Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advise ...

to 1707, the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

1707–1800 and the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter. The constituency was first known to have been represented in Parliament in 1545 and continued to exist until the redistribution of seats in 1918. The constituency's most famous former representatives are

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

and

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled '' The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-ri ...

. The most analogous contemporary constituency is

Cities of London and Westminster Cities of London and Westminster (also known as City of London and Westminster South from 1974 to 1997) is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. It is a borough co ...

Boundaries and boundary changes

The constituency was formed in 1545 from part of the county constituency of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and returned two members of parliament until 1885. The

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

is a district of

Inner London Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was ...

. Its southern boundary is on the north bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. It is today combined with

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

to the north. It is west of the diminutive

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, fixed with four MPs in 1298, and the north part of

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...

, created a broad constituency in 1832. It is south-west of

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its ro ...

and St. Pancras which in 1832 were both placed in a wider seat named

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

and to the east of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

and Chelsea which were dealt with similarly in a seat named Chelsea. In the 1885 redistribution of seats the constituency (virtually identical to the

Metropolitan Borough of Westminster The Metropolitan Borough of Westminster was a metropolitan borough in the County of London, England, from 1900 to 1965. City status By royal charter dated 29 October 1900, the borough was granted the title City of Westminster. Westminster had o ...

which was created in 1900) was divided into three single-member seats. The south-eastern part, including the traditional heart of ''Westminster'' and such important centres of power as the Houses of Parliament and the seat of government in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

, continued to be a constituency called ''Westminster''. By official definition the areas retained were "the Westminster district and

Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter The Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter was an extra-parochial area, and later civil parish, in the metropolitan area of London, England. It corresponded to the area of Westminster Abbey and was an enclave between the parishes of St Marg ...

"; a seat named Strand was created in the north-east and a seat, St George's, Hanover Square, in the west. In the 1918 redistribution the three seats were cut to two: Westminster St George's in the west and

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

in the east, the latter wholly containing and slightly larger than the 1885–1918 ''Westminster'' seat (except for its Knightsbridge exclave which lay some way off in the west).

History

The Westminster constituency represented the centre of British government and had a large electorate so that it was independent of the control of a patron. Before the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

the right to vote was held by the male inhabitants paying scot and lot (a kind of local property tax). The franchise was the largest of any borough in the kingdom, and only the county constituency of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

had more voters. Sedgwick estimated the electorate at about 8,000 in the first half of the eighteenth century. Namier and Brooke estimated that there were about 12,000 voters later in the century. The large size of the electorate made contested elections immensely expensive. In the sixteenth century the Church officials associated with

had a large influence in the area, but as the community became bigger that became less important. The Court (or His Majesty's Treasury) had some legitimate influence (by the standards of the age), because of the royal residences and government offices in the borough. The use of public funds to bribe the electorate was not unknown, during close elections (see the comments about the cost of the 1780 and 1784 contests below). Local landowners who were prepared to stir up ill-will by threatening to evict or raise the rents of tenants voting the wrong way, could also affect the result. Unlawful means were sometimes used to make sure that the right candidates were elected. In 1722 the election of two Tories was declared void because of rioting which prevented some Whigs voting. In 1741 a Whig returning officer called upon the assistance of some troops to close the poll before the Tory candidates could catch up to the Whig votes. The House of Commons declared the 1741 election void with the ringing resolution that "the presence of a regular body of armed soldiers at an election of members to sit in Parliament, is a high infringement of the liberties of the subject, a manifest violation of the freedom of election and an open defiance of the laws and constitution of this kingdom". By the eighteenth century it was normal for the members to be Irish peers, the sons of peers or baronets, as it was thought appropriate for them to be of high social standing so as to be worthy to represent the seat. The Treasury spent the enormous sums of more than £8,000 in 1780 and £9,000 in 1784, in unsuccessful attempts to defeat the opposition Whig leader

. So expensive were these contests that for the next general election in 1790, the government and opposition leaders reached a formal agreement for each to have one member returned unopposed. However, in the event a second Whig candidate did appear, but the Tory (the famous Admiral Lord Hood) and Fox were re-elected without too much difficulty. The last MP for this constituency,

William Burdett-Coutts William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-Coutts (20 January 1851 – 28 July 1921), born William Lehman Ashmead-Bartlett, was an American-born British Conservative politician and social climber who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1921 ...

