THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
CONSTITUENCIES BEGINNING WITH "W"
Last updated 13/06/2017 (16 Feb 2024)
Date		Name	Born	Died	Age
Dates in italics in the first column denote that the election held on that date was a by‑election or, in some instances, the date of a successful petition against a previous election result. Dates shown in normal type were general elections.
Dates in italics in the "Born" column indicate that the MP was baptised on that date; dates in italics in the "Died" column indicate that the MP was buried on that date.
WATERLOO (LANCASHIRE)
14 Dec 1918		Albert Buckley	10 Apr 1877	13 Nov 1965	88
6 Dec 1923		Harold Malcolm Bullock, later [1954] 1st baronet	10 Jul 1890	20 Jun 1966	75
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1950
WATFORD (HERTFORDSHIRE)
28 Nov 1885		Thomas Frederick Halsey, later [1920] 1st baronet	9 Dec 1839	12 Feb 1927	87
23 Jan 1906		Nathaniel Micklem	20 Nov 1853	19 Mar 1954	100
27 Jan 1910		Arnold Sandwith Ward	8 Nov 1876	1 Jan 1950	73
14 Dec 1918		Dennis Henry Herbert [kt 1929], later [1943] 1st Baron Hemingford	25 Feb 1869	10 Dec 1947	78
23 Feb 1943		William Helmore	1 Mar 1894	18 Jan 1964	69
26 Jul 1945		John Freeman	19 Feb 1915	20 Dec 2014	99
26 May 1955		Frederick William Farey‑Jones	21 May 1904	18 Feb 1974	69
15 Oct 1964		Raphael Herman Tuck	5 Apr 1910	1 Jul 1982	72
3 May 1979		William Armand Thomas Tristan Garel‑Jones, later [1997] Baron Garel‑Jones [L]	28 Feb 1941	23 Mar 2020	79
1 May 1997		Claire Margaret Ward	9 May 1972
6 May 2010		Richard Irwin Harrington, later [2022] Baron Harrington of Watford [L]	4 Nov 1957
12 Dec 2019		Dean Russell	8 May 1976
WAVENEY (SUFFOLK)
9 Jun 1983		James Michael Leathes Prior, later [1987] Baron Prior [L]	11 Oct 1927	12 Dec 2016	89
11 Jun 1987		David John Porter	16 Apr 1948
1 May 1997		Robert John Blizzard	31 May 1950	10 May 2022	71
6 May 2010		Peter James Guy Aldous	26 Aug 1961
WAVERTREE (LIVERPOOL)
14 Dec 1918		Nathan Raw	2 Aug 1866	28 Aug 1940	74
15 Nov 1922		Sir Harold Smith	18 Apr 1876	10 Sep 1924	48
6 Dec 1923		Hugh Reynolds Rathbone	4 Apr 1862	19 Jan 1940	77
29 Oct 1924		John Abraham Tinné	27 Nov 1877	22 Sep 1933	55
23 Jun 1931		Arthur Ronald Nall Nall‑Cain, later [1934] 2nd Baron Brocket	4 Aug 1904	24 Mar 1967	62
6 Feb 1935		Joseph Jackson Cleary [kt 1965]	26 Oct 1902	9 Feb 1993	90
14 Nov 1935		Peter Stapleton Shaw	6 Jul 1888	3 Aug 1953	65
26 Jul 1945		Henry Victor Alpin MacKinnon Raikes [kt 1953]	19 Jan 1901	18 Apr 1986	85
23 Feb 1950		John Dudley Robert Tarleton Tilney [kt 1973]	19 Dec 1907	26 Apr 1994	86
28 Feb 1974		Anthony David Steen	22 Jul 1939
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983, BUT REVIVED 1997
1 May 1997		Jane Elizabeth Kennedy	4 May 1958
6 May 2010		Luciana Clare Berger	13 May 1981
12 Dec 2019		Paula Barker	9 May 1972
WEALDEN (EAST SUSSEX)
9 Jun 1983		Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith	16 Apr 1924	11 Aug 2010	86
7 Jun 2001		Charles Hendry	6 May 1959
7 May 2015		Nusrat Munir Ul-Ghani	1 Sep 1972
WEAVER VALE (CHESHIRE)
1 May 1997		Michael Thomas Hall	20 Sep 1952
6 May 2010		Graham Thomas Evans, later [2022] Baron Evans of Rainow [L]	10 Nov 1963
8 Jun 2017		Michael Lee Amesbury	7 May 1969
WEDNESBURY (STAFFORDSHIRE)
18 Nov 1868		Alexander Brogden For further information on the death of this MP, see the note at the foot of this page	3 Nov 1825	26 Nov 1892	67
27 Nov 1885		Wilson Lloyd	3 Sep 1835	4 Sep 1908	73
6 Jul 1886		Philip James Stanhope, later [1906] 1st Baron Weardale For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of his peerage	8 Dec 1847	1 Mar 1923	75
