Bromley (UK Parliament constituency)


Bromley is a former borough constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. The most famous MP for the constituency was Harold Macmillan, who served as Prime Minister.

Boundaries

1918–1945: The Borough of Bromley, and the Urban Districts of Beckenham and Penge.
1945–1950: Parts of the Boroughs of Bromley and Beckenham, and the Urban District of Penge.
1950–1974: The Borough of Bromley.
The constituency covered an area based on the town of Bromley. It is part of the north of the historic county of Kent, which was included in Greater London after 1965.
The constituency was abolished in the redistribution which took effect in 1974. The London Borough of Bromley was split into four seats.

History

This constituency consisted largely of prosperous leafy suburbia and was one of the Conservatives' strongest seats. The character of the area was one of prosperous small businesses, rather than commuting professionals.
Before 1918 this area was mostly the northern part of the Sevenoaks constituency. The first MP for this seat was Henry William Forster, the former member for Sevenoaks. In 1919 he was created the 1st Baron Forster and became Governor-General of Australia in 1920.
The next three MPs were first elected at by-elections.
In 1945 the sitting member died between the day of the election and the declaration of the result, so the opportunity arose for one of the Conservative former ministers defeated in the general election to return to the House of Commons representing an extremely safe seat. Future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was the lucky beneficiary of the vacancy. He was the most famous MP for Bromley, serving from the 1945 by-election until his retirement in 1964, when he was succeeded by John Hunt. Hunt, on the left of the Conservative party, held the seat until 1997.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

In the 1930s

In the 1940s

In the 1950s

In the 1960s

In the 1970s