Manchester East (UK Parliament constituency)

Manchester East
Manchester East
Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Created from	Manchester
Replaced by	Manchester Ardwick and Manchester Clayton

Manchester East was one of six single-member parliamentary constituencies created in 1885 by the division of the existing three-member Parliamentary Borough of Manchester. The others were: Manchester South, Manchester North, Manchester North East, Manchester North West and Manchester South West. They were all abolished in 1918.

Boundaries

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and was defined as consisting of the following areas:

The Parish of Bradford,
The Parish of Ardwick,
The Parish of Beswick,
The part of the Parish of Chorlton-upon-Medlock north of the centres of Cavendish Street, Grosvenor Street, Upper Brook Street, Dover Street, St. Leonards Street, and Cheltenham Street.^[1]

The next redistribution took place under the terms of the Representation of the People Act 1918. The Manchester East seat was divided between the two new constituencies of Manchester Ardwick and Manchester Clayton.^[2]

Members of Parliament

	Member ^[3]	Party
1885	Arthur Balfour	Conservative
1906	Thomas Horridge	Liberal
Jan. 1910	John Edward Sutton	Labour
1918	constituency abolished

Election results 1885-1918

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Manchester East ^[4]^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	4,536	55.0
	Liberal	Alfred Hopkinson	3,712	45.0
Majority			824	10.0
Turnout			8,248	84.3
Registered electors			9,779
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Manchester East ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	4,160	54.2	-0.8
	Liberal	John Hattersley Crosfield	3,516	45.8	+0.8
Majority			644	8.4	-1.6
Turnout			7,676	78.5	−5.8
Registered electors			9,779
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

Balfour was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 11 Aug 1886: Manchester East ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Manchester East ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	5,147	52.0	−2.2
	Liberal	Joseph Edwin Crawford Munro	4,749	48.0	+2.2
Majority			398	4.0	−4.4
Turnout			9,896	86.7	+8.2
Registered electors			11,418
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.2

Balfour was appointed First Lord of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

1895 Manchester East by-election^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1895: Manchester East ^[4]^[5]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	5,386	53.9	+1.9
	Liberal	Joseph Edwin Crawford Munro	4,610	46.1	−1.9
Majority			776	7.8	+3.8
Turnout			9,996	83.4	−3.3
Registered electors			11,991
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Manchester East ^[4]^[5]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	5,803	63.4	+9.5
	Liberal	Alfred Scott	3,350	36.6	−9.5
Majority			2,453	26.8	+19.0
Turnout			9,153	71.9	−11.5
Registered electors			12,727
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.5

General election 1906: Manchester East ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Horridge	6,403	59.1	+22.5
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	4,423	40.9	−22.5
Majority			1,980	18.2	N/A
Turnout			10,826	85.1	+13.2
Registered electors			12,724
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+22.5

This was a notable result as Arthur Balfour had led the Conservative Party into the 1906 general election as leader. He therefore became the first leader of the opposition to lose his seat.

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Manchester East ^[4]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Sutton	6,110	54.5	*New*
	Conservative	Edward Elvy Robb	5,091	45.5	+4.6
Majority			1,019	9.0	N/A
Turnout			11,201	88.6	+3.5
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General election December 1910: Manchester East ^[4]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Sutton	5,524	54.3	-0.2
	Conservative	Richard Gregory Proby	4,653	45.7	+0.2
Majority			871	8.6	-0.4
Turnout			10,177	80.5	-6.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.2

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;

Labour: John Sutton
Unionist: Gerald Hurst

References

^ Sixth Schedule. Divisions Of Boroughs: Number, Names, Contents, And Boundaries Of Divisions, Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (C.23)
^ F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol. II: Northern England, London, 1991
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The Liberal Year Book, 1907
^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

Sources

Election results:

Horridge:

Sutton:

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Vacant since 1894 Title last held by Midlothian	Constituency represented by the prime minister 1902–1905	Succeeded by Stirling Burghs

[1] Sixth Schedule. Divisions Of Boroughs: Number, Names, Contents, And Boundaries Of Divisions, Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (C.23)

[2] F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol. II: Northern England, London, 1991

[rayment-3] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)

[ReferenceCraig85-18-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig

[ReferenceLYB07-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The Liberal Year Book, 1907

[6] Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886

[ReferenceA-7] Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901

[ReferenceB-8] Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

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Manchester East
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Created from	Manchester
Replaced by	Manchester Ardwick and Manchester Clayton