Bournemouth East and Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)

Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Hampshire
1950–February 1974
Seats	One
Created from	Bournemouth, and New Forest and Christchurch
Replaced by	Bournemouth East and Christchurch & Lymington

Bournemouth East and Christchurch was a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It returned one Member of Parliament, using the first past the post electoral system from the 1950 United Kingdom general election until the constituency was abolished in 1974.

The seat was based upon the eastern part of the seaside resort of Bournemouth and the neighbouring town of Christchurch, which were united for parliamentary purposes in 1950. The constituency was in the south west of the historic county of Hampshire in South East England.

It was held by the Conservative Party for the entirety of its existence, with the party gaining more than half of the votes cast at each election.

Boundaries

The County Borough of Bournemouth wards of Boscombe East, Boscombe West, King's Park, Queen's Park, Southbourne, and West Southbourne, and the Borough of Christchurch.

Before 1918 the County Borough of Bournemouth formed part of the then parliamentary borough of Christchurch. Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, Bournemouth became a single-member constituency, with the same boundaries as the then county borough. Christchurch became part of the new New Forest and Christchurch constituency.

In the 1950 redistribution of parliamentary seats, the Representation of the People Act 1948 provided for the division of Bournemouth and Christchurch into Bournemouth East and Christchurch and Bournemouth West.

In the 1974 redistribution, this constituency disappeared. The two new seats of Bournemouth East & Christchurch and Lymington then came into existence.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1950	Brendan Bracken	Conservative	Previously MP for Bournemouth from by-election in 1945. Resigned January 1952 on being raised to the peerage
	1952 by-election	Nigel Nicolson	Conservative
	1959	John Cordle	Conservative
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Bournemouth East & Christchurch and Lymington

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Brendan Bracken	27,677	58.81
	Labour	Dodo Lees	12,790	27.18
	Liberal	James Charles Holland	6,594	14.01
Majority			14,887	31.63
Turnout			47,061	84.98
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1951: Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Brendan Bracken	29,138	63.31
	Labour	Hallam J. Barnes	11,550	25.09
	Liberal	James Charles Holland	5,338	11.60
Majority			17,588	38.22
Turnout			46,026	80.84
	Conservative hold		Swing

1952 Bournemouth East and Christchurch by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Nicolson	22,480	61.85	−1.46
	Labour	R. D. Rees	8,498	23.38	−1.71
	Liberal	James Charles Holland	3,673	10.11	−1.49
	Independent	S. Kermode	1,693	4.66	New
Majority			13,982	38.47	+0.25
Turnout			36,334
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955:Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Nigel Nicolson	28,757	65.55
	Labour	David Buckle	10,259	23.39
	Liberal	Brian Patrick Molony	4,851	11.06
Majority			18,498	42.16
Turnout			43,867	75.51
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Cordle	29,014	62.34
	Labour	Jack D. Rutland	9,222	19.81
	Liberal	W.J. Wareham	8,308	17.85
Majority			19,792	42.53
Turnout			46,544	76.73
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Cordle	26,852	56.41
	Labour	Alan G. Reynard	10,447	21.95
	Liberal	Alastair Campbell McLeish	10,304	21.65
Majority			16,405	34.46
Turnout			47,603	74.67
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Cordle	27,047	55.95
	Labour	Clive S. Sabel	12,598	26.06
	Liberal	Alastair Campbell McLeish	8,698	17.99
Majority			14,449	29.89
Turnout			48,343	74.71
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Cordle	31,104	62.36
	Labour	Tony C. Bisson	10,594	21.24
	Liberal	George K. Musgrave	8,182	16.40
Majority			20,510	41.12
Turnout			49,880	70.80
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)

v t e Dorset constituencies
Current	Bournemouth East Bournemouth West Christchurch Mid Dorset and North Poole North Dorset Poole South Dorset West Dorset
Historic	Dorset (1290–1885) Bridport (1295–1885) Dorchester (1295–1885) Lyme Regis (1295–1868) Shaftesbury (1295–1885) Wareham (1302–1885) Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (1570–1885) Corfe Castle (1572–1832) East Dorset (1885–1950) Bournemouth (1918–1950) Bournemouth East and Christchurch (1950–1974) Christchurch and Lymington (1974–1983)

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