Chelsea
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Chelsea 1868–1885
1868–1997
Seats	Two (1868–1885): One (1885–1997)
Created from	Middlesex
Replaced by	Kensington and Chelsea

Chelsea was a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1867 for the 1868 general election, when it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc vote system of election.

Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, with effect from the 1885 general election, its representation was reduced to one MP, elected by the first past the post system.

Chelsea in London 1885–1918. The constituency had two detached parts: one in what is currently known as Chelsea and a separate part in Kensal Town

Chelsea in London 1918–1950

Chelsea in London 1950–1983

Boundaries and boundary changes

1868–1885: The parishes of Chelsea, Fulham, Hammersmith, and Kensington.^[1]

1885–1918: The parish of St Luke, Chelsea.^[2]

Chelsea (after the local government changes in 1965) is a district of Inner London, comprising for administrative purposes the southern part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Its southern boundary is on the north bank of the River Thames. It adjoins Westminster to the east, Fulham to the west and Kensington to the north.

Before 1868 the area was represented in Parliament as part of the county constituency of Middlesex.

With the expansion westwards of the urban area around Westminster, the former village of Chelsea and neighbouring areas had by 1868 developed enough to be made a Parliamentary borough and given two seats in the House of Commons. The parliamentary borough comprised four civil parishes: Chelsea, Fulham, Hammersmith and Kensington.^[3]

In 1885, the existing parliamentary borough was divided into five single-member constituencies. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 defined the redrawn Chelsea seat as comprising the parish of St Luke, Chelsea. The constituency had a detached outlier, the Kensal Green area, because of its history as a detached part of St Luke parish.^[4] (The remaining parishes became the constituencies of Fulham, Hammersmith, Kensington North and Kensington South.)

In 1889, the historic county of Middlesex was divided for administrative purposes. Chelsea became part of the County of London. No changes were made to parliamentary boundaries, however.

In the 1918 redistribution of Parliamentary seats, the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea (created as a local government unit in 1900) was represented by one MP.

In the redistribution which took effect in 1950, the then Brompton ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Kensington was added to the existing area of the constituency.

In 1965, the London County Council area was absorbed by the new Greater London Council. The constituency was included in a new London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, although the Parliamentary boundaries were not altered immediately.

In the redistribution that took effect in 1974, the Kensington and Chelsea, Chelsea constituency consisted of the then Brompton, Cheyne, Church, Earls Court, Hans Town, North Stanley, Redcliffe, Royal Hospital and South Stanley wards of Kensington and Chelsea.

The constituency shared boundaries with the Chelsea electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981.

From the 1983 redistribution, Chelsea consisted of Abingdon, Brompton, Cheyne, Church, Courtfield, Earls Court, Hans Town, North Stanley, Redcliffe, Royal Hospital and South Stanley wards of Kensington and Chelsea.

98.5% of the constituency had been in the pre-1983 Chelsea and 1.5% had been part of Kensington.

In the 1997 redistribution, Chelsea ceased to exist as a constituency. The area was included in the Kensington and Chelsea constituency, which covered the central and southern portions of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, including the centres of both Kensington and Chelsea.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Chelsea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Samuel Hoare	9,159	79.1	+18.7
	Independent Progressive	Emily Phipps	2,419	20.9	New
Majority			6,740	58.2	+37.3
Turnout			24,822	46.6	-26.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Hoare

General election December 1910: Chelsea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Hoare	4,968	60.5	+2.4
	Liberal	Hugh Hoare	3,249	39.5	-2.4
Majority			1,719	20.9	+4.7
Turnout			11,257	73.0	-12.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

General election January 1910: Chelsea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Hoare	5,610	58.1	+11.7
	Liberal	Emslie Horniman	4,048	41.9	-11.7
Majority			1,562	16.2	N/A
Turnout			11,257	85.8	+10.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.7

Elections in the 1900s

Horniman

General election 16 January 1906: Chelsea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Emslie Horniman	4,660	53.6	+12.0
	Conservative	Charles Algernon Whitmore	4,031	46.4	-12.0
Majority			629	7.2	N/A
Turnout			8,691	75.3	+13.1
Registered electors			11,536
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	-12.0

Jeffery

General election 1900: Chelsea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Algernon Whitmore	4,637	58.4	-2.1
	Liberal	James Jeffery	3,306	41.6	+2.1
Majority			1,331	16.8	-4.2
Turnout			7,943	62.4	-5.7
Registered electors			12,736
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.1

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London
• Duration of English, British and United Kingdom parliaments from 1660

References

• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1974)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1974-1983, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1984)
• Britain Votes 4: British Parliamentary Election Results 1983-1987, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1988)
• Britain Votes 5: British Parliamentary Election Results 1988-1992, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Parliamentary Research Services/Dartmouth Publishing 1993)
• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)