Mitcham (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918–1974

Mitcham

Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Extract from 1923 result: the blue central area which from 1918 creation until 1945 extended further south than other semi-urban seats of London's outskirts

County| County of London, then Greater London
1918–1974 (1974)
Seats| One
Created from| Wimbledon
Replaced by| Mitcham and Morden, with Wallington & Beddington added to the Carshalton seat.
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of| Carshalton

Mitcham was a constituency comprising the emerging Mitcham, Wallington and Beddington suburbs of South London and until 1945 that of Carshalton, its largest of the area's four traditional divisions, in its south-west. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system.

It was created for the 1918 general election from part of Wimbledon when it reached southwards up onto the North Downs, further south than Croydon South, and was abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Two of its MPs became Home Secretary, one after changing seat of candidature, on boundary reforms.

## Boundaries

[edit]

1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Beddington and Wallington, Carshalton, and Mitcham (the latter as a northern end).

1945–1974: The Boroughs of Beddington and Wallington, and Mitcham (the latter as a northern end).

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election | Member | Party | Notes

|
|
|

| 1918 | Thomas Worsfold | Conservative | Resigned 1923
| 1923 by-election | James Chuter Ede | Labour | Subsequently, MP for South Shields; Home Secretary 1945–51; Leader of the House of Commons 1951
| 1923 | Richard Meller | Conservative | Died 1940
| 1940 by-election | Malcolm Robertson | Conservative
| 1945 | Tom Braddock | Labour
| 1950 | Robert Carr | Conservative | Leader of the House of Commons 1972; Home Secretary 1972–74; subsequently MP for Carshalton

February 1974: constituency abolished: see Mitcham and Morden

## Election results

[edit]

### 1970s

[edit]

General election 1970: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Robert Carr | 27,257  | 54.58  | +8.85
| Labour | Reginald C Vincent  | 22,047  | 44.15  | −0.59
| Communist | Sid French | 638  | 1.28  | +0.19
Majority | 5,210  | 10.43  |
Turnout | 49,942  | 68.76  |
| Conservative hold | Swing | +4.72  |

### 1960s

[edit]

General election 1966: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Robert Carr | 24,234  | 45.73  |
| Labour | Thomas J Higgs  | 23,706  | 44.74  |
| Liberal | Ross C Burgess  | 4,470  | 8.44  |
| Communist | Sid French | 580  | 1.09  |
Majority | 528  | 0.99  |
Turnout | 52,990  | 79.43  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |
General election 1964: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Robert Carr | 25,087  | 46.61  |
| Labour | Roger Charles Mackay  | 21,175  | 39.34  |
| Liberal | William Antony Heath  | 6,902  | 12.82  |
| Communist | Sid French | 657  | 1.22  | New
Majority | 3,912  | 7.27  |
Turnout | 53,821  | 79.19  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

### 1950s

[edit]

General election 1959: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Robert Carr | 33,661  | 58.53  |
| Labour Co-op | Eric JC Smythe  | 23,845  | 41.47  |
Majority | 9,816  | 17.06  |
Turnout | 57,506  | 81.61  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |
General election 1955: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Robert Carr | 32,798  | 56.54  |
| Labour | Hugh Jenkins | 25,208  | 43.46  |
Majority | 7,590  | 13.08  |
Turnout | 58,006  | 80.53  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |
General election 1951: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Robert Carr | 34,056  | 54.71  |
| Labour | Harry Randall | 28,187  | 45.29  |
Majority | 5,869  | 9.42  |
Turnout | 62,243  | 84.60  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |
General election 1950: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Robert Carr | 31,881  | 50.77  |
| Labour | Tom Braddock | 27,055  | 43.08  |
| Liberal | Doreen L Page  | 3,864  | 6.15  | New
Majority | 4,826  | 7.69  | N/A
Turnout | 62,800  | 85.84  |
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing |  |

### 1940s

[edit]

General election 1945: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tom Braddock | 26,910  | 57.68  |
| Conservative | Malcolm Robertson | 19,742  | 42.32  |
Majority | 7,168  | 15.36  | N/A
Turnout | 46,652  | 73.58  |
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |  |
1940 Mitcham by-election Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Malcolm Robertson | Unopposed  | N/A | N/A
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

### 1930s

[edit]

