# Bilston (UK Parliament constituency)

Bilston was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Bilston in what is now the southeast of the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
As well as the town of Bilston, which had been heavily industrialised town since the 19th century, it also incorporated the nearby communities of Sedgley and Coseley, both of which were still predominantly rural villages when the parliamentary seat was created in 1918, but by the time the constituency changed from Wolverhampton Bilston to Bilston 32 years later they were rapidly expanding into towns, and had expanded further still when the constituency was finally abolished in 1974.

## History

The area was created, as a Staffordshire borough constituency, for the 1918 general election. It was named as a division of Wolverhampton. From the 1950 general election the Wolverhampton prefix was dropped from the official constituency name. The seat was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Wolverhampton South East constituency.

## Boundaries

1918–1950: The constituency consisted of the then Urban Districts of Bilston, Coseley and Sedgley.
1950–1974: By 1950 Bilston was a Municipal Borough. Coseley and Sedgley were still Urban Districts in the constituency. In 1966 most of Sedgley was incorporated into an expanded borough of Dudley, which also took in the south of Coseley, while the remainder of Sedgley was transferred to Wolverhampton and Seisdon and sections of Coseley were transferred to Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

## Members of Parliament

| Year | Year | Member | Party |
| | 1918 | T. E. Hickman | Coalition Conservative |
| | 1922 | Charles Howard-Bury | Conservative |
| | 1924 | John Baker | Labour |
| | 1931 | Geoffrey Peto | Conservative |
| | 1935 | Ian Hannah | Conservative |
| | 1944 by-election | William Gibbons | Conservative |
| | 1945 | Will Nally | Labour |
| | 1955 | Bob Edwards | Labour Co-op |
| Feb 1974 | Feb 1974 | constituency abolished: see Wolverhampton South East | constituency abolished: see Wolverhampton South East |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | T. E. Hickman | 10,343 | 60.5 | |
| | Labour | John William Kynaston | 6,744 | 39.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,599 | 21.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,087 | 59.9 | |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Charles Howard-Bury | 12,297 | 54.2 | −6.3 |
| | Labour | John Baker | 10,392 | 45.8 | +6.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,905 | 8.4 | −12.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,689 | 73.8 | +13.9 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | -6.3 | |
General election 1923: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Charles Howard-Bury | 10,186 | 41.6 | −12.6 |
| | Labour | John Baker | 9,085 | 37.1 | −8.7 |
| | Liberal | John Prentice | 5,205 | 21.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,101 | 4.5 | −3.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,476 | 74.9 | +1.1 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | -1.9 | |
General election 1924: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John Baker | 14,583 | 53.2 | +16.1 |
| | Unionist | Charles Howard-Bury | 12,840 | 46.8 | −5.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,743 | 6.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,423 | 82.0 | +7.1 |
| | Labour gain from Unionist | Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | +5.5 | |
General election 1929: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John Baker | 18,679 | 50.7 | −2.5 |
| | Unionist | S.J. Thompson | 13,635 | 37.1 | −9.7 |
| | Liberal | Gilbert Salter | 4,475 | 12.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,044 | 13.6 | +7.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,789 | 85.4 | +3.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +3.6 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Geoffrey Peto | 20,620 | 55.04 | |
| | Labour | John Baker | 16,847 | 44.96 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,773 | 10.08 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,467 | 81.37 | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
General election 1935: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ian Hannah | 18,689 | 51.2 | −3.8 |
| | Labour | David Mort | 17,820 | 48.8 | +3.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 869 | 2.4 | −7.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,509 | 70.9 | −1.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1940s

1944 Bilston by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Gibbons | 9,693 | 50.63 | |
| | Ind. Labour Party | A. Eaton | 9,344 | 49.08 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 349 | 1.55 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,037 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1945: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | Will Nally | 31,493 | 66.96 | |
| | Conservative | William Gibbons | 14,691 | 31.24 | |
| | Ind. Labour Party | A. Eaton | 849 | 1.81 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,802 | 35.72 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,033 | 73.08 | |
| | Labour Co-op gain from Conservative | Labour Co-op gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour Co-op | Will Nally | 29,919 | 62.62 |
| | Conservative | J Godrich | 17,858 | 37.38 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,061 | 25.24 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,777 | 83.50 |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | |
General election 1951: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour Co-op | Will Nally | 31,381 | 61.86 |
| | National Liberal | Charles Gordon-Spencer | 19,352 | 38.14 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,029 | 23.72 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,733 | 82.76 |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour Co-op | Bob Edwards | 26,490 | 57.62 |
| | Conservative | E Anne Marsh | 19,482 | 42.38 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,008 | 15.24 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,972 | 74.36 |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | |
General election 1959: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour Co-op | Bob Edwards | 27,068 | 53.50 |
| | Conservative | F John Oxford | 23,523 | 46.50 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,545 | 7.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,591 | 76.81 |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour Co-op | Bob Edwards | 27,986 | 53.13 |
| | Conservative | F John Oxford | 24,686 | 46.87 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,300 | 6.26 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,672 | 74.18 |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | |
General election 1966: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour Co-op | Bob Edwards | 29,794 | 56.93 |
| | Conservative | F John Oxford | 22,541 | 43.07 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,253 | 13.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,335 | 73.21 |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bilston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | Bob Edwards | 27,240 | 50.9 | −6.0 |
| | Conservative | Charles Irving | 26,240 | 49.1 | +6.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,000 | 1.8 | −12.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,480 | 69.4 | −3.7 |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | | |