Brighton (UK Parliament constituency)

UK former constituency infobox
Name = Brighton
Type = Borough
Year = 1832
Abolition = 1950
members = two

Brighton was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until it was divided into single-member seats from the United Kingdom general election, 1950. It elected two Member of Parliament (MP) by the bloc vote system of election.

History

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. The constituency was based on the south coast seaside resort town of Brighton.

When it was proposed to enfranchise Brighton a Tory observed in Parliament that it would represent merely "toffy (sic), lemonade and jelly shops". Seymour suggests he "obviously feared the Whig proclivities of the numerous tradespeople established there".

The first representatives of the constituency were of radical opinions. Isaac Newton Wigney (MP 1832-1839 and 1841-1842) was described as being of "Whig opinions inclining to radicalism, in favour of the ballot, and pledged himself to resign his seat whenever his constituents called upon him so to do". His colleague, the Nonconformist preacher and attorney George Faithful (MP 1832-1835), went much further. He advocated "the immediate abolition of slavery, of all unmerited pensions and sinecures, the standing army, all useless expense, the Corn Laws, and every other monopoly. He said that if the extent of suffrage at that time was not found efficient he would vote for universal suffrage: and if triennial Parliaments did not succeed, would vote for having them annually; he was an advocate of the ballot". (Source: Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, based on the contemporary nineteenth century comments in Charles Dod's "Parliamentary Pocket Companion")

Seymour provides figures for the voting qualification of Brighton electors, following the Reform Act 1867. The town was one of six boroughs in England where the £10 occupiers, enfranchised in 1832, were much more numerous than the householders who received the vote under the 1867 Act. There were 7,590 £10 occupiers and only 944 householders on the electoral register.

Members of Parliament for the constituency, after the first two, were of more conventional views; but most elections were won by the Liberal Party until 1884. In 1884 the Liberal MP, William Marriott, broke with his party as he disagreed with Prime Minister Gladstone's foreign and Egyptian policy. Marriott resigned his seat and was re-elected as a Conservative. From that time onwards the Liberal Party never won an election in the constituency, except for a by-election in 1905 and both seats in the landslide victory of 1906. Apart from those few years of liberal strength, Brighton became a safe Conservative constituency.

The 1931 election of Sir Cooper Rawson holds the record for the largest majority ever received at a general election (62253), as well as the most votes received by an individual (75205).

Under the Representation of the People Act 1948 the remaining multi-member constituencies were abolished and replaced with single-member ones from the 1950 election. The County Borough of Brighton was divided into Brighton Kemptown and Brighton Pavilion. The Municipal Borough of Hove, which had also been included in the old Brighton seat, was represented as the major part of the new Hove constituency.

After a showing of 22% in the 2005 Election and the election of 12 Green Councillors to the Brighton & Hove City Council, Brighton (Pavilion) has 9 Green Councillors, the Conservatives 6 and the Labour Party 5 creating the historic potential for a Green victory at the next General Election and the return of the first Green MP to Westminster. Caroline Lucas MEP is contesting the seat for the Greens, David Bull for the Conservatives and Nancy Platt for the Labour Party as David Lepper is standing down at the next general election.

Boundaries

Brighton was a parliamentary borough in the historic county of Sussex in South East England. From 1889 the town of Brighton became a county borough enclaved in the geographic area of the administrative county of East Sussex.

By the 1918 redistribution of seats, the constituency consisted of the then County Borough of Brighton and the neighbouring Municipal Borough of Hove.

Members of Parliament

Notes:-
* ¹ Marriott resigned his seat as a Liberal MP in February 1884, because of dissatisfaction with the foreign and Egyptian policy of the Liberal government. He was re-elected in March 1884 as a Conservative candidate.
* ² Lord Erskine was a courtesy title. He was the heir apparent of The 12th Earl of Mar and 14th Earl of Kellie, but as he died before his father he never inherited the hereditary titles of his family.

Elections

ee also

*List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies

References

* "Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972", compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
* "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885", compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
* "British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918", compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
* "British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949", compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
* "Electoral Reform in England and Wales", by Charles Seymour (David & Charles Reprints 1970)
* "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885", edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
* "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918", edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
* "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945", edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
* "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979", edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)