Poplar (UK Parliament constituency)

Poplar
Poplar
Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
	Poplar in London, 1885-1918
	Poplar in London, 1950-74
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	Tower Hamlets
Replaced by	Poplar South
1950–1974
Seats	one
Created from	Bow and Bromley and Poplar South
Replaced by	Stepney and Poplar

Poplar was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Poplar district of the East End of London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election, when with very minor boundary changes it was replaced by the new constituency of Poplar South. A small amount of the constituency's territory was added to Bow and Bromley.

It was re-established for the 1950 general election, and abolished again for the February 1974 general election. It was then partly replaced by the new Stepney and Poplar constituency.

Boundaries

1885–1918: In 1885 the area was administered as part of the county of Middlesex. It was located in the Tower division, in the east of the historic county. The suburban neighbourhood of Poplar formed a division of the parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets.

In 1889 the Tower division of Middlesex was severed from the county, for administrative purposes. It became part of the County of London. In 1900 the lower tier of local government in London was re-modelled. Poplar constituency became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar.

1950–1974: When a re-distribution of parliamentary seats took effect in 1950, the constituency was re-created. It then included the whole of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar.

In 1965 the Metropolitan Borough was incorporated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Henry Green	Liberal
	1886	Sydney Buxton	Liberal
	1914 b-e	Alfred Yeo	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished: see Poplar South & Bow and Bromley
1950		constituency re-created
	1950	Charles Key	Labour
	1964	Ian Mikardo	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Stepney and Poplar

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Tower Hamlets, Poplar^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Henry Green	4,090	65.9
	Conservative	Denzil Onslow	2,113	34.1
Majority			1,977	31.8
Turnout			6,203	68.6
Registered electors			9,041
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Tower Hamlets, Poplar
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	2,903	50.7	−15.2
	Conservative	Alfred Welby	2,827	49.3	+15.2
Majority			76	1.4	−30.4
Turnout			5,730	63.4	−5.2
Registered electors			9,041
	Liberal hold		Swing	-15.2

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Tower Hamlets, Poplar^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	5,007	62.7	+12.0
	Conservative	Alfred Welby	2,975	37.3	−12.0
Majority			2,032	25.4	+24.0
Turnout			7,982	77.1	+13.7
Registered electors			10,348
	Liberal hold		Swing	+12.0

General election 1895: Tower Hamlets, Poplar^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	3,939	55.9	−6.8
	Conservative	William Pelham Bullivant	3,110	44.1	+6.8
Majority			829	11.8	−13.6
Turnout			7,049	72.8	−4.3
Registered electors			9,684
	Liberal hold		Swing	-6.8

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Tower Hamlets, Poplar^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	3,992	58.4	+2.5
	Conservative	William Pelham Bullivant	2,840	41.6	−2.5
Majority			1,152	16.8	+5.0
Turnout			6,832	68.3	−4.5
Registered electors			10,009
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.5

General election 1906: Tower Hamlets, Poplar^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	4,546	67.0	+8.6
	Conservative	George Borwick	2,235	33.0	−8.6
Majority			2,311	34.0	+17.2
Turnout			6,781	74.6	+6.3
Registered electors			9,088
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.6

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Tower Hamlets, Poplar^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	4,172	57.2	−9.8
	Conservative	Leslie Wilson	3,125	42.8	+9.8
Majority			1,047	14.4	−19.6
Turnout			7,297	82.4	+7.8
Registered electors			8,857
	Liberal hold		Swing	-9.8

General election December 1910: Tower Hamlets, Poplar^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	3,977	64.9	+7.7
	Conservative	Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett	2,148	35.1	−7.7
Majority			1,829	29.8	+15.4
Turnout			6,125	69.2	−13.2
Registered electors			8,857
	Liberal hold		Swing	+7.7

1914 Poplar by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Yeo	3,548	46.0	−18.9
	Conservative	Robin S. Kerr-Clark	3,270	42.4	+7.3
	British Socialist Party	Jack Jones	893	11.6	New
Majority			278	3.6	−26.2
Turnout			7,711	79.8	+10.6
Registered electors			9,658
	Liberal hold		Swing	-13.1

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Poplar^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Charles Key	30,756	78.23
	Conservative	Richard Lonsdale	6,088	15.48
	Liberal	Joseph Frederick Purkis	1,933	4.92
	Communist	Harry Watson^[3]	540	1.37
Majority			24,668	62.74
Turnout			39,317	78.39
Registered electors			50,154
	Labour win (new seat)

General election 1951: Poplar^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Key	31,377	82.03	+3.80
	Conservative	Peter Emery	6,875	17.97	+2.49
Majority			24,502	64.06	+1.32
Turnout			38,252	75.73	-2.66
Registered electors			50,509
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.66

General election 1955: Poplar^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Key	25,642	81.52	-0.51
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	5,814	18.48	+0.51
Majority			19,828	63.04	-1.02
Turnout			31,456	64.15	-11.58
Registered electors			49,038
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.51

General election 1959: Poplar^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Key	22,506	77.23	-4.29
	Conservative	Peter Blair Black	6,635	22.77	+4.29
Majority			15,871	54.46	-8.57
Turnout			29,141	65.62	+1.58
Registered electors			44,412
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.29

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Poplar^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Mikardo	20,271	77.71	+0.48
	Conservative	Kenneth Baker	5,813	22.29	-0.48
Majority			14,458	55.42	+0.96
Turnout			26,084	58.28	-7.34
Registered electors			44,756
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.48

General election 1966: Poplar^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Mikardo	21,071	84.51	+6.80
	Conservative	Roger Holloway	3,863	15.49	-6.80
Majority			17,208	69.02	+13.60
Turnout			24,934	57.67	-0.61
Registered electors			43,236
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.80

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Poplar^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Mikardo	16,520	80.37	-4.14
	Conservative	Ronald C Denney	4,036	19.63	+4.14
Majority			12,484	60.74	-8.28
Turnout			20,556	49.05	-8.62
Registered electors			41,908
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.14

References

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)

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