, was connected with a family prominent in City of Westminster politics since the eighteenth century. He himself was born in the United States in 1851, his grandparents on both sides having been British subjects. After he married Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1881 he changed his surname from Bartlett to Burdett-Coutts. He represented the area from 1885 until 1918 and continued to sit for the Abbey division until his death in 1921.

Lists of Members of Parliament

The English civil year started on 25 March until 1752 (Scotland having changed to 1 January in 1600). The years used in this article have been converted to the new style where necessary. Old style dates would be a year earlier than the new style for days between 1 January and 24 March. No attempt has been made to compensate for the eleven days which did not occur in September 1752 in both England and Scotland as well as other British controlled territories (when the day after 2 September was 14 September), so as to bring the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

fully in line with the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...

Members of Parliament 1545–1660

Some of the members elected during this period have been identified. The year first given is for the initial meeting of the Parliament, with the month added where there was more than one Parliament in the year. If a second year is given this is a date of dissolution. Early Parliaments sometimes only existed for a few days or weeks, so dissolutions in the same year as the first meeting are not recorded in this list If a specific date of election is known this is recorded in italic brackets. The Roman numerals in brackets, following some names, are those used to distinguish different politicians of the same name in 'The House of Commons' 1509–1558 and 1558–1603.

Members of Parliament 1660–1918

Fictional Member of Parliament

Westminster was the constituency of fraudulent businessman Augustus Melmotte, who gained election as a Conservative, in

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

's satirical novel, '' The Way We Live Now'' (published 1875).

Elections

General notes

In multi-member elections the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two candidates, as they chose. The leading candidates with the largest number of votes were elected. In by-elections and all elections after 1885, to fill a single seat, the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

system applied. After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections, when the exact number of participating voters is unknown, this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that electors did not use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote. Change figures at by-elections are from the preceding general election or the last intervening by-election. Change figures at general elections are from the last general election. Candidates for whom no party has been identified are classified as Non Partisan. The candidate might have been associated with a party or faction in Parliament or consider himself to belong to a particular political tradition. Political parties before the nineteenth century were not as cohesive or organised as they later became. Contemporary commentators (even the reputed leaders of parties or factions) in the eighteenth century did not necessarily agree who the party supporters were. The traditional parties, which had arisen in the late seventeenth century, became increasingly irrelevant to politics in the eighteenth century (particularly after 1760), although for some contests in some constituencies party labels were still used. It was only towards the end of the century that party labels began to acquire some meaning again, although this process was by no means complete for several more generations. ''Sources'': The results for elections before 1790 were taken from the History of Parliament Trust publications on the House of Commons. The results from 1790 until the 1832 general election are based on Stooks Smith and from 1832 onwards on Craig. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information to the other sources this is indicated in a note.

Dates of Westminster general and by-elections 1660–1918

Notes: *(1) Election declared void *(2) Date of expulsion from the House of Lord Cochrane

Election results (Parliament of England) 1660–1690

* ''Note (1661): Vote totals unavailable'' * ''Note (February 1679): Vote totals unavailable'' * ''Note (September 1679): Vote totals unavailable'' * ''On petition Wythens was unseated and William Waller seated on 15 November 1680'' * ''Note (1681): Vote totals unavailable'' * ''Note (1685): Vote totals unavailable. The candidate in this election is not the Gilbert Gerard elected in 1660, nor is he the Gilbert Gerard who was knight of the shire for

earlier in the century.'' * ''Note (1689): Vote totals unavailable. Matthews and Dewey are described by Henning as radical candidates, but should not be confused with the followers of

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he ...

in the late eighteenth century or the

radicals Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

of the nineteenth century.''

