# Bromley (UK Parliament constituency)

Bromley is a former constituency for the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The most famous MP was Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister, 1957 to 1963.
Like all 20th century such seats for geographic zones it elected one Member of Parliament (MP), under first past the post. It lay in Kent until 1965 and Greater London thereafter.

## Boundaries

1918–1945: The Borough of Bromley, and the Urban Districts of Beckenham and Penge.
1945–1950: Parts of the Boroughs of Bromley and Beckenham, and the Urban District of Penge.
1950–1974: The Borough of Bromley.
The seat overspan the town of Bromley.
As with the rest of south-east London these areas were in the far northwest of the Historic County of Kent – and was in the last such parts to join London, joining Greater London in April 1965.
The seat was abolished in the redistribution which took effect in 1974. The London Borough of Bromley (a larger area than the previous Municipal Borough) was, as to Westminster representation, split into four seats.

## History

This constituency consisted largely of prosperous leafy suburbia and was one of the Conservatives' strongest seats. The character of the area was one of prosperous small businesses, rather than commuting professionals.
Before 1918 this area was mostly the northern part of the Sevenoaks constituency. The first MP for this seat was Henry William Forster, the former member for Sevenoaks. In 1919 he was created the 1st Baron Forster and became Governor-General of Australia in 1920.
The next three MPs were first elected at by-elections (in 1919, 1930 and 1945 respectively).
In 1945 the sitting member died between the day of the election and the declaration of the result, so the opportunity arose for one of the Conservative former ministers defeated in the general election to return to the House of Commons representing an extremely safe seat. Future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was selected by the Conservative Party to fight the seat. He was perhaps the most famous MP for Bromley, serving from the 1945 by-election until his retirement in 1964, when he was succeeded by John Hunt. Hunt held the seat (renamed Ravensbourne in 1974) until 1997.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1918 | Henry Forster | Coalition Conservative |
| | 1919 by-election | Cuthbert James | Coalition Conservative |
| | 1922 | Cuthbert James | Conservative |
| | 1930 by-election | Edward Campbell | Conservative |
| | 1945 by-election | Rt Hon Harold Macmillan | Conservative |
| | 1964 | John Hunt | Conservative |
| Feb 1974 | Feb 1974 | constituency abolished: see Ravensbourne | constituency abolished: see Ravensbourne |

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

General election 1918: Bromley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | Henry Forster | 16,840 | 79.5 | |
| | Liberal | Holford Knight | 4,339 | 20.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,501 | 59.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,179 | 52.0 | |
| | 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. ||||||
1919 Bromley by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | Cuthbert James | 11,148 | 52.5 | −27.0 |
| | Labour | F P Hodes | 10,077 | 47.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,071 | 5.0 | −54.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,225 | 48.9 | −3.1 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bromley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Cuthbert James | 16,803 | 54.8 | −24.7 |
| | Liberal | F. Kingsley Griffith | 9,128 | 29.8 | +9.3 |
| | Labour | F P Hodes | 4,735 | 15.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,675 | 25.0 | −34.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,666 | 66.3 | +14.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 46,256 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −17.0 | |
General election 1923: Bromley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Cuthbert James | 13,495 | 44.8 | −10.0 |
| | Liberal | F. Kingsley Griffith | 12,612 | 41.9 | +12.1 |
| | Labour | Glenvil Hall | 3,992 | 13.3 | −2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 883 | 2.9 | −22.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,099 | 64.1 | −2.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 46,976 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −11.1 | |
General election 1924: Bromley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Cuthbert James | 20,272 | 53.7 | +8.9 |
| | Liberal | F. Kingsley Griffith | 11,580 | 30.7 | −11.2 |
| | Labour | Hubert Joseph Wallington | 5,876 | 15.6 | +2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,692 | 23.0 | +20.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,728 | 78.6 | +14.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 48,028 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | +10.1 | |
General election 1929: Bromley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Cuthbert James | 25,449 | 47.2 | −6.5 |
| | Liberal | Wilfred Fordham | 18,372 | 34.1 | +3.4 |
| | Labour | Albert Edwin Ashworth | 10,105 | 18.7 | +3.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,077 | 13.1 | −9.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,926 | 73.1 | −5.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 73,785 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −5.0 | |