Jul 1892		Wilson Lloyd	3 Sep 1835	4 Sep 1908	73
16 Jul 1895		Walford Davis Green	24 Aug 1869	17 Nov 1941	72
16 Jan 1906		Clarendon Golding Hyde [kt 1910]	5 Feb 1858	24 Jun 1934	76
15 Jan 1910		John Norton Norton‑Griffiths [kt 1917], later [1922] 1st baronet For further information on this MP, see the note attached to the page containing details of his baronetcy	13 Jul 1871	27 Sep 1930	59
14 Dec 1918		Alfred Short	24 Nov 1882	24 Aug 1938	55
27 Oct 1931		William Humble Eric Ward, styled Viscount Ednam, later [1932] 3rd Earl of Dudley	30 Jan 1894	26 Dec 1969	75
26 Jul 1932		John William Banfield	1875	25 May 1945	69
26 Jul 1945		Stanley Norman Evans	1 Feb 1898	25 Jun 1970	72
28 Feb 1957		John Thomson Stonehouse	28 Jul 1925	15 Apr 1988	62
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED FEB 1974
WELLINGBOROUGH (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE)
14 Dec 1918		Walter Robert Smith	7 May 1872	25 Feb 1942	69
15 Nov 1922		Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare, later [1942] 1st baronet	23 Sep 1893	8 Sep 1980	86
6 Dec 1923		William George Cove	21 May 1888	15 Mar 1963	74
30 May 1929		George Dallas	6 Aug 1878	4 Jan 1961	82
27 Oct 1931		Archibald William Henry James [kt 1945]	28 Sep 1893	5 May 1980	86
26 Jul 1945		George Samuel Lindgren, later [1961] Baron Lindgren [L]	11 Nov 1900	8 Sep 1971	70
8 Oct 1959		Michael Aubrey Hamilton [kt 1983]	5 Jul 1918	3 Jul 2000	81
15 Oct 1964		Harry Howarth	3 Aug 1916	8 Aug 1969	53
4 Dec 1969		Peter Derek Fry [kt 1994]	26 May 1931	12 May 2015	83
1 May 1997		Paul David Stinchcombe	25 Apr 1962
5 May 2005		Peter William Bone [he was unseated as a result of a recall petition 19 Dec 2023]	19 Oct 1952
15 Feb 2024		Genevieve Victoria Kitchen
WELLINGTON (SHROPSHIRE)
3 Dec 1885		Alexander Hargreaves Brown, later [1903] 1st baronet	11 Apr 1844	12 Mar 1922	77
24 Jan 1906		Charles Solomon Henry, later [1911] 1st baronet	28 Jan 1860	27 Dec 1919	59
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918
WELLINGTON (SOMERSET)
2 Dec 1885		Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th baronet	25 May 1809	29 May 1898	89
7 Jul 1886		Charles Isaac Elton	6 Dec 1839	23 Apr 1900	60
Jul 1892		Sir Alexander Fuller-Acland-Hood, 4th baronet, later [1911] 1st Baron St. Audries	26 Sep 1853	4 Jun 1917	63
21 Jul 1911		Dennis Fortescue Boles, later [1922] 1st baronet	6 Sep 1861	26 Jul 1935	74
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918
WELLS (SOMERSET)
c Apr 1660		Thomas White	c 1630	25 Aug 1670
		Henry Bull	8 Oct 1630	28 Jan 1692	61
26 Mar 1661		Lord Richard Butler, later [1662] 1st Earl of Arran [I] and [1673] 1st Baron Butler of Weston	15 Jun 1639	25 Jan 1686	46
		Sir Maurice Berkeley, 1st baronet, later [1668] 3rd Viscount Fitzhardinge	15 Jun 1628	13 Jun 1690	61
4 Nov 1673		John Hall	17 May 1632	1711	79
21 Feb 1679		Edward Berkeley [he was again returned at the Aug 1679 general election, but he was subsequently unseated on petition in favour of John Hall 27 Nov 1680]	c 1644	1707
		William Coward (to 1685)	19 Jul 1634	8 Apr 1705	70
27 Nov 1680		John Hall	17 May 1632	1711	79
20 Mar 1685		Thomas Wyndham	c 1642	16 Dec 1689
		Edward Berkeley (to 1701)	c 1644	1707
17 Jan 1690		William Coward	19 Jul 1634	8 Apr 1705	70
27 Feb 1690		Hopton Wyndham	c 1665	10 Oct 1697
7 Nov 1695		William Coward (to 1705)	19 Jul 1634	8 Apr 1705	70
7 Jan 1701		Henry Portman (to 1708)	c 1637	23 Feb 1728
14 May 1705		Maurice Berkeley	c 1681	by May 1717
