Stepney was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

centred on the

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

district of the East End of London. It 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

Parliament of the United Kingdom 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 ...

, elected by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system.

History

The constituency existed for two separate periods: * it was first created under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...

, for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election * from the 1950 general election until its abolition for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new constituency of

Stepney and Poplar Stepney and Poplar was a parliamentary constituency in London, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ...

Boundaries

The constituency was first created in 1885, as a division of the

parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of ...

, centred on the

neighbourhood in the East End of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The area was administered as part of the Tower division of the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. In 1889 there were administrative changes. The territory of the constituency was severed from Middlesex and included in the new

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

. The lower tier of local government in the area continued to be administered by parish

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fi ...

and local boards of works. In 1900 local government in London was rationalised. The Stepney Board of Works was abolished and the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Stepney became part of a larger

Metropolitan Borough of Stepney The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965, it became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formation and boundaries The borough was formed from thirteen civil parishes ...

. In the redistribution of parliamentary seats in 1918, the Metropolitan Borough was divided between three constituencies -

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

and Whitechapel and St George's. The previous Stepney constituency was abolished and largely replaced by Whitechapel and St George's. In the next major redistribution of parliamentary seats, which took effect for the

1950 United Kingdom general election The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first to be held after a full term of a majority Labour Party (UK), Labour government. The general election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was also the first to be held following the a ...

, the Stepney constituency was re-created. The 1950 version of the seat comprised the whole of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney. In 1965 Stepney became part of the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

and

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

. When parliamentary constituencies were next redistributed, for the February 1974 general election, the area was included in the

seat.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1918

MPs 1950–1974

Constituency re-established 1950

Elections

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

The initial count for this election had Durant on 2,141 votes and Isaacson on 2,119 votes; a re-count then led to Durant on 2,052 votes and Isaacson on 2,051 votes. Further scrutiny then led to the above results.

References

* {{Historic constituencies in London , 1832 = n , 1868 = n , 1885 = y , 1918 = n , 1950 = y , 1955 = y , 1974 = n , 1983 = n , 1997 = n Politics of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1974 Stepney