# Bristol North (UK Parliament constituency)

Bristol North was a borough constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.

## History

The seat was one of a small minority spanning the period which never elected a Conservative and Unionist Party candidate. In its early history Bristol North three times elected a Liberal Unionist who was affiliated with the Conservative Party; the latter having declined to field a candidate in those elections and in three others of the eight before World War I. In the eight elections from and including 1918 the Labour Party fielded candidates and won three times; a Unionist stood once without success; candidates considered Lloyd-George Coalition Liberal, National Liberal and Liberal National (reflecting complex splinter groups of the Liberal Party during the period) stood once apiece and an Independent Liberal who was the MP as a mainstream Liberal since the previous election in 1924 ran against the official party's new candidate in 1929, unsuccessfully. In two of these four instances the splinter arguably centrist Liberal candidate won. The Liberal incumbent Bernays also defected from the main body of his party in 1936 to join the National Liberal (1931) Party despite being re-elected as a candidate of the more established party in 1935.

## Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bristol wards of District, St James's, and St Paul's, and part of North ward, and the local government district of Stapleton.
1918–1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards of District, St Philip and Jacob North, and Stapleton, and part of Easton ward.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1885 | Lewis Fry* | Liberal |
| 1886 | Lewis Fry* | Liberal Unionist |
| 1892 | Charles Townsend | Liberal |
| 1895 | Lewis Fry | Liberal Unionist |
| 1900 | Sir Frederick Wills, Bt. | Liberal Unionist |
| 1906 | Augustine Birrell* | Liberal |
| 1918 | Edwin Stanley Gange | Coalition Liberal |
| 1922 | Christian Henry Charles Guest | National Liberal |
| 1923 | Walter Henry Ayles | Labour |
| 1924 | Frederick Edward Guest | Liberal |
| 1929 | Walter Henry Ayles | Labour |
| 1931 | Robert Bernays* | Liberal |
| 1936 | Robert Bernays* | National Liberal |
| 1945 | William Coldrick | Labour Co-operative |
| 1950 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |
Note: * denotes re-elected.

## Elections
### Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Lewis Fry | 4,110 | 57.4 | |
| | Conservative | Charles Edward Hungerford Athol Colston | 3,046 | 42.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,064 | 14.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,156 | 79.5 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,002 | | |
| | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) |
General election 1886: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Lewis Fry | 3,587 | 56.7 | +14.1 |
| | Liberal | Alfred Carpenter | 2,737 | 43.3 | −14.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 850 | 13.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,324 | 70.3 | −9.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,002 | | |
| | Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +14.1 | |

### Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Charles Townsend | 4,409 | 52.0 | +8.7 |
| | Liberal Unionist | Lewis Fry | 4,064 | 48.0 | −8.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 345 | 4.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,473 | 78.0 | +7.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 10,862 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | +8.7 | |
General election 1895: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Lewis Fry | 4,702 | 51.3 | +3.3 |
| | Liberal | Charles Townsend | 4,464 | 48.7 | −3.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 238 | 2.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,166 | 79.8 | +1.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 11,490 | | |
| | Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +3.3 | |

### Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Sir Frederick Wills | 4,936 | 54.1 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal | Sir Clarence Smith | 4,182 | 45.9 | −2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 754 | 8.2 | +5.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,118 | 75.0 | −4.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 12,157 | | |
| | Liberal Unionist hold | Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | +2.8 | |
General election 1906: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell | 6,953 | 63.4 | +17.5 |
| | Liberal Unionist | John Alderson Foote | 4,011 | 36.6 | −17.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,942 | 26.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,964 | 83.9 | +8.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13,061 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | +17.5 | |

### Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell | 6,805 | 55.5 | −7.9 |
| | Liberal Unionist | Maurice Henry Woods | 5,459 | 44.5 | +7.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,346 | 11.0 | −15.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,264 | 87.7 | +3.8 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | -7.9 | |
General election December 1910: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell | 6,410 | 55.8 | +0.3 |
| | Conservative | Laurie Magnus | 5,084 | 44.2 | −0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,326 | 11.6 | +0.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,494 | 82.2 | −5.5 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | +0.3 | |
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
* Liberal: Rt Hon. Augustine Birrell
* Unionist: Laurie Magnus
General election 1918: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Liberal | Edwin Stanley Gange | 11,400 | 60.2 | +4.4 |
| | Labour | James Kaylor | 5,007 | 26.5 | New |
| | National | Ernest Willoughby Petter | 2,520 | 13.3 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,393 | 33.7 | +22.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,927 | | |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National Liberal | Christian Henry Charles Guest | 17,495 | 64.6 | +4.4 |
| | Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 9,567 | 35.4 | +8.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,928 | 29.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,062 | 73.2 | +18.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 36,985 | | |
| | National Liberal gain from National Liberal | National Liberal gain from National Liberal | National Liberal gain from National Liberal | National Liberal gain from National Liberal | National Liberal gain from National Liberal |
General election 1923: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 10,432 | 37.5 | +2.1 |
| | Liberal | Christian Henry Charles Guest | 8,770 | 31.5 | −33.1 |
| | Unionist | Ernest Willoughby Petter | 8,643 | 31.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,663 | 6.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,845 | 74.4 | +1.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 37,424 | | |
| | Labour gain from National Liberal | Labour gain from National Liberal | Swing | +17.6 | |
General election 1924: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest | 17,799 | 59.1 | +27.6 |
| | Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 12,319 | 40.9 | +3.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,480 | 18.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,118 | 79.6 | +5.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 37,821 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Labour | Liberal gain from Labour | Swing | +12.1 | |
General election 1929: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 18,619 | 48.7 | +7.8 |
| | Independent Liberal | Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest | 12,932 | 33.8 | −25.3 |
| | Liberal | John Osborne Marshall Skelton | 6,713 | 17.5 | −41.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,687 | 14.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,264 | 78.1 | −1.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 49,014 | | |
| | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Robert Hamilton Bernays | 27,040 | 66.2 | +48.7 |
| | Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 13,826 | 33.8 | −14.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,214 | 32.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,866 | 80.9 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal gain from Labour | Liberal gain from Labour | Swing | +31.8 | |
General election 1935: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Robert Hamilton Bernays | 20,977 | 56.5 | −9.7 |
| | Labour | Walter Henry Ayles | 16,149 | 43.5 | +9.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,828 | 13.0 | −19.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,126 | 73.2 | −7.7 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | -9.7 | |

### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Bristol North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | William Coldrick | 22,819 | 57.8 | +14.3 |
| | National Liberal | John Henshaw Britton | 16,648 | 42.2 | −14.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,171 | 15.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,467 | 74.0 | +1.8 |
| | Labour Co-op gain from National Liberal | Labour Co-op gain from National Liberal | Labour Co-op gain from National Liberal | Labour Co-op gain from National Liberal | Labour Co-op gain from National Liberal |