8 May 1708		Edward Colston (to 1713)	after 1672	5 Apr 1719
		William Coward	10 Jun 1666	16 Jun 1716	50
14 Oct 1710		Maurice Berkeley (to May 1716)	c 1681	by May 1717
2 Sep 1713		Sir Thomas Wroth, 3rd baronet	c 1674	27 Jun 1721
4 Feb 1715		Thomas Horner (Thomas Strangways Horner from 1726)	3 Jul 1688	19 Nov 1741	53
		Both sitting members (Berkeley and Horner) were unseated on petition in favour of William Coward and William Piers 30 May 1716
30 May 1716		William Coward	10 Jun 1666	16 Jun 1716	50
		William Piers (to 1722)	20 May 1686	1755	69
27 Jun 1716		Thomas Horner (Thomas Strangways Horner from 1726) [he was unseated on petition in favour of John Dodd 12 Apr 1717]	3 Jul 1688	19 Nov 1741	53
12 Apr 1717		John Dodd	c 1693	25 Aug 1719
14 Dec 1719		Thomas Edwards (to 1735)	c 1673	c Jun 1743
23 Mar 1722		Francis Gwyn	c 1648	14 Jun 1734
21 Aug 1727		Edward Prideaux Gwyn [he was unseated on petition in favour of William Piers 18 Apr 1729]	c 1698	c Jun 1736
18 Apr 1729		William Piers	20 May 1686	1755	69
30 Apr 1734		George Hamilton	c 1697	3 May 1775
		Both sitting members (Edwards and Hamilton) were unseated on petition in favour of William Piers and George Speke 25 Mar 1735]
25 Mar 1735		William Piers	20 May 1686	1755	69
		George Speke (to 1747)	c 1686	2 Jan 1753
14 May 1741		Francis Gwyn (to 1754)	c 1699	17 Nov 1777
29 Jun 1747		George Hamilton	c 1697	3 May 1775
16 Apr 1754		Edward Digby, 6th Baron Digby [I]	5 Jul 1730	30 Nov 1757	27
		Charles Tudway (to 1761)	2 Nov 1713	4 Sep 1770	56
15 Dec 1757		Robert Digby	20 Dec 1732	25 Feb 1815	82
27 Mar 1761		Henry Digby, 7th Baron Digby [I], later [1765] 1st Baron Digby [GB] and [1790] 1st Earl Digby	21 Jul 1731	25 Sep 1793	62
		Clement Tudway (to 1815)	8 Oct 1734	7 Jun 1815	80
26 Dec 1765		Peter Taylor	11 Nov 1714	3 Nov 1777	62
		Robert Child	Feb 1739	28 Jul 1782	43
		Two returns made. Child declared elected 15 Jan 1766
31 Aug 1782		John Curtis	c 1751	30 Nov 1813
5 Apr 1784		William Beckford	29 Sep 1760	2 May 1844	83
18 Jun 1790		Henry Berkeley Portman	c 1768	22 Mar 1803
27 May 1796		Charles William Taylor, later [1828] 1st baronet (to 1830)	25 Apr 1770	10 Apr 1857	76
19 Jul 1815		John Paine Tudway	22 Apr 1775	28 Jun 1835	60
5 Aug 1830		John Edwards-Vaughan	29 Mar 1772	16 Aug 1833	61
		John Lee Lee (to 1837)	11 Dec 1802	16 Aug 1874	71
14 Dec 1832		Norman Lamont		Apr 1834
5 May 1834		Nicholas William Ridley‑Colborne, later [1839] 1st Baron Colborne	14 Apr 1779	3 May 1854	75
24 Jul 1837		Richard Blakemore	1775	17 Apr 1855	79
		William Goodenough Hayter, later [1858] 1st baronet (to 1865)	28 Jan 1792	26 Dec 1878	86
9 Jul 1852		Robert Charles Tudway	1808	20 Oct 1855	47
21 Nov 1855		Hedworth Hylton Jolliffe, later [1870] 2nd Baron Hylton of Hylton (to 1868)	23 Jun 1829	30 Oct 1899	70
11 Jul 1865		Arthur Divett Hayter, later [1878] 2nd baronet and [1906] 1st Baron Haversham	9 Aug 1835	1 May 1917	81
CONSTITUENCY DISENFRANCHISED 1868, BUT REVIVED 1885
5 Dec 1885		Richard Horner Paget, later [1886] 1st baronet	14 Mar 1832	3 Feb 1908	75
26 Jul 1895		Hylton George Hylton Jolliffe, later [1899] 3rd Baron Hylton of Hylton	10 Nov 1862	26 May 1945	82
7 Dec 1899		Robert Edmund Dickinson	1 Aug 1862	16 Nov 1947	85
24 Jan 1906		Thomas Ball Silcock	19 Sep 1854	1 Apr 1924	69
21 Jan 1910		George John Sandys	23 Sep 1875	3 Sep 1937	61
14 Dec 1918		Harry Greer [kt 1922]	18 Sep 1876	20 Mar 1947	70
15 Nov 1922		Robert Bruford	Jun 1868	29 Dec 1939	71
6 Dec 1923		Arthur Lawrence Hobhouse [kt 1942]	15 Feb 1886	20 Jan 1965	78
