Bristol North (UK Parliament constituency)

Bristol North was a borough constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.

Bristol North
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Major settlementsBristol
1885–1950
SeatsOne
Created fromBristol (abolished)
Replaced byBristol North East (majority)
Bristol Central (part)

History

The seat was one of a small minority spanning the period which never elected a Conservative and Unionist Party candidate. In its early history Bristol North three times elected a Liberal Unionist who was affiliated with the Conservative Party; the latter having declined to field a candidate in those elections and in three others of the eight before World War I. In the eight elections from and including 1918 the Labour Party fielded candidates and won three times; a Unionist stood once without success; candidates considered Lloyd-George Coalition Liberal, National Liberal and Liberal National (reflecting complex splinter groups of the Liberal Party during the period) stood once apiece and an Independent Liberal who was the MP as a mainstream Liberal since the previous election in 1924 ran against the official party's new candidate in 1929, unsuccessfully. In two of these four instances the splinter arguably centrist Liberal candidate won. The Liberal incumbent Bernays also defected from the main body of his party in 1936 to join the National Liberal (1931) Party despite being re-elected as a candidate of the more established party in 1935.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bristol wards of District, St James's, and St Paul's, and part of North ward, and the local government district of Stapleton.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards of District, St Philip and Jacob North, and Stapleton, and part of Easton ward.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1885 Lewis Fry* Liberal
1886 Liberal Unionist
1892 Charles Townsend Liberal
1895 Lewis Fry Liberal Unionist
1900 Sir Frederick Wills, Bt. Liberal Unionist
1906 Augustine Birrell* Liberal
1918 Edwin Stanley Gange Coalition Liberal
1922 Christian Henry Charles Guest National Liberal
1923 Walter Henry Ayles Labour
1924 Frederick Edward Guest Liberal
1929 Walter Henry Ayles Labour
1931 Robert Bernays* Liberal
1936 National Liberal
1945 William Coldrick Labour Co-operative
1950 constituency abolished

Note: * denotes re-elected.

Elections

Elections in the 1880s
Colston
General election 1885: Bristol North [1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Lewis Fry 4,110 57.4
Conservative Charles Edward Hungerford Athol Colston 3,046 42.6
Majority 1,064 14.8
Turnout 7,156 79.5
Registered electors 9,002
Liberal win (new seat)
Fry
General election 1886: Bristol North [1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Lewis Fry 3,587 56.7 +14.1
Liberal Alfred Carpenter 2,737 43.3 −14.1
Majority 850 13.4 N/A
Turnout 6,324 70.3 -9.2
Registered electors 9,002
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +14.1

Elections in the 1890s
General election 1892: Bristol North [1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Townsend 4,409 52.0 +8.7
Liberal Unionist Lewis Fry 4,064 48.0 -8.7
Majority 345 4.0 N/A
Turnout 8,473 78.0 +7.7
Registered electors 10,862
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing +8.7
General election 1895: Bristol North [1][2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Lewis Fry 4,702 51.3 +3.3
Liberal Charles Townsend 4,464 48.7 -3.3
Majority 238 2.6 N/A
Turnout 9,166 79.8 +1.8
Registered electors 11,490
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +3.3

Elections in the 1900s
General election 1900: Bristol North [1][2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Sir Frederick Wills 4,936 54.1 +2.8
Liberal Sir Clarence Smith 4,182 45.9 -2.8
Majority 754 8.2 +5.6
Turnout 9,118 75.0 -4.8
Registered electors 12,157
Liberal Unionist hold Swing +2.8
Birrell
General election 1906: Bristol North [1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell 6,953 63.4 +17.5
Liberal Unionist John Alderson Foote 4,011 36.6 -17.5
Majority 2,942 26.8 N/A
Turnout 10,964 83.9 +8.9
Registered electors 13,061
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing +17.5

Elections in the 1910s
General election January 1910: Bristol North [1][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell 6,805 55.5 -7.9
Liberal Unionist Maurice Henry Woods 5,459 44.5 +7.9
Majority 1,346 11.0 -15.8
Turnout 12,264 87.7 +3.8
Liberal hold Swing -7.9
General election December 1910: Bristol North [1][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell 6,410 55.8 +0.3
Conservative Laurie Magnus 5,084 44.2 -0.3
Majority 1,326 11.6 +0.6
Turnout 11,494 82.2 -5.5
Liberal hold Swing +0.3

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

General election 1918: Bristol North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Liberal Edwin Stanley Gange 11,400 60.2 +4.4
Labour James Kaylor 5,007 26.5 New
National Ernest Willoughby Petter 2,520 13.3 New
Majority 6,393 33.8 +22.2
Turnout 18,927
Liberal hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s
General election 1922: Bristol North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Christian Henry Charles Guest 17,495 64.6 +4.4
Labour Walter Henry Ayles 9,567 35.4 +8.9
Majority 7,928 29.2 N/A
Turnout 27,062 73.2 +18.6
Registered electors 36,985
National Liberal gain from National Liberal
General election 1923: Bristol North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Henry Ayles 10,432 37.5 +2.1
Liberal Christian Henry Charles Guest 8,770 31.5 −33.1
Unionist Ernest Willoughby Petter 8,643 31.0 New
Majority 1,663 6.0 N/A
Turnout 27,845 74.4 +1.2
Registered electors 37,424
Labour gain from National Liberal Swing +17.6
General election 1924: Bristol North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest 17,799 59.1 +27.6
Labour Walter Henry Ayles 12,319 40.9 +3.4
Majority 5,480 18.2 N/A
Turnout 30,118 79.6 +5.2
Registered electors 37,821
Liberal gain from Labour Swing +12.1
General election 1929: Bristol North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Henry Ayles 18,619 48.7 +7.8
Independent Liberal Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest 12,932 33.8 New
Liberal John Osborne Marshall Skelton 6,713 17.5 −41.6
Majority 5,687 14.9 N/A
Turnout 38,264 78.1 −1.5
Registered electors 49,014
Labour gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1931: Bristol North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Hamilton Bernays 27,040 66.2 +48.7
Labour Walter Henry Ayles 13,826 33.8 -14.9
Majority 13,214 32.4 N/A
Turnout 40,866 80.9 +2.8
Liberal gain from Labour Swing +31.8
General election 1935: Bristol North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Hamilton Bernays 20,977 56.5 -9.7
Labour Walter Henry Ayles 16,149 43.5 +9.7
Majority 4,828 13.0 -19.4
Turnout 37,126 73.2 -7.7
Liberal hold Swing -9.7

Elections in the 1940s
General election 1945: Bristol North [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op William Coldrick 22,819 57.8 +14.3
National Liberal John Henshaw Britton 16,648 42.2 New
Majority 6,171 15.6 N/A
Turnout 39,467 74.0 +1.8
Labour Co-op gain from National Liberal

References
  1. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  2. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  3. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
  5. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 107. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.

51.50286°N 2.61783°W / 51.50286; -2.61783

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