Plaistow (UK Parliament constituency) facts for kids
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Plaistow was a special area in the United Kingdom that elected one person to represent it in the House of Commons. This person is called a Member of Parliament (MP). The House of Commons is where laws are made for the country.
Plaistow was part of a larger area called the Parliamentary Borough of West Ham. Even though it was managed separately, it was officially part of the county of Essex. Today, this area is part of the London Borough of Newham in Greater London.
The idea for the Plaistow constituency came from a group called the Boundary Commission in 1917. It officially started for the 1918 general election. The first MP for Plaistow was Will Thorne from the Labour Party. He won with a huge 94.9% of the votes, which was a record for an English parliamentary seat at the time!
Plaistow stopped being a separate constituency after the 1950 general election. Its area became part of the West Ham South constituency. This happened because the population of West Ham had changed, and the area was then only allowed to have two MPs instead of four.
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What Were Plaistow's Borders?
The Plaistow constituency was made up of two main areas: Plaistow and Hudsons wards. These were parts of the County Borough of West Ham.
When the boundaries were being decided in 1917, some areas were very large. To make sure each constituency had a similar number of voters, one area called Canning Town ward had to be split. The northern and western parts of Canning Town were included in Plaistow. The boundary line followed the middle of a railway line (now called the North London Line) from Canning Town station north to Star Lane. Then it went east along Star Lane until it met the existing ward boundary.
After 1950, the land that was once Plaistow became part of the West Ham South constituency.
Who Were the Members of Parliament?
Only two people served as the Member of Parliament for Plaistow during its existence. Both were from the Labour Party.
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Will Thorne | Labour | |
| 1945 | Elwyn Jones | Labour | |
| 1950 | constituency abolished | ||
How Were Elections Held?
Elections for Members of Parliament in the UK use a system called "first-past-the-post." This means the candidate who gets the most votes in their area wins the election. They don't need to win more than half the votes, just more than anyone else.
Plaistow held several elections between 1918 and 1945.
Elections in the 1910s and 1920s
The first election in 1918 was a big win for Will Thorne. He was very popular in the area. In the following elections in the 1920s, he continued to win by a large margin, even when other parties like the Unionists tried to challenge him.
Elections in the 1930s and 1940s
In the 1931 election, Will Thorne was so popular that no other candidate ran against him. He won without anyone else to vote for! This is called being "unopposed."
He won again in 1935. By the 1945 election, Will Thorne retired. Elwyn Jones then became the new Labour MP for Plaistow, also winning with a very high percentage of the votes.
After the 1945 election, the Plaistow constituency was abolished. This meant there would be no more elections specifically for Plaistow.
