Gravesend was a

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 ...

centred on the town of

Gravesend, Kent Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is t ...

which returned one

Member 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 ...

(MP) to 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 ...

from

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. It is most notable for being a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

, with the winner of Gravesend (and its successor

Gravesham Gravesham ( ) is a local government district with borough status in north-west Kent, England. Its administrative centre and largest town is Gravesend, which was known as ''Gravesham'' in ancient times. Gravesham was formed on 1 April 1974 by ...

) winning every election from 1918 through to the present day except for 1929, 1951, and 2005.

Boundaries

1868–1885: The parishes of Gravesend, Milton, and Northfleet. 1918–1950: The Borough of Gravesend, the Urban District of Northfleet, and the Rural Districts of Hoo and Strood. 1950–1955: The Borough of Gravesend, the Urban Districts of Northfleet and Swanscombe, and the Rural District of Strood. 1955–1983: The Borough of Gravesend, the Urban District of Northfleet, and the Rural District of Strood.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

The 1880 election was declared void on account of bribery, whereby Bevan had "given his men a holiday and paid them their wages".

Elections in the 1890s

Palmer resigned, causing a by-election. 1905 Walter Runciman

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

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; *Unionist:

Gilbert Parker Sir Horatio Gilbert George Parker, 1st Baronet (23 November 1862 – 6 September 1932), known as Gilbert Parker, Canadian novelist and British politician, was born at Camden East, Addington, Ontario, the son of Captain Joseph Parker, R.A. Ed ...

*Liberal:

Elections in the 1920s

* Davies stood for election as an 'Anti-Waste' candidate, but was not officially supported by the Anti-Waste League

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gravesend (Uk Parliament Constituency) History of Gravesend, Kent Parliamentary constituencies in Kent (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1868 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983 Gravesham