29 Oct 1924		Sir Robert Arthur Sanders, 1st baronet, later [1929] 1st Baron Bayford	20 Jun 1867	24 Feb 1940	72
30 May 1929		Anthony John Muirhead	4 Nov 1890	29 Oct 1939	48
13 Dec 1939		Dennis Coleridge Boles	4 Jun 1885	25 Apr 1958	72
25 Oct 1951		Stephen Lynch Conway Maydon	15 Dec 1913	2 Mar 1971	57
18 Jun 1970		Robert Thomas Boscawen	17 Mar 1923	28 Dec 2013	90
9 Jun 1983		David Philip Heathcoat‑Amory	21 Mar 1949
6 May 2010		Tessa Jane Munt	16 Oct 1959
7 May 2015		James Stephen Heappey	30 Jan 1981
WELWYN HATFIELD
28 Feb 1974		Robert Alexander Lindsay, styled Lord Balniel, later [Jan 1975] Baron Balniel [L] and [Dec 1975] 29th Earl of Crawford and 12th Earl of Balcarres	5 Mar 1927	18 Mar 2023	96
10 Oct 1974		Helene Valerie Hayman, later [1996] Baroness Hayman [L]	26 Mar 1949
3 May 1979		Christopher Philip Yorke Murphy	20 Apr 1947
11 Jun 1987		David John Evans	23 Apr 1935	22 Oct 2008	73
1 May 1997		Melanie Jane Johnson	5 Feb 1955
5 May 2005		Grant Shapps	14 Sep 1968
WEMBLEY NORTH
26 Jul 1945		Charles Rider Hobson, later [1964] Baron Hobson [L]	18 Feb 1903	17 Feb 1966	62
23 Feb 1950		Eric Edward Bullus [kt 1964]	20 Nov 1906	31 Aug 2001	94
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED FEB 1974
WEMBLEY SOUTH
26 Jul 1945		Clarence Barton	21 Jun 1892	15 Sep 1957	65
23 Feb 1950		Ronald Stanley Russell [kt 1964]	29 May 1904	6 Apr 1974	69
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED FEB 1974
WENDOVER (BUCKINGHAMSHIRE)
Apr 1660		Richard Hampden (to 1681)	13 Oct 1631	12 Dec 1695	64
		John Baldwin		13 Oct 1691
15 Apr 1661		Robert Croke	c 1636	30 Jul 1671
29 Jan 1673		Edward Backwell [Backwell's election was declared void on 6 Feb 1673. At the resultant by‑election held on 10 Feb 1673, Backwell was re-elected, but was unseated on petition 19 Mar 1673]	c 1618	1683
19 Mar 1673		Thomas Wharton, later [1696] 5th Baron Wharton, [1715] 1st Marquess of Catherlough and [1715] 1st Marquess of Wharton and 1st Marquess of Malmesbury	23 Oct 1648	12 Apr 1715	66
3 Feb 1679		Edward Backwell (to 1685)	c 1618	1683
5 Feb 1681		John Hampden	21 Mar 1653	7 Dec 1696	43
21 Mar 1685		Richard Hampden (to 1690)	13 Oct 1631	12 Dec 1695	64
		John Backwell	20 Apr 1654	15 Apr 1708	53
12 Jan 1689		John Hampden	21 Mar 1653	7 Dec 1696	43
21 Feb 1690		Richard Beke	8 Sep 1630	29 Nov 1707	77
		John Backwell (to Nov 1701)	20 Apr 1654	15 Apr 1708	53
7 Jan 1701		Richard Hampden (to 1708)	after 1674	27 Jul 1728
25 Nov 1701		Richard Crawley	29 Aug 1666	21 Mar 1713	46
15 Jul 1702		Sir Roger Hill [he was unseated on petition in favour of Richard Crawley 23 Nov 1702]	19 Jun 1642	29 Dec 1729	87
23 Nov 1702		Richard Crawley	29 Aug 1666	21 Mar 1713	46
8 May 1705		Sir Roger Hill (to 1722)	19 Jun 1642	29 Dec 1729	87
3 May 1708		Thomas Ellys	13 Apr 1685	24 May 1709	24
21 Nov 1709		Henry Grey	17 Aug 1683	9 Sep 1740	57
25 Aug 1713		Richard Hampden [he was also returned for Berwick-upon-Tweed, for which he chose to sit]	after 1674	27 Jul 1728
13 Mar 1714		James Stanhope, later [1718] 1st Earl Stanhope	1673	5 Feb 1721	47
22 Jan 1715		Richard Grenville	23 Mar 1678	17 Feb 1727	48
21 Mar 1722		Richard Hampden (to 1728) [at the general election in Aug 1727, Hampden was also returned for Buckinghamshire, for which he chose to sit]	after 1674	27 Jul 1728
		Sir Richard Steele	12 Mar 1672	1 Sep 1729	57
16 Aug 1727		James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Limerick [I], later [1756] 1st Earl of Clanbrassil [I] (to 1734)	c 1691	17 Mar 1758
18 Mar 1728		John Hamilton	27 Nov 1685	Mar 1757
23 Apr 1734		John Boteler [his election was declared void 17 Apr 1735]	1684	17 Jul 1774	90
