Bexley (UK Parliament constituency)

Bexley
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1945–February 1974
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Bexleyheath, Sidcup
Created from	Chislehurst, Dartford

Bexley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Bexley district of south-east London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

The constituency was created for the 1945 general election, from parts of the Chislehurst and Dartford seats, and abolished for the 1974 general election and replaced by two new constituencies of Bexleyheath and Sidcup.

The constituency's boundaries were co-terminous with those of the Municipal Borough of Bexley.

The MP when the constituency was abolished, the then Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath, fought and won the new Sidcup constituency in 1974. He went on to represent the new seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup from 1983 until he retired from parliament in 2001 after being an MP for 50 years.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1945	Jennie Adamson	Labour	Resigned 1946
	1946 by-election	Ashley Bramall	Labour
	1950	Rt Hon Edward Heath	Conservative	Leader of the Conservative Party 1965-1975; Prime Minister 1970-1974; subsequently MP for Sidcup
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Bexleyheath & Sidcup

Election Results

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Janet Laurel Adamson	24,686	56.93
	Conservative	John Cutts Lockwood	12,923	29.80
	Liberal	Ward Smith	5,750	13.26
Majority			11,763	27.13
Turnout				76.65
	Labour hold		Swing

Bexley by-election, 1946

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Ashley Bramall	19,759	52.46
	Conservative	John Cutts Lockwood	17,908	47.54
Majority			1,851	4.91
Turnout			37,667
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Richard George Heath	25,854	45.97
	Labour	Ernest Ashley Bramall	25,721	45.73
	Liberal	Miss Mary Edith Hart	4,186	7.44
	Communist	C. Job	481	0.86
Majority			133	0.24
Turnout				88.67
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1951: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Richard George Heath	29,069	51.54
	Labour	Ernest Ashley Bramall	27,430	48.55
Majority			1,639	2.90
Turnout				87.80
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Richard George Heath	28,610	54.27
	Labour	Rubeigh James Minney	24,111	45.73
Majority			4,499	8.53
Turnout				82.55
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Edward Richard George Heath	32,025	57.79
	Labour	Ernest Ashley Bramall	23,392	42.21
Majority			8,633	15.58
Turnout				85.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Edward Richard George Heath	25,716	47.39
	Labour	Leslie Leonard Reeves	21,127	38.93
	Liberal	Peter L. MacArthur	6,161	11.35	N/A
	Anti Common Market League	John Paul	1,263	2.33	N/A
Majority			4,589	8.46
Turnout				84.48
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Edward Richard George Heath	26,377	48.1	+0.7
	Labour	Russell L. Butler	24,044	43.9	+5.0
	Liberal	Richard Faulkner Lloyd	4,405	8.0	−3.4
Majority			2,333	4.26
Turnout				85.82
	Conservative hold		Swing

Election in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Bexley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Edward Richard George Heath	27,075	53.0	+3.9
	Labour	John Cameron Cartwright	19,017	37.2	−6.7
	Liberal	Edward Harrison	3,222	6.3	−1.7
	Independent	Edward James Robert Lambert Heath	938	1.8	N/A
	Independent Conservative	Michael P. Coney	833	1.6	N/A
Majority			8,058	15.8
Turnout			51,085	76.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)