Hampstead was a borough constituency, centered on the Hampstead area of

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

. It 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. T ...

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 ...

, who was elected using 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 thei ...

voting system. It was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partly replaced by the new Hampstead and Highgate constituency. Hampstead Met

Boundaries

1885–1918: The parish of St John, Hampstead. The parliamentary borough of Hampstead was created by 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 ...

, and consisted of the

civil parish 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 authorit ...

of St John, Hampstead,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. The parish had previously formed part of the Parliamentary County of Middlesex. Hampstead lay within the area of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Cou ...

, and in 1889 this became 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 ...

. In 1900 the county was divided into twenty-eight

metropolitan boroughs A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolit ...

, with the civil parish becoming the

Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead Hampstead was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Boa ...

. Parliamentary constituencies were redrawn under the Representation of the People Act 1918, with boundaries in London realigned to those of the metropolitan boroughs. Accordingly, the Hampstead constituency was defined by the legislation as being identical in area to the metropolitan borough of the same name. When the next redistribution was carried out under the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

, the term "parliamentary borough" was replaced with "borough constituency". The renamed Hampstead Borough Constituency continued with the same boundaries, with the changes coming into effect for the 1950 general election. In 1965 both the County of London and the metropolitan boroughs were abolished. Hampstead became part of the larger

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...

. The changes were not reflected in parliamentary boundaries until 1970. The constituency was officially renamed "Camden, Hampstead Borough Constituency" and was defined as comprising seven wards of the London Borough, namely Adelaide, Belsize, Hampstead Central, Hampstead Town, Kilburn, Priory and West End.The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970/1674) The wards of the borough were altered in 1973, with

Swiss Cottage Swiss Cottage is an area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. Th ...

ward replacing Hampstead Central in the constituency's definition. These boundaries were used until 1983, when the seat was abolished.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

Holland was appointed

Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the C ...

, requiring a by-election. Holland was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Knutsford, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Election in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

References

* ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
Debrett’s Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886

Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901

Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampstead (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983 Hampstead Politics of the London Borough of Camden