Bristol North was a

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.

History

The seat was one of a small minority spanning the period which never elected a

Conservative and Unionist Party The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. The party sits on the Cent ...

candidate. In its early history Bristol North three times elected a

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place soon after British victory in the ...

, 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

Note: * denotes re-elected.

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

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; *Liberal: Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell *Unionist: Laurie Magnus

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

References

{{Authority control

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950