Election results (Parliament of Great Britain) 1715–1800

* '' Robert Molesworth (W) was proposed but withdrew before the poll.'' * ''Election declared void 6 November 1722.'' * ''Clayton created an Irish peer as 1st Baron Sundon 2 June 1735'' * ''Election declared void 22 December 1741.'' * ''Trentham appointed a Lord of the Admiralty'' * ''After a scrutiny the member returned was unchanged and vote totals were amended to Trentham 4,103; Vandeput 3,933.'' * ''Death of Warren 29 July 1752'' * ''Cornwallis appointed Governor of Gibraltar'' * ''Death of Pulteney 11 February 1763'' * ''Lord Warkworth became known by the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some con ...

of Earl Percy from 1766, when his father was advanced in the peerage from Earl to Duke of Northumberland'' * ''Succession of Sandys as 2nd

Baron Sandys Baron Sandys () is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation, as Baron Sandys, ''of The Vyne'', in Hampsh ...

21 April 1770'' * ''Succession of Percy to his mother's title, as 3rd Baron Percy on 5 December 1776'' * ''Succession of Petersham as 3rd

Earl of Harrington Earl of Harrington is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created in 1742. History The earldom of Harrington was granted in 1742 to William Stanhope, 1st Baron Harrington, the former Secretary of State and then Lord President o ...

1 April 1779'' * ''Pelham-Clinton was known by the courtesy title of Earl of Lincoln, following the death of his brother in 1779'' * ''Note: (1780): Poll 21 days; 9,136 voted; party labels. (Source: Stooks Smith) * ''Appointment of Fox as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 27 March 1782'' * ''Creation of Rodney as 1st Baron Rodney 19 June 1782'' * ''Appointment of Fox as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 2 April 1783'' * ''Note (1784): Poll 40 days; 12,301 voted. After a scrutiny the members returned were unchanged and vote totals were amended to the figures as above. Original votes Hood 6,694; Fox 6,234; Wray 5,998. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Hood and Fox were declared elected 4 March 1785'' * ''Appointment of Hood as a Commissioner of the Admiralty 16 July 1788'' * ''Note (1788): Poll 15 days. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Note (1790): Poll 15 days. Mr Tooke proposed himself. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Expulsion of Fox from the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

9 May 1798'' * ''Creation of Gardner as an Irish peer, 1st

Baron Gardner Baron Gardner, of Uttoxeter, is a dormant title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Sir Alan Gardner, an Admiral of the Blue and former Member of Parliament for Plymouth and Westminster. In 1806, he was also created Baron Gard ...

29 December 1800''

Election results (Parliament of the United Kingdom)

* ''Note (1802): Poll 9 days. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Appointment of Fox as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 7 February 1806'' * ''Death of Fox 13 September 1806'' *''Note (1806): Poll 15 days; 10,277 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' *''Note (1807): Poll 15 days; 8,622 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Expulsion of Cochrane from the House of Commons, after being convicted of conspiracy, 5 July 1814'' * ''Note (1818): Poll 15 days; 10,277 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Death of Romilly 2 November 1818'' * ''Note (1819): Poll 15 days. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Note (1820): Poll 15 days; 9,280 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''Appointment of Hobhouse as Secretary at War'' * ''Appointment of Hobhouse as

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century u ...

'' * ''Resignation of Hobhouse, by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, after he left the Ministry in opposition to the House and Window taxes.'' * ''Resignation of Burdett to seek re-election on changing parties.'' * ''Appointment of Rous as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty'' * ''Note (1847): 14,125 registered (Craig's figure above used for the turnout calculation); 7,185 voted. Evans was classified as a Radical, Lushington and Cochrane as Whigs and Rous as a Tory. (Source: Stooks Smith)'' * ''William Henry Smith described himself as a 'Liberal Conservative' in support of Liberal prime minister Lord Palmerston.'' * ''Appointment of Smith as First Lord of the Admiralty'' * ''Resignation of Russell'' * ''Appointment of Smith as

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

'' * ''Constituency reduced to one seat and boundaries changed in the redistribution of 1885''

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1880s

120px, Beesly

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

References

Bibliography

* ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1972) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1974) * ''The House of Commons 1509–1558'', by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982) * ''The House of Commons 1558–1603'', by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981) * ''The House of Commons 1660–1690'', by Basil Duke Henning (Secker & Warburg 1983) * ''The House of Commons 1715–1754'', by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970) * ''The House of Commons 1754–1790'', by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964) * ''The House of Commons 1790–1820'', by R.G. Thorne (Secker & Warburg 1986) * ''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885'', edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Westminster (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of the City of Westminster Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1545 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918 Political history of Middlesex