West Kent (UK Parliament constituency)

West Kent
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Context of 1832-1868. Extract from 1837 result: the non-south coast striped area, south-east of London.
County Kent
1832–1885
Seats 2
Created from Kent
Replaced by Medway
Sevenoaks
Ashford
Dartford
Lewisham

West Kent (formally known as "Kent, Western") was a county constituency in Kent in South East England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

All three two-member constituencies in Kent were abolished in 1885: East Kent, Mid Kent and West Kent. They were replaced by eight new single-member constituencies: Ashford, Dartford, Faversham, Isle of Thanet, Medway, St Augustine's, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge.

Boundaries

1832–1868: The Lathes of Sutton-at-Hone and Aylesford, and the Lower Division of the Lathe of Scray.

1868–1885: The Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone.

Members of Parliament

Election 1st Member 1st Party 2nd Member 2nd Party
1832 Thomas Law Hodges Whig Thomas Rider Whig
1835 Sir William Geary, Bt Conservative
1838 by-election Sir Edmund Filmer, Bt Conservative
1841 Viscount Marsham Conservative
1845 by-election Thomas Austen Conservative
1847 Thomas Law Hodges Whig
1852 William Masters Smith Conservative
Feb 1857 by-election Charles Wykeham Martin Peelite
Apr 1857 James Whatman Radical
1859 Viscount Holmesdale Conservative Sir Edmund Filmer, Bt Conservative
1865 William Hart Dyke Conservative
1868 Sir Charles Mills, Bt Conservative John Gilbert Talbot Conservative
1878 by-election Viscount Lewisham Conservative
1885 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Thomas Law Hodges 3,364 37.5
Whig Thomas Rider 3,100 34.5
Tory William Geary 2,518 28.0
Majority 582 6.5
Turnout 5,562 83.3
Registered electors 6,678
Whig win (new seat)
Whig win (new seat)
General election 1835: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Geary 2,558 38.4 +10.4
Whig Thomas Law Hodges 2,092 31.4 −6.1
Whig Thomas Rider 2,007 30.1 −4.4
Turnout 4,549 66.4 −16.9
Registered electors 6,850
Majority 466 7.0 N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +10.5
Majority 85 1.3 −5.2
Whig hold Swing −5.7
  • Rider retired at the close of the first day's poll
General election 1837: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Geary 3,584 35.3 +16.1
Whig Thomas Law Hodges 3,334 32.9 −28.6
Conservative Edmund Filmer 3,229 31.8 +12.6
Turnout 6,641 78.8 +12.4
Registered electors 8,432
Majority 250 2.4 −4.6
Conservative hold Swing +15.2
Majority 105 1.1 −0.2
Whig hold Swing −28.7

Geary resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 5 March 1838: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Edmund Filmer Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edmund Filmer Unopposed
Conservative Charles Marsham Unopposed
Registered electors 9,089
Conservative hold
Conservative gain from Whig

Marsham succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Romney and causing a by-election.

By-election, 25 April 1845: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Austen Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1847: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edmund Filmer 3,219 34.1 N/A
Whig Thomas Law Hodges 3,127 33.2 New
Conservative Thomas Austen 3,082 32.7 N/A
Turnout 6,278 (est) 66.2 (est) N/A
Registered electors 9,489
Majority 92 0.9 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Majority 45 0.5 N/A
Whig gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edmund Filmer 3,247 35.7 +1.6
Conservative William Masters Smith 3,193 35.1 +2.4
Whig Thomas Law Hodges 2,652 29.2 −4.0
Majority 541 5.9 +5.0
Turnout 5,872 (est) 62.6 (est) −3.6
Registered electors 9,379
Conservative hold Swing +1.6
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +1.5

Filmer's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 16 February 1857: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Peelite Charles Wykeham Martin 3,557 53.0 New
Conservative Sir Walter Buchanan Riddell, 10th Baronet 3,149 47.0 −23.8
Majority 408 6.0 N/A
Turnout 6,706 74.9 +12.3
Registered electors 8,949
Peelite gain from Conservative Swing N/A
General election 1857: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Peelite Charles Wykeham Martin 3,896 36.6 N/A
Radical James Whatman 3,578 33.6 +4.4
Conservative William Masters Smith 3,171 29.8 −41.0
Turnout 5,323 (est) 59.5 (est) −3.1
Registered electors 8,949
Majority 318 3.0 N/A
Peelite gain from Conservative Swing N/A
Majority 407 3.8 N/A
Radical gain from Conservative Swing +12.5
General election 1859: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Amherst 3,769 26.0 +11.1
Conservative Edmund Filmer 3,684 25.4 +10.5
Liberal Charles Wykeham Martin 3,584 24.7 −11.9
Liberal James Whatman 3,460 23.9 −9.7
Majority 100 0.7 N/A
Turnout 7,249 (est) 81.0 (est) +21.5
Registered electors 8,949
Conservative gain from Peelite Swing +11.0
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +10.7

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Amherst 4,133 25.9 −0.1
Conservative William Hart Dyke 4,054 25.4 0.0
Liberal John Lubbock 3,896 24.4 −0.3
Liberal William Angerstein 3,861 24.2 +0.3
Majority 158 1.0 +0.3
Turnout 7,972 (est) 81.3 (est) +0.3
Registered electors 9,811
Conservative hold Swing −0.1
Conservative hold Swing +0.0
General election 1868: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Mills 3,440 25.8 −0.1
Conservative John Gilbert Talbot 3,378 25.3 −0.1
Liberal John Lubbock 3,323 24.9 +0.5
Liberal William Angerstein 3,196 24.0 −0.2
Majority 55 0.4 −0.6
Turnout 6,669 (est) 75.5 (est) −5.8
Registered electors 8,828
Conservative hold Swing −0.3
Conservative hold Swing +0.1

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Mills 5,295 30.7 +4.9
Conservative John Gilbert Talbot 5,227 30.3 +5.0
Liberal Archibald Hamilton 3,391 19.6 −5.3
Liberal Edward Marjoribanks 3,346 19.4 −4.6
Majority 1,836 10.6 +10.2
Turnout 8,630 (est) 72.1 (est) −3.4
Registered electors 11,973
Conservative hold Swing +5.1
Conservative hold Swing +4.8

Talbot resigned in order to contest the 1878 Oxford University by-election.

By-election, 15 May 1878: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Legge Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Mills 6,413 35.2 +4.5
Conservative William Legge 5,986 32.8 +2.5
Liberal Henry Mason Bompas 4,857 26.6 −12.4
Conservative Tenant Farmers John May 977 5.4 New
Majority 1,129 6.2 −4.4
Turnout 11,270 (est) 75.8 (est) +3.7
Registered electors 14,873
Conservative hold Swing +5.4
Conservative hold Swing +4.4

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

By-election, 6 Jul 1885: West Kent
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Legge Unopposed
Conservative hold