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Clapham was a borough constituency in South London which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created in time for the 1885 general election then altered in periodic national boundary reviews, principally in 1918, and abolished before the February 1974 general election. In its early years (until 1918) the seat was officially named Battersea and Clapham Parliamentary Borough: No. 2—The Clapham Division.

Clapham
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Clapham in London 1885-1918
1885–February 1974
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Streatham and Lambeth Central
Created from	East Surrey (one and a half parishes of)
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of:	Battersea South

Boundaries

1885–1918: In 1885 the constituency was established as one of two divisions of a new parliamentary borough to be named Battersea and Clapham, in the northern part of the historic county of Surrey.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided the constituency, carved out of a corner of East Surrey, was to consist of:

No. 2—The Clapham Division.

• The Parish of Clapham,
• No. 1 Ward of Battersea Parish, and
• No. 4 Ward of Battersea Parish, except so much as is comprised in Division No. 1 as herein described.
  — Redistribution of Seats Act 1885[1]

1918–1950: In the redistribution of 1918 the seat was altered to remove half of the wards which constituted Battersea (into a new seat of Battersea South) and to instead consist of the local government wards of Clapham North and Clapham South, together with a part of Balham. As a matter of strict nomenclature it became a division of Wandsworth 'parliamentary borough'.

Local government bodies

In 1889 the area was among many square miles severed from Surrey to become part of a new county, the County of London. In 1900 the lower rung of local government in London was reorganised. The constituency became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth.

In 1965 the area as it then stood for the purposes of local government became almost wholly part of the London Borough of Lambeth and of Greater London.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	John Moulton	Liberal
	1886	John Saunders Gilliat	Conservative
	1892	Percy Thornton	Conservative
	1910	Denison Faber	Conservative
	1918 b-e	Harry Greer	Unionist
	1918	Sir Arthur du Cros	Unionist
	1922 b-e	Sir John Leigh	Unionist
	1945	John Battley	Labour
	1950	Charles Gibson	Labour
	1959	Alan Glyn	Conservative
	1964	Margaret McKay	Labour
	1970	Bill Shelton	Conservative
1974		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Clapham[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Moulton	3,976	52.1
	Conservative	Algernon Henry Bourke	3,650	47.9
Majority			326	4.2
Turnout			7,626	80.7
Registered electors			9,454
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Clapham[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gilliat	3,816	53.3	+5.4
	Liberal	John Moulton	3,347	46.7	-5.4
Majority			469	6.6	N/A
Turnout			7,163	75.8	−4.9
Registered electors			9,454
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.4

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Clapham[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Thornton	5,170	53.3	0.0
	Liberal	Reginald McKenna	4,526	46.7	0.0
Majority			644	6.6	0.0
Turnout			9,696	80.0	+4.2
Registered electors			12,124
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.0

General election 1895: Clapham[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Thornton	5,925	60.3	+7.0
	Liberal	John Kempster	3,904	39.7	−7.0
Majority			2,021	20.6	+14.0
Turnout			9,829	70.9	−9.1
Registered electors			13,872
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Thornton	7,504	70.9	+10.6
	Liberal	Frank Duerdin Perrott	3,084	29.1	−10.6
Majority			4,420	41.8	+21.2
Turnout			10,588	63.9	−7.0
Registered electors			16,572
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.6

General election 1906: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Thornton	7,912	50.3	−20.6
	Liberal	Frederick Low	7,816	49.7	+20.6
Majority			96	0.6	−41.2
Turnout			15,728	82.0	+18.1
Registered electors			19,180
	Conservative hold		Swing	−20.6

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Denison Faber	10,743	55.1	+4.8
	Liberal	John George Kipling	8,762	44.9	-4.8
Majority			1,981	10.2	+9.6
Turnout			22,611	86.3	+4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.8

General election December 1910: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Denison Faber	9,560	55.6	+0.5
	Liberal	John Benn	7,639	44.4	-0.5
Majority			1,921	11.2	+1.0
Turnout			22,611	76.1	-10.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Denison Faber
• Liberal: Joseph William Molden[3]

1918 Clapham by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Greer	4,512	57.5	+1.9
	Independent	Henry Hamilton Beamish	3,331	42.5	New
Majority			1,181	15.0	+3.8
Turnout			23,526	33.3	-42.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• Beamish was the nominee of Pemberton Billing's Vigilante Society