		John Hampden (to 1754)	c 1695	4 Feb 1754
22 Apr 1735		James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Limerick [I], later [1756] 1st Earl of Clanbrassil [I]	c 1691	17 Mar 1758
2 May 1741		Ralph Verney, 2nd Viscount Fermanagh [I], later [1743] 1st Earl Verney [I]	18 Mar 1683	4 Oct 1752	69
17 Jan 1753		Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney [I] (to 1761)	1 Feb 1714	31 Mar 1791	77
25 Feb 1754		John Calvert	6 May 1726	22 Feb 1804	77
30 Mar 1761		Richard Cavendish (to 1768)	c 1703	22 Nov 1769
		Verney Lovett	2 Dec 1705	10 Dec 1771	66
23 Dec 1765		Edmund Burke (to 1774)	12 Jan 1729	9 Jul 1797	68
16 Mar 1768		Sir Robert Darling		4 Aug 1770
6 Sep 1770		Joseph Bullock (to 1775)	11 Dec 1731	13 Apr 1808	76
8 Oct 1774		John Adams [he was also returned for Carmarthen, for which he chose to sit]	c 1746	2 Jun 1817
24 Dec 1774		Henry Drummond (to 1780)	1730	24 Jun 1795	64
14 Mar 1775		Thomas Dummer	c 1739	3 Jun 1781
9 Sep 1780		Richard Smith	15 May 1734	3 Jul 1803	69
		John Mansell Smith	c 1758	after 1784
31 Mar 1784		Robert Burton	c 1738	2 Mar 1810
		John Ord	11 Oct 1729	6 Jun 1814	84
16 Jun 1790		John Barker Church	9 Nov 1748	2 May 1818	69
		Hugh Seymour-Conway (styled Lord Hugh Seymour‑Conway from 1793)	29 Apr 1759	11 Sep 1801	42
25 May 1796		John Hiley Addington	1759	11 Jun 1818	58
		George Canning	11 Apr 1770	8 Aug 1827	57
5 Jul 1802		Charles Long, later [1826] 1st Baron Farnborough	29 Jan 1760	17 Jan 1838	77
		John Smith	6 Sep 1767	20 Jan 1842	74
29 Oct 1806		Philip Henry Stanhope, styled Viscount Mahon, later [1816] 4th Earl Stanhope [at the general election in May 1807, he was also returned for Kingston-upon-Hull, for which he chose to sit]	7 Dec 1781	2 Mar 1855	73
		George Smith (to 1830)	30 Apr 1765	26 Dec 1836	71
20 Jul 1807		Francis Horner	12 Aug 1778	8 Feb 1817	38
5 Oct 1812		Abel Smith	17 Jul 1788	23 Feb 1859	70
17 Jun 1818		Robert John Smith, later [1838] 2nd Baron Carrington	16 Jan 1796	17 Mar 1868	72
6 Mar 1820		Samuel Smith (to 1832)	14 Apr 1754	12 Mar 1834	79
31 Jul 1830		Abel Smith	17 Jul 1788	23 Feb 1859	70
CONSTITUENCY DISENFRANCHISED 1832
(MUCH) WENLOCK (SHROPSHIRE)
21 Apr 1660		Sir Francis Lawley, 2nd baronet	c 1626	25 Oct 1696
		Thomas Whitmore	12 Feb 1599	30 May 1677	78
4 Apr 1661		Sir Thomas Littleton, 2nd baronet	c 1621	14 Apr 1681
		George Weld	c 1635	14 Sep 1701
18 Feb 1679		Sir John Weld	26 Jan 1613	4 Aug 1681	68
		William Forester [kt 1689] (to 1685)	10 Dec 1655	22 Feb 1718	62
27 Aug 1679		John Wolryche	c 1637	17 Jun 1685
31 Mar 1685		Thomas Lawley, later [1696] 3rd baronet	c 1650	late 1729
		George Weld (to 1701)	c 1635	14 Sep 1701
14 Jan 1689		Sir William Forester (to 1715)	10 Dec 1655	22 Feb 1718	62
27 Nov 1701		George Weld	Apr 1674	9 Jul 1748	74
11 May 1708		Thomas Weld	c 1678	9 Sep 1774
10 Oct 1710		George Weld	Apr 1674	9 Jul 1748	74
2 Sep 1713		William Whitmore [he was also returned for Bridgnorth, for which he chose to sit]	c 1682	24 May 1725
17 Mar 1714		Richard Newport	28 Jul 1685	3 Dec 1716	31
1 Feb 1715		Thomas Newport, later [1716] 1st Baron Torrington	c 1655	27 May 1719
		William Forester (to 1722)	1690	12 Nov 1758	68
13 Jul 1716		Sir Humphrey Briggs, 4th baronet (to 1727)	c 1670	8 Dec 1734
27 Mar 1722		Samuel Edwards (to 1739)	c 1668	12 Jun 1738
28 Aug 1727		John Sambrooke	c 1692	19 May 1734
27 Apr 1734		William Forester (to 1741)	1690	12 Nov 1758	68
14 Feb 1739		Brooke Forester (to 1768)	7 Feb 1717	8 Jul 1771	54
5 May 1741		Sir Bryan Broughton-Delves, 4th baronet	6 Jan 1718	11 Aug 1744	26