### In the 1930s

1930 Bromley by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Edward Campbell | 12,782 | 32.4 | −14.8 |
| | Liberal | Wilfred Fordham | 11,176 | 28.4 | −5.7 |
| | United Empire Party | V C Redwood | 9,483 | 24.1 | New |
| | Labour | Albert Edwin Ashworth | 5,942 | 15.1 | −3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,606 | 4.0 | −9.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,383 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1931: Bromley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Edward Campbell | 47,077 | 83.56 |
| | Labour | BB Gillis | 9,265 | 16.44 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 37,812 | 67.12 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,342 | 69.99 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1935: Bromley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Edward Campbell | 39,741 | 67.46 | |
| | Labour | Charles Wye Kendall | 11,800 | 20.03 | |
| | Liberal | Henry Cecil Banting | 7,370 | 12.51 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 27,941 | 47.43 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 58,911 | 65.07 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### In the 1940s

General election 1945: Bromley Electorate 81,800 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Edward Campbell | 26,108 | 44.91 |
| | Labour | Alexander Bain | 19,849 | 34.14 |
| | Liberal | Jaspar Carlisle Sayer | 12,177 | 20.95 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,259 | 10.77 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 58,134 | 71.07 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
1945 Bromley by-election Electorate 81,800 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | 26,367 | 49.59 | +4.68 |
| | Labour | Alexander Bain | 20,810 | 39.14 | +5.00 |
| | Liberal | Jaspar Carlisle Sayer | 5,990 | 11.27 | −9.68 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,557 | 10.45 | −0.32 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,157 | 70.00 | −1.07 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -0.2 | |

### In the 1950s

General election 1950: Bromley Electorate 47,369 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | 23,042 | 57.26 |
| | Labour | J. R. Elliott | 12,354 | 30.70 |
| | Liberal | Peter Grafton | 4,847 | 12.04 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,688 | 26.56 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,243 | 84.96 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1951: Bromley Electorate 48,486 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | 25,710 | 65.43 |
| | Labour | Thomas E M McKitterick | 13,585 | 34.57 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,125 | 30.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,295 | 81.04 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Bromley Electorate 47,954 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | 24,612 | 68.2 | +2.8 |
| | Labour | Gerald Kaufman | 11,473 | 31.8 | −2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,139 | 36.4 | +5.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,085 | 75.2 | −5.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1959: Bromley Electorate 48,937 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | 27,055 | 70.0 | +1.8 |
| | Labour | Albert Murray | 11,603 | 30.0 | −1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,452 | 40.0 | +3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,658 | 79.0 | +3.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +1.8 | |

### In the 1960s

General election 1964: Bromley Electorate 49,915 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Hunt | 20,417 | 52.6 | −17.4 |
| | Labour | Joseph Binns | 9,090 | 23.4 | −6.6 |
| | Liberal | William Ivor Shipley | 8,650 | 22.3 | new |
| | Nuclear Disarmament | A James W Haigh | 461 | 1.2 | New |
| | Socialist (GB) | Edmund Grant | 234 | 0.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,327 | 29.2 | −10.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,852 | 77.8 | −1.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1966: Bromley Electorate 49,533 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | John Hunt | 20,117 | 52.30 |
| | Labour | Donald Speakman | 10,290 | 26.75 |
| | Liberal | Peter H Billenness | 8,060 | 20.95 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,827 | 25.55 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,467 | 77.66 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |

### In the 1970s

General election 1970: Bromley Electorate 54,396 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Hunt | 22,364 | 59.4 | +7.1 |
| | Labour | John Spellar | 9,328 | 24.8 | −1.9 |
| | Liberal | David E A Crowe | 5,982 | 15.9 | −5.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,036 | 34.6 | +9.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,674 | 69.3 | −8.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +4.3 | |