General election 1918: Clapham[4][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Arthur Du Cros	9,776	60.2	+4.6
	Independent	Henry Hamilton Beamish	3,070	18.9	New
	Liberal	Philip Henry Thomas	2,790	17.2	−27.2
	Independent	William James Harvey	594	3.7	New
Majority			6,706	41.3	+30.1
Turnout			16,230	46.9	−29.2
Registered electors			34,640
	Unionist hold		Swing	+15.9
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

• Beamish was supported by, and may have been the nominee, of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers

Elections in the 1920s

By-election 1922: Clapham [4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Leigh	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

General election 1922: Clapham [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Leigh	13,285	58.7	−1.5
	Labour	Leopold Spero	4,919	21.7	New
	Liberal	Ernest Villiers	4,444	19.6	+2.4
Majority			8,366	37.0	−4.3
Turnout			22,648	63.0	+16.1
Registered electors			35,962
	Unionist hold		Swing	−2.0

General election 1923: Clapham [6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Leigh	10,287	46.4	−12.3
	Labour	Leopold Spero	6,404	28.9	+7.2
	Liberal	Thomas George Graham	5,479	24.7	+5.1
Majority			3,883	17.5	−19.5
Turnout			22,170	60.7	−2.3
Registered electors			36,498
	Unionist hold		Swing	−9.8

General election 1924: Clapham [4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Leigh	16,404	64.1	+17.7
	Labour	Charles Diamond	9,204	35.9	+7.0
Majority			7,200	28.2	+10.7
Turnout			25,608	69.5	+8.8
Registered electors			36,872
	Unionist hold		Swing	+5.4

General election 1929: Clapham [4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Leigh	13,507	41.7	−22.4
	Labour	J. Allen Skinner	9,871	30.5	−5.4
	Liberal	Owen Davies	8,991	27.8	New
Majority			3,636	11.2	−17.0
Turnout			32,369	67.3	−2.2
Registered electors			48,061
	Unionist hold		Swing	−8.5

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Clapham[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Leigh	21,648	68.00
	Ind. Labour Party	Hilda Browning	7,317	22.98	New
	Liberal	John Henry Clarke	2,869	9.01
Majority			14,331	45.02
Turnout			31,834	66.13
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Clapham[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Leigh	17,458	60.56
	Labour	Monica Whately	11,368	22.98
Majority			6,090	37.58
Turnout			28,826	60.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Clapham[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Battley	15,205	54.17
	Conservative	Roy Lucas Lowndes	10,014	35.68
	Liberal	Charles Erik Paterson	2,850	10.15	New
Majority			5,191	18.49	N/A
Turnout			28,069	70.78
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Clapham[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Gibson	23,300	47.47
	Conservative	Roy L Lowndes	22,094	45.01
	Liberal	Beatrice L Curtis	3,071	6.26
	Communist	Gladys Mary Draper	619	1.26
Majority			1,206	2.46
Turnout			49,084	80.64
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Gibson	25,053	51.34
	Conservative	Roy L Lowndes	23,745	48.66
Majority			1,308	2.68
Turnout			48,798	81.86
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Gibson	22,398	50.25
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	22,173	49.75
Majority			225	0.50
Turnout			44,571	81.86
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Glyn	22,266	52.20
	Labour	Charles Gibson	20,390	47.89
Majority			1,876	4.31	N/A
Turnout			42,656	76.19
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret McKay	17,657	46.20
	Conservative	Alan Glyn	17,101	44.75
	Liberal	Peter Lyden-Cowan	2,611	6.83	New
	Independent Liberal	David G Russell	847	2.22	New
Majority			556	1.45	N/A
Turnout			37,369	72.34
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

• Anti-Common Market

General election 1966: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret McKay	19,555	51.60
	Conservative	Ian Gow	15,379	40.58
	Liberal	Michael A Minter	2,968	7.83
Majority			4,176	11.02
Turnout			37,902	73.05
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Clapham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bill Shelton	16,593	49.8	+9.2
	Labour	David Pitt	13,473	40.4	−11.2
	Liberal	Eric G Thwaites	2,982	8.9	+1.1
	Socialist (GB)	F.E. Simkins	220	0.7	New
	Independent	Bill Boaks	80	0.2	New
Majority			3,120	9.4	-1.6
Turnout			33,348	62.9	-10.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+10.2

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
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)

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