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Lewisham was a borough constituency in the Lewisham district of London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

Lewisham
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Lewisham in London
1885–1918
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Lewisham East and Lewisham West
Created from	West Kent

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election. It was replaced by the new Lewisham East and Lewisham West constituencies.

During its existence Lewisham was a safe Conservative seat. In Lewisham, between 1885 and 1906, the electorate more than doubled and over this period the population of poorer people in the constituency grew.[1] Over the six general elections of 1885, 1886, 1892, 1906 and January and December 1910 the average Conservative share of the vote in Lewisham was 63.0%.[1]

Boundaries

1885–1918: The parishes of Lewisham and Lee.[2]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	William Legge	Conservative
	1891	John Penn	Conservative
	1903	Sir Edward Coates	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished: see Lewisham East and Lewisham West

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

1885 general election: Lewisham[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Legge	4,244	58.4
	Liberal	Benjamin Whitworth	3,019	41.6
Majority			1,225	16.8
Turnout			7,263	78.3
Registered electors			9,280
	Conservative win (new seat)

1886 general election: Lewisham[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Legge	3,839	69.5	+11.1
	Liberal	George Offor	1,688	30.5	-11.1
Majority			2,151	39.0	+22.2
Turnout			5,527	59.6	-18.7
Registered electors			9,280
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.1

Legge was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 11 Aug 1886: Lewisham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Legge	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

1891 Lewisham by-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	4,585	61.3	−8.2
	Liberal	George Septimus Warmington	2,892	38.7	+8.2
Majority			1,693	22.6	−16.4
Turnout			7,477	64.2	+4.6
Registered electors			11,650
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.2

• Caused by Legge's succession to the peerage, becoming Earl of Dartmouth.

1892 general election: Lewisham[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	5,309	64.7	−4.8
	Liberal	George Alfred Harvey	2,895	35.3	+4.8
Majority			2,414	29.4	−9.6
Turnout			8,204	69.3	+9.7
Registered electors			11,834
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.8

1895 general election: Lewisham[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

1900 general election: Lewisham[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

1903 Lewisham by-election[4][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Coates	7,709	57.5	N/A
	Liberal	James William Cleland	5,697	42.5	New
Majority			2,012	15.0	N/A
Turnout			13,406	71.7	N/A
Registered electors			18,708
	Conservative hold

1906 general election: Lewisham [4][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Coates	9,689	54.8	N/A
	Liberal	Frederick Wilkins Aveling	8,006	45.2	N/A
Majority			1,683	9.6	N/A
Turnout			17,695	79.6	N/A
Registered electors			22,243
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 general election: Lewisham [4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Coates	12,690	58.6	+3.8
	Liberal	Felix Rosenheim	8,960	41.4	-3.8
Majority			3,730	17.2	+7.6
Turnout			25,021	86.5	+6.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.8

December 1910 general election: Lewisham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Coates	11,179	62.2	+3.6
	Liberal	Edward Loughlin O'Malley	6,792	37.8	-3.6
Majority			4,387	24.4	+7.2
Turnout			25,021	71.8	-14.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

Notes

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
• 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

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