886: East Worcestershire ^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	George Hastings	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

Hastings was expelled from the House of Commons, causing a by-election.

Chamberlain

By-election, 30 Mar 1892: East Worcestershire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

General election 1892: East Worcestershire ^[14][15][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	5,111	67.0	N/A
	Liberal	Oscar Browning	2,517	33.0	New
Majority			2,594	34.0	N/A
Turnout			7,628	77.6	N/A
Registered electors			9,827
	Liberal Unionist hold

General election 1895: East Worcestershire ^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: East Worcestershire ^[14][15][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

1902 East Worcestershire by-election^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

Chamberlain

General election 1906: East Worcestershire ^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	10,129	63.7	N/A
	Liberal	John Morgan	5,763	36.3	New
Majority			4,366	27.4	N/A
Turnout			15,892	84.7	N/A
Registered electors			18,769
	Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1910s

Young

General election January 1910: East Worcestershire ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	12,644	64.5	+0.8
	Liberal	Hilton Young	6,955	35.5	−0.8
Majority			5,689	29.0	+1.6
Turnout			19,599	84.2	−0.5
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+0.8

General election December 1910: East Worcestershire ^[14][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Austen Chamberlain	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

1914 East Worcestershire by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leverton Harris	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Leverton Harris
• Liberal: Wilfrid Hill