Portsmouth West (UK Parliament constituency)

Portsmouth West
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Hampshire
1950–1974 (1974)
Seats	One
Created from	Portsmouth Central and Portsmouth North
Replaced by	Portsmouth South and Portsmouth North

Portsmouth West was a borough constituency in the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

History

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Boundaries

1950–1955: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Buckland, Charles Dickens, Fratton, Guildhall, Nelson, North End, Portsea, and St Mary.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Buckland, Fratton, Nelson, North End, Portsea, and St Mary and Guildhall.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Terence Clarke	Conservative
	1966	Frank Judd	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished

Election results

General election 1970: Portsmouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Judd	17,169	50.55
	Conservative	Terence Clarke	16,214	47.74
	Independent	LB Gauntlett	579	1.70	New
Majority			955	2.81
Turnout			33,962	72.30
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Portsmouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Judd	18,685	51.70
	Conservative	Terence Clarke	17,458	48.30
Majority			1,227	3.40	N/A
Turnout			36,143	76.50
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1964: Portsmouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Clarke	18,762	50.67
	Labour	Frank Judd	18,265	49.33
Majority			497	1.34
Turnout			37,027	74.78
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Portsmouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Clarke	23,600	57.65
	Labour	Maxwell Bresler	17,334	42.35
Majority			6,266	15.30
Turnout			40,934	76.93
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Portsmouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Clarke	23,729	54.19
	Labour	Alma Birk	20,060	45.81
Majority			3,669	8.38
Turnout			43,789	77.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Portsmouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Clarke	25,363	51.26
	Labour	Alma Birk	24,115	48.74
Majority			1,248	2.52
Turnout			49,478	83.49
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Portsmouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Clarke	24,924	50.71
	Labour	Donald Bruce	23,979	48.78
	Communist	G Swanton	251	0.51
Majority			945	1.93
Turnout			49,154	83.46
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)