Manchester Clayton (UK Parliament constituency)

Manchester Clayton
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1918–1955
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Manchester Cheetham and Manchester Openshaw
Created from	Manchester East, Manchester North and Manchester North East

Manchester Clayton was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Manchester. 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 system.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election and abolished for the 1955 general election.

Boundaries

1918–1950

The constituency was created as a result of the Report of the Boundary Commission in 1917, when it was recommended to be called "Manchester Newton Heath".^[1] However, when the Representation of the People Bill to give effect to the Commission's recommendations was debated in Parliament, the Government accepted an amendment to change the name to Clayton.^[2] The new constituency came into effect at the 1918 general election. Although Parliament had altered the recommended name, it retained the recommended boundaries, and was defined as consisting of three municipal wards of the county borough of Manchester, namely Beswick, Bradford and Newton Heath.^[3]

1950–1955

Constituencies throughout Great Britain were reorganised by the Representation of the People Act 1948, which introduced the term "borough constituency". Manchester, Clayton Borough Constituency was redefined to comprise four wards: Beswick, Bradford, Miles Platting and Newton Heath. Miles Platting had previously formed part of the Manchester Platting seat.^[4] The revised boundaries were first used in the 1950 general election.

Abolition

Following a report by the boundary commissioners appointed under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, constituencies in the Manchester area were reorganised in 1955. The Clayton constituency was abolished, with its area divided between the Manchester Cheetham and Manchester Openshaw seats.^[5]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Edward Hopkinson	Conservative
	1922 by-election	John Edward Sutton	Labour
	1922	William Henry Flanagan	Conservative
	1923	John Edward Sutton	Labour
	1931	William Henry Flanagan	Conservative
	1935	John Jagger	Labour
	1942 by-election	Harry Thorneycroft	Labour
	1955	constituency abolished

History of the constituency

See Clayton, Greater Manchester

Election results

Election in the 1920s

General Election 1923: Manchester Clayton ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Edward Sutton	17,255	56.7
	Unionist	William Henry Flanagan	13,164	43.3
Majority			4,091	13.4
Turnout				83.5
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

General Election 1929: Manchester Clayton ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Edward Sutton	21,103	55.0
	Unionist	William Henry Flanagan	14,062	36.7
	Liberal	Charles Herbert Travis	3,207	8.3
Majority			7,041	18.3
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Manchester Clayton
Manchester County Borough wards of Beswick, Bradford and Newton Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Henry Flanagan	22,072	56.25
	Labour	John Edward Sutton	17,169	43.75
Majority			4,903	12.5

Election in the 1940s

Manchester Clayton by-election, 1942^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Thorneycroft	8,892	93.3	+39.4
	Independent	E. H. Foot	636	6.7	N/A
Majority			8,256	86.6	+79.2
Turnout				20.8	-56.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1945: Manchester Clayton
Manchester County Borough wards of Beswick, Bradford and Newton Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Thorneycroft	22,401	69.4
	Conservative	P Smith	9,883	30.6
Majority			12,518	37.8
	Labour hold		Swing
Turnout				69.6

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Manchester Clayton
Manchester County Borough wards of Beswick, Bradford, Miles Platting and Newton Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Thorneycroft	29,128	63.0	-6.4
	Conservative	D H Broome	14,800	32.0	+1.4
	Liberal	Herbert Walls	2,295	5.0	+5.0
Majority			14,328	31.0	-6.8

General Election 1951: Manchester Clayton
Manchester County Borough wards of Beswick, Bradford, Miles Platting and Newton Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Thorneycroft	27,985	63.5	+0.5
	Conservative	M S Grant	16,122	36.5	+4.5
Majority			11,863	26.9	-1.4

References

1. "Parliamentary Borough of Manchester" in Schedule part II of "Report of the Boundary Commission (England and Wales), 1917", Cd. 8756.
2. "Parliament", The Times, 30 November 1917, p. 12.
3. Ninth Schedule, Part I: Parliamentary Boroughs, 1918 c.64 sch.9
4. First Schedule: Parliamentary Constituencies, 1948 c.65 sch.1
5. Parliamentary Constituencies (Manchester, Oldham and Ashton under Lyne) Order, 1955 (S.I. 1955 No.16)
6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
7. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
8. F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49, p.186

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)