# Silvertown (UK Parliament constituency)

Silvertown was a borough constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom through the first-past-the-post voting system. The constituency was one of four divisions of the Parliamentary Borough of West Ham, which had at the time the same boundaries as the County Borough of West Ham. Although administratively separate since 1889, the area was formally part of the county of Essex; since 1965 it has been part of the London Borough of Newham in Greater London.
The creation of the constituency was recommended by the Boundary Commission in a report issued in 1917, and formally created by the Representation of the People Act 1918. It came into existence at the 1918 general election. As the borough of West Ham had only 120,586 electors on 15 October 1946, the relevant date for the subsequent Boundary Commission review, the borough was only entitled to two Members of Parliament; North and South divisions were recommended. As a consequence Silvertown was abolished as a separate constituency by the Representation of the People Act 1948 and went out of existence at the 1950 general election.

## Boundaries

Silvertown was based on the two wards of Custom House and Silvertown (based either side of the Royal Victoria Dock), and Tidal Basin, which was to its north-west. The large wards in the southern County Borough of West Ham at the time of the 1917 Boundary Commission review made it necessary to split one ward across two constituencies, or else the divisions of West Ham would have had significantly different sizes. The ward which was split was the Canning Town ward, the southern part of which was included in Silvertown: the commissioners drew a line along the centre of the Woolwich branch of the Great Eastern Railway (now the North London Line) from Canning Town station north to join up with Star Lane (near the future Star Lane DLR station), then east along Star Lane, to join up with the ward boundary at Hermit Lane and Beckton Road.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1918 | Jack Jones | National Socialist |
| 1918 | Jack Jones | Labour |
| 1940 by-election | James Hollins | Labour |
| 1945 | Louis Comyns | Labour |
| 1950 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Election results

1918 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National Socialist Party | Jack Jones | 6,971 | 51.6 | |
| C | Unionist | Thomas Walter Colby Carthew | 4,259 | 31.5 | |
| | Labour | David John Davis | 2,278 | 16.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,712 | 20.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,508 | | |
| | National Socialist Party win (new seat) | National Socialist Party win (new seat) | National Socialist Party win (new seat) | National Socialist Party win (new seat) | National Socialist Party win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||
1922 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jack Jones | 11,874 | 73.1 | +56.2 |
| | Unionist | Charles George Lewis | 4,361 | 26.9 | −4.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,513 | 46.2 | +26.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,235 | | |
| | Labour gain from National Socialist Party | Labour gain from National Socialist Party | Labour gain from National Socialist Party | Labour gain from National Socialist Party | Labour gain from National Socialist Party |
1923 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jack Jones | 12,777 | 81.3 | +8.2 |
| | Unionist | Charles George Lewis | 2,948 | 18.7 | −8.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,829 | 62.6 | +16.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,725 | 45.9 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +8.2 | |
1924 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jack Jones | 15,962 | 81.1 | −0.2 |
| | Unionist | Edward Doran | 3,732 | 18.9 | +0.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,230 | 62.2 | −0.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,694 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +0.2 | |
1929 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jack Jones | 23,451 | 85.7 | +4.6 |
| | Unionist | William Teeling | 3,903 | 14.3 | −4.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 19,548 | 71.4 | +9.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,354 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.6 | |
1931 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jack Jones | 19,851 | 77.8 | −7.9 |
| | Conservative | Eleonora Tennant | 5,654 | 22.2 | +7.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,197 | 55.6 | −15.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,505 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -7.9 | |
1935 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jack Jones | 18,177 | 81.0 | +3.2 |
| | Conservative | Eleonora Tennant | 4,276 | 19.0 | −3.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,901 | 62.0 | +6.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,453 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +3.2 | |
By-election, 22 February 1940: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Hollins | 14,343 | 92.8 | +11.8 |
| | Communist | Harry Pollitt | 966 | 6.2 | New |
| | British Union of Fascists | Tommy Moran | 151 | 1.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,377 | 86.6 | +24.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,460 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
1945 general election: Silvertown :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Louis Comyns | 9,358 | 91.3 | +10.3 |
| | Conservative | Edward Elverston | 494 | 4.8 | −14.2 |
| | Independent | Arthur William Davies | 401 | 3.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,864 | 86.5 | +5.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,253 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +12.3 | |