7 Dec 1744		Isaac Hawkins Browne	21 Jan 1706	14 Feb 1760	54
19 Apr 1754		William Forester	1690	12 Nov 1758	68
8 Dec 1758		George Forester	21 Dec 1735	13 Jul 1811	75
28 Mar 1761		Cecil Forester	c 1721	22 Aug 1774
18 Mar 1768		Sir Henry Bridgeman, 5th baronet, later [1794] 1st Baron Bradford (to 1794)	7 Sep 1725	5 Jun 1800	74
		George Forester	21 Dec 1735	13 Jul 1811	75
13 Sep 1780		Thomas Whitmore [he was also returned for Bridgnorth, for which he chose to sit]	c 1742	17 Apr 1795
9 Dec 1780		George Forester	21 Dec 1735	13 Jul 1811	75
7 Apr 1784		John Bridgeman (Simpson from 1785)	13 May 1763	5 Jun 1850	87
9 Aug 1785		George Forester	21 Dec 1735	13 Jul 1811	75
22 Jun 1790		Cecil Weld-Forester, later [1821] 1st Baron Forester (to 1820)	7 Apr 1767	23 May 1828	61
9 Sep 1794		John Simpson	13 May 1763	5 Jun 1850	87
9 Mar 1820		Francis Forester	19 Aug 1774	22 Oct 1861	87
		William Lacon Childe	3 Jan 1786	Dec 1880	94
10 Jun 1826		John George Weld Weld‑Forester, later [1828] 2nd Baron Forester	9 Aug 1801	10 Oct 1874	73
		Paul Beilby Thompson, later [1839] 1st Baron Wenlock (to 1832)	1 Jul 1784	9 May 1852	67
17 Jun 1828		George Cecil Weld Weld‑Forester, later [1874] 3rd Baron Forester (to 1874)	10 May 1807	14 Feb 1886	78
12 Dec 1832		James Milnes Gaskell	19 Oct 1810	5 Feb 1873	62
16 Nov 1868		Alexander Hargreaves Brown, later [1903] 1st baronet	11 Apr 1844	12 Mar 1922	77
16 Nov 1874		Cecil Theodore Weld‑Forester, later [1894] 5th Baron Forester	3 Aug 1842	20 Nov 1917	75
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1885
WENTWORTH (YORKSHIRE)
14 Dec 1918		George Henry Hirst	17 May 1868	13 Nov 1933	65
22 Dec 1933		Wilfred Paling	7 Apr 1883	17 Apr 1971	88
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1950, BUT REVIVED 1983
9 Jun 1983		Peter Hardy, later [1997] Baron Hardy of Wath [L]	16 Jul 1931	16 Dec 2003	72
1 May 1997		John Healey	13 Feb 1960
NAME ALTERED TO "WENTWORTH AND DEARNE" 2010
WENTWORTH AND DEARNE (SOUTH YORKSHIRE)
6 May 2010		John Healey	13 Feb 1960
WEOBLY (HEREFORDSHIRE)
13 Apr 1660		James Pytts	c 1627	c Feb 1686
		Richard Weston	c 1620	18 Mar 1681
		Election declared void 16 Jul 1660
2 Aug 1660		Thomas Tomkyns (to 1675)	c 1605	31 Dec 1674
		Sir Herbert Perrott	c 1617	1 Aug 1683
2 Apr 1661		John Barneby (to 1679)	3 May 1621	27 Aug 1701	80
22 Apr 1675		Sir Thomas Williams, 1st baronet	c 1621	12 Sep 1712
		Election declared void 22 Feb 1678
7 Mar 1678		William Gregory [kt 1679] (to Sep 1679)	1 Mar 1625	28 May 1696	71
7 Feb 1679		John Birch (to 1685)	7 Sep 1615	10 May 1691	75
4 Sep 1679		John Booth		1 Mar 1705
19 Mar 1685		Henry Cornewall	c 1654	22 Feb 1717
		Robert Price	14 Jan 1653	2 Feb 1733	80
12 Jan 1689		John Birch (to 1691)	7 Sep 1615	10 May 1691	75
		James Morgan	c 1660	9 Nov 1717
28 Feb 1690		Robert Price (to Jan 1701)	14 Jan 1653	2 Feb 1733	80
5 Jun 1691		Thomas Foley (to Jan 1701)	c 1670	10 Dec 1737
		John Birch	c 1666	6 Oct 1735
		Double return. Foley seated 12 Nov 1691
26 Jul 1698		Robert Price	14 Jan 1653	2 Feb 1733	80
		Thomas Foley	c 1670	10 Dec 1737
		John Birch	c 1666	6 Oct 1735
		Double return between Foley and Birch. Foley declared elected 13 Jan 1699
9 Jan 1701		Henry Cornewall	c 1654	22 Feb 1717
		John Birch (to 1702)	c 1666	6 Oct 1735
27 Nov 1701		Robert Price	14 Jan 1653	2 Feb 1733	80
21 Jul 1702		Henry Cornewall (to 1708)	c 1654	22 Feb 1717
		Thomas Price For information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page	16 Jan 1680	17 Sep 1706	26
14 May 1705		John Birch (to Feb 1715)	c 1666	6 Oct 1735