General election 1935: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Richard Meller | 35,239  | 57.46  |
| Labour | Paul Winterton | 26,087  | 42.54  |
Majority | 9,152  | 14.92  |
Turnout | 61,326  | 66.74  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |
General election 1931: Mitcham  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Richard Meller | 38,948  | 76.26  |
| Labour | W Graham  | 12,124  | 23.74  |
Majority | 26,824  | 52.52  |
Turnout | 51,072  | 69.97  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

### 1920s

[edit]

General election 1929: Mitcham [1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Unionist | Richard Meller | 20,254  | 47.9  | −14.1
| Labour | Skene Mackay | 13,057  | 30.8  | −7.2
| Liberal | Raymond V. Jones  | 9,016  | 21.3  | New
Majority | 7,197  | 17.1  | −6.9
Turnout | 42,327  | 70.2  | −4.6
Registered electors | 60,311  |  |
| Unionist hold | Swing | −3.5  |
General election 1924: Mitcham [2] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Unionist | Richard Meller | 15,984  | 62.0  | +9.7
| Labour | James Chuter Ede | 9,776  | 38.0  | −9.7
Majority | 6,208  | 24.0  | +19.4
Turnout | 25,760  | 74.8  | +11.6
Registered electors | 34,435  |  |
| Unionist hold | Swing | +9.7  |
General election 1923: Mitcham [3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Unionist | Richard Meller | 10,829  | 52.3  | −12.7
| Labour | James Chuter Ede | 9,877  | 47.7  | N/A
Majority | 952  | 4.6  | −25.4
Turnout | 20,706  | 63.2  | +10.5
Registered electors | 32,755  |  |
| Unionist hold | Swing | −12.7  |
By-election 1923: Mitcham [4] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | James Chuter Ede | 8,029  | 38.0  | New
| Unionist | Arthur Griffith-Boscawen | 7,196  | 34.1  | −30.9
| Liberal | Ernest Brown | 3,214  | 15.2  | −19.8
| Independent | J.T. Catterall  | 2,684  | 12.7  | New
Majority | 833  | 3.9  | N/A
Turnout | 21,123  | 66.2  | +13.5
Registered electors | 31,927  |  |
| Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | N/A |
General election 1922: Mitcham [5] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Unionist | Thomas Worsfold | 10,934  | 65.0  | +4.4
| Liberal | A.E. Bennetts  | 5,898  | 35.0  | −4.4
Majority | 5,036  | 30.0  | +8.8
Turnout | 16,832  | 52.7  | +9.1
Registered electors | 31,927  |  |
| Unionist hold | Swing | +4.4  |

### 1910s

[edit]

General election 1918: Mitcham [6][7] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

C | Unionist | Thomas Worsfold | 7,651 | 60.6 |
| Liberal | Samuel Barrow [8] | 4,968  | 39.4  |
Majority | 2,683  | 21.2  |
Turnout | 12,619  | 43.6  |
Registered electors | 28,952  |  |
| Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
2. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
3. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
4. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
5. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
6. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
7. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922
8. ^ ‘BARROW, Sir Samuel’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Sept 2017

* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 2)

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Historic constituencies in London

Outer London, 1965|

* Acton
* Barnet
* Barking
* Beckenham
* Bexley
* Brentford and Chiswick
* Bromley
* Carshalton
* Chingford
* Chislehurst
* Croydon North East
* Croydon North West
* Croydon South
* Dagenham
* Ealing North
* Ealing South
* East Ham North
* East Ham South
* Edmonton
* Enfield East
* Enfield West
* Erith and Crayford
* Feltham
* Finchley
* Harrow Central
* Harrow East
* Harrow West
* Hayes and Harlington
* Hendon North
* Hendon South
* Heston and Isleworth
* Hornchurch
* Hornsey
* Ilford North
* Ilford South
* Kingston-upon-Thames
* Leyton
* Merton and Morden
* Mitcham
* Orpington
* Richmond
* Romford
* Ruislip-Northwood
* Southall
* Southgate
* Surbiton
* Sutton and Cheam
* Tottenham
* Twickenham
* Uxbridge
* Walthamstow East
* Walthamstow West
* Wanstead and Woodford
* Wembley North
* Wembley South
* West Ham North
* West Ham South
* Wimbledon
* Willeseden East
* Willeseden West
* Wood Green

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