Chelsea 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 of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by ...

, represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. The constituency was created by the

Reform Act 1867 The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 (known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...

for the 1868 general election, when it returned two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs), elected by the bloc vote system of election. Under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, with effect from the 1885 general election, its representation was reduced to one MP, elected by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

system.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1868–1885: The parishes of Chelsea, Fulham, Hammersmith, and Kensington. 1885–1918: The parish of St Luke, Chelsea. ''Chelsea'' (after the local government changes in 1965) is a district of

Inner London Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was use ...

, comprising for administrative purposes the southern part of the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

. Its southern boundary is on the north bank of the River

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. It adjoins

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

to the east,

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

to the west and

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

to the north. Before 1868 the area was represented in Parliament as part of the

county 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 "constituenc ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. With the expansion westwards of the urban area around

, the former village of

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and neighbouring areas had by 1868 developed enough to be made a

Parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various 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 In the Middle Ag ...

and given two seats in the

. The parliamentary borough comprised four

civil parishes 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

: Chelsea,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

and

. In 1885, the existing parliamentary borough was divided into five single-member constituencies. The

defined the redrawn Chelsea seat as comprising the parish of St Luke, Chelsea. The constituency had a detached outlier, the

Kensal Green Kensal Green is an area in north-west London. It lies mainly in the London Borough of Brent, with a small part to the south within Kensington and Chelsea. Kensal Green is located on the Harrow Road, about miles from Charing Cross. To the w ...

area. (The remaining parishes became the constituencies of

, Kensington North and Kensington South.) In 1889, the historic county of

was divided for administrative purposes. ''Chelsea'' became part of the

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 ...

. No changes were made to parliamentary boundaries, however. In the 1918 redistribution of Parliamentary seats, the

Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea The Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea was a metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1900 and 1965. It was created by the London Government Act 1899 from most of the ancient parish of Chelsea. It was amalgamated in 1965 under the Lond ...

(created as a local government unit in 1900) was represented by one MP. In the redistribution which took effect in 1950, the then Brompton ward of the

Metropolitan Borough of Kensington The Metropolitan Borough of Kensington was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965, which since 1901 was known as the Royal Borough of Kensington, following the death of Vict ...

was added to the existing area of the constituency. In 1965, the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

area was absorbed by the new

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. The constituency was included in a new

London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

, although the Parliamentary boundaries were not altered immediately. In the redistribution that took effect in 1974, the ''Kensington and Chelsea, Chelsea'' constituency consisted of the then Brompton, Cheyne, Church,

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

, Hans Town, North Stanley, Redcliffe, Royal Hospital and South Stanley

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s of Kensington and Chelsea. From the 1983 redistribution, ''Chelsea'' consisted of Abingdon, Brompton, Cheyne, Church, Courtfield, Earls Court, Hans Town, North Stanley, Redcliffe, Royal Hospital and South Stanley

s of Kensington and Chelsea. 98.5% of the constituency had been in the pre-1983 ''Chelsea'' and 1.5% had been part of

. In the 1997 redistribution, ''Chelsea'' ceased to exist as a constituency. The area was included in the Kensington and Chelsea constituency, which covered the central and southern portions of the

, including the centres of both

and

Members of Parliament

MPs 1868-1885

MPs 1885-1997

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

* ''Constituency abolished 1997''

Elections in the 1980s

* ''Minor boundary change affecting less than 5% of electors''

Elections in the 1970s

* ''Boundary change''

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

* ''Note 1 (1945): Changes and swing calculated from 1935 to 1945.'' * ''Note 2 (1945): Counting of votes took place on 26 July 1945'' * ''Boundary change'' * ''Creation of Hoare as 1st

Viscount Templewood Viscount Templewood, of Chelsea in the County of Middlesex, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 14 July 1944 for the Conservative politician and former Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, 2n ...

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

* ''Constituency reduced to one seat.'' * ''Swing: For 1885-1910 the

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

figure given is the Butler Swing, defined as the average of the Conservative % gain and Liberal % loss between two elections, with the percentages being calculated on the basis of the total number of votes (including those cast for candidates other than Conservative or Liberal). A positive figure is a swing to Conservative and a negative one to Liberal.'' * Caused by the appointment of Dilke as

President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the Bo ...

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1860s

References

* ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885'', edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1974) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1974-1983'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1984) * ''Britain Votes 4: British Parliamentary Election Results 1983-1987'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1988) * ''Britain Votes 5: British Parliamentary Election Results 1988-1992'', compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Parliamentary Research Services/Dartmouth Publishing 1993) * ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1972) * ''British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium'', by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984) * {{Historic constituencies in London , 1832 = n , 1868 = y , 1885 = y , 1918 = y , 1950 = y , 1955 = y , 1974 = y , 1983 = y , 1997 = n Politics of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1868 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1997 Political history of Middlesex Chelsea, London