Strand (UK Parliament constituency)

Strand was a parliamentary constituency in the Strand district of the City of Westminster. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Strand
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Strand in London
1885–1918
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Westminster Abbey
Created from	Westminster

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Strand District (comprising the Liberty of the Rolls, Precinct of the Savoy, St Anne, Soho, St Clement Danes, St Mary le Strand, and St Paul Covent Garden) and the parishes of St James, Westminster, and St Martin in the Fields.[1]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	William Henry Smith	Conservative
	1891	Frederick Smith	Conservative
	1910	Walter Long	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

Decades:

1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Elections in the 1880s

Smith

General election 1885: Strand [2][3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Smith	5,645	69.4
	Liberal	Edmund George Johnson	2,486	30.6
Majority			3,159	38.8
Turnout			8,131	72.2
Registered electors			11,264
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Strand [2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Smith	5,034	76.9	+7.5
	Liberal	John Edwin Hilary Skinner	1,508	23.1	-7.5
Majority			3,526	53.8	+15.0
Turnout			6,542	58.1	-14.1
Registered electors			11,264
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.5

Smith was appointed Secretary of State for War, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 11 Aug 1886: Strand[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

Smith was appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 12 May 1891: Strand[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Smith's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 27 Oct 1891: Strand[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	4,952	71.8	−5.1
	Liberal	Richard Sandon Gutteridge	1,946	28.2	+5.1
Majority			3,006	43.6	−10.2
Turnout			6,898	62.3	+4.2
Registered electors			11,081
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.1

General election 1892: Strand [2][3][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1895: Strand [2][3][6][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Strand [2][3][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1906: Strand [2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Smith	3,935	68.0	N/A
	Liberal	Alexander Waldemar Lawrence	1,854	32.0	New
Majority			2,081	36.0	N/A
Turnout			5,789	71.4	N/A
Registered electors			8,109
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1910s

Costello

General election January 1910: Strand [2][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Long	4,840	74.8	+6.8
	Liberal	Leonard Costello	1,627	25.2	-6.8
Majority			3,213	49.6	+13.6
Turnout			6,467	80.6	+9.2
Registered electors			8,019
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.8

Long

General election December 1910: Strand [2][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Long	4,143	78.5	+3.7
	Liberal	Samuel Robert Earle	1,138	21.5	-3.7
Majority			3,005	57.0	+7.4
Turnout			5,281	65.9	-14.7
Registered electors			8,019
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.7

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: Walter Long
• Liberal:

References

1. "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
2. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 50. ISBN 9781349022984.
3. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
5. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
6. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
7. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)