6 May 1708		Henry Thynne [he was also returned for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis, for which he chose to sit]	8 Feb 1675	20 Dec 1708	33
13 Dec 1708		Henry Gorges	c 1665	14 Mar 1718
9 Oct 1710		Henry Cornewall	c 1654	22 Feb 1717
31 Aug 1713		Uvedale Tomkyns Price	17 Sep 1685	17 Mar 1764	78
1 Feb 1715		Paul Foley [he was unseated on petition in favour of John Birch 18 Jun 1715]		28 Nov 1739
		Charles Cornwall (to 1718)	9 Aug 1669	7 Oct 1718	49
18 Jun 1715		John Birch (to 1732) [expelled 30 Mar 1732]	c 1666	6 Oct 1735
22 Nov 1718		Nicholas Philpott	c 1695	6 Jul 1732
21 Sep 1727		Uvedale Tomkyns Price (to 1734)	17 Sep 1685	17 Mar 1764	78
14 Apr 1732		James Cornewall	17 Nov 1698	11 Feb 1744	45
30 Apr 1734		Sir John Buckworth, 2nd baronet (to 1741)	5 Apr 1700	31 Dec 1758	58
		John Birch	c 1666	6 Oct 1735
3 Mar 1737		James Cornewall [after the death of John Birch, Cornewall was seated on petition, without the occurrence of a by‑election]	17 Nov 1698	11 Feb 1744	45
15 May 1741		George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter [I]	c 1695	12 Jul 1749
		Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston [I]	c 1673	10 Jun 1757
1 Jul 1747		Mansel Powell [he was unseated on petition in favour of John Perceval, Viscount Perceval 9 Dec 1747]	c 1696	5 Jun 1775
		Savage Mostyn (to 1757)	c 1713	16 Sep 1757
9 Dec 1747		John Perceval, Viscount Perceval [I], later [1748] 2nd Earl of Egmont [I]	24 Feb 1711	20 Dec 1770	59
15 Apr 1754		John Craster (to 1761)	c 1697	31 Dec 1763
7 Dec 1757		George Venables-Vernon, later [1780] 2nd Baron Vernon	9 May 1735	18 Jun 1813	78
28 Mar 1761		William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, styled Marquess of Titchfield, later [1762] 3rd Duke of Portland	14 Apr 1738	30 Oct 1809	71
		Henry Frederick Thynne, later [1784] 1st Baron Carteret (to 1770)	17 Nov 1735	17 Jun 1826	90
12 Jun 1762		William Lynch	c 1730	25 Aug 1785
18 Mar 1768		Simon Luttrell, 1st Baron Irnham [I], later [1781] 1st Viscount Carhampton [I] and [1785] 1st Earl of Carhampton [I] (to 1774)	1713	14 Jan 1787	73
26 Dec 1770		Bamber Gascoyne	22 Feb 1725	27 Oct 1791	66
13 Oct 1774		Sir William Lynch	c 1730	25 Aug 1785
		John St. Leger Douglas (to 1783)	c 1732	23 May 1783
31 Mar 1780		Andrew Bayntun-Rolt, later [1800] 2nd baronet (to 1786)	c 1740	12 Aug 1816
16 Jun 1783		John Scott, later [1821] 1st Earl of Eldon (to 1796)	4 Jun 1751	13 Jan 1838	86
22 Apr 1786		Thomas Thynne, later [1796] 2nd Marquess of Bath [at the general election in Jun 1790, he was also returned for Bath, for which he chose to sit]	25 Jan 1765	27 Mar 1837	72
28 Dec 1790		Lord George Thynne, later [1826] 2nd Baron Carteret (to Oct 1812)	23 Jan 1770	19 Feb 1838	68
27 May 1796		Lord John Thynne, later [1838] 3rd Baron Carteret	28 Dec 1772	10 Mar 1849	76
16 Dec 1796		Inigo Freeman Thomas	25 Jan 1767	21 Dec 1847	80
1 Apr 1800		Sir Charles Talbot, 2nd baronet	8 Nov 1751	3 Nov 1812	60
8 Jul 1802		Robert Steele	24 Feb 1757	10 Jul 1817	60
6 May 1807		Heneage Finch, styled Baron Guernsey, later [1812] 5th Earl of Aylesford	24 Apr 1786	3 Jan 1859	72
15 Jan 1812		Henry George Bathurst, styled Baron Apsley, later [1834] 4th Earl Bathurst	24 Feb 1790	25 May 1866	76
10 Oct 1812		George Ashburnham, styled Viscount St. Asaph	9 Oct 1785	7 Jun 1813	27
		William Lennox Bathurst, later [1866] 5th Earl Bathurst (to 1816)	14 Feb 1791	24 Feb 1878	87
22 Jun 1813		James Lenox William Naper (to 1818)	18 Feb 1791	2 Sep 1868	77
20 Feb 1816		Lord Frederick Cavendish‑Bentinck (to 1824)	2 Nov 1781	11 Feb 1828	46
17 Jun 1818		Thomas Thynne, styled Viscount Weymouth	9 Apr 1796	16 Jan 1837	40
7 Mar 1820		Sir George Cockburn, later [1852] 10th baronet (to 1828)	22 Apr 1772	19 Aug 1853	81
16 Feb 1824		Lord Henry Frederick Thynne, later [1837] 3rd Marquess of Bath	24 May 1797	24 Jun 1837	40
9 Jun 1826		Lord William Thynne (to 1831)	17 Oct 1803	30 Jan 1890	86
12 Jun 1828		Lord Henry Frederick Thynne, later [1837] 3rd Marquess of Bath (to 1832)	24 May 1797	24 Jun 1837	40
30 Apr 1831		Lord Edward Thynne	23 Jan 1807	4 Feb 1884	77
CONSTITUENCY DISENFRANCHISED 1832
WEST BROMWICH
26 Nov 1885		John Horton Blades	1841	1916	75
5 Jul 1886		James Ernest Spencer [kt 1901]	5 May 1848	29 Jun 1937	89
16 Jan 1906		Alfred Ernest William Hazel	1869	20 Aug 1944	75
17 Jan 1910		William Legge, styled Viscount Lewisham, later [1936] 7th Earl of Dartmouth	22 Feb 1881	28 Feb 1958	77
14 Dec 1918		Frederick Owen Roberts	2 Jul 1876	23 Oct 1941	65
27 Oct 1931		Alexander Ramsay [kt 1938]	12 Jan 1887	17 Oct 1969	82
14 Nov 1935		Frederick Owen Roberts	2 Jul 1876	23 Oct 1941	65
16 Apr 1941		John Dugdale	16 Mar 1905	12 Mar 1963	57
4 Jul 1963		Maurice Anthony Foley	9 Oct 1925	8 Feb 2002	76
24 May 1973		Betty Boothroyd, later [2001] Baroness Boothroyd [L]	8 Oct 1929	23 Feb 2023	93
CONSTITUENCY SPLIT INTO "EAST" AND "WEST" DIVISIONS FEB 1974
WEST BROMWICH EAST
28 Feb 1974		Peter Charles Snape, later [2004] Baron Snape [L]	12 Feb 1942
7 Jun 2001		Thomas Anthony Watson, later [2022] Baron Watson of Wyre Forest [L]	8 Jan 1967
12 Dec 2019		Nicola Faye Richards	19 Nov 1994
WEST BROMWICH WEST
28 Feb 1974		Betty Boothroyd, later [2001] Baroness Boothroyd [L]	8 Oct 1929	23 Feb 2023	93
23 Nov 2000		Adrian Edward Bailey	11 Dec 1949
12 Dec 2019		Shaun Stephen Bailey	22 Jul 1992
WESTBURY (WILTSHIRE)
2 Apr 1660		Richard Lewis (to 1680)	c 1623	1 Oct 1706
		William Brouncker	c 1620	6 Mar 1680
8 Apr 1661		Thomas Wancklyn [expelled 1 Feb 1678]		1694
18 Feb 1678		Henry Bertie	c 1656	4 Dec 1734
13 Feb 1679		William Trenchard	c 1643	22 Aug 1713
28 Aug 1679		Henry Bertie	c 1656	4 Dec 1734
		Richard Lewis (see above) and Henry Bertie unseated on petition in favour of Edward Norton and William Trenchard 26 Nov 1680
26 Nov 1680		Edward Norton	10 Jan 1654	1702	48
		William Trenchard (to 1685)	c 1643	22 Aug 1713
9 Mar 1681		John Ashe	c 1653	late 1687
23 Mar 1685		Richard Lewis (to 1701)	c 1623	1 Oct 1706
		James Herbert	27 Apr 1660	11 Nov 1704	44
14 Jan 1689		Peregrine Bertie	c 1634	3 Jan 1701
4 Nov 1695		Robert Bertie (to 1702)	28 Feb 1677	8 Aug 1710	33
24 Nov 1701		Henry Bertie	c 1656	4 Dec 1734
17 Jul 1702		William Trenchard	c 1643	22 Aug 1713
		Thomas Phipps	3 Dec 1648	19 Apr 1715	66
		Both members were unseated on petition in favour of Henry Bertie and Robert Bertie 1 Dec 1702
1 Dec 1702		Henry Bertie (to Jan 1715)	c 1656	4 Dec 1734
		Robert Bertie	28 Feb 1677	8 Aug 1710	33
6 May 1708		Francis Annesley (to Jun 1715)	24 Oct 1663	7 Apr 1750	86
25 Jan 1715		Willoughby Bertie	28 Nov 1692	10 Jun 1760	67
		Francis Annesley	24 Oct 1663	7 Apr 1750	86
		George Evans, later [May 1715] 1st Baron Carbery [I]	c 1680	28 Aug 1749
		Charles Allanson	c 1662	Jul 1729
		Double return. Bertie and Annesley declared elected 28 Mar 1715. They were both unseated on petition in favour of Carbery and Allanson 1 Jun 1715
1 Jun 1715		George Evans, 1st Baron Carbery [I]	c 1680	28 Aug 1749
		Charles Allanson	c 1662	Jul 1729
24 Mar 1722		James Bertie [he was also returned for Middlesex, for which he chose to sit]	13 Mar 1673	18 Oct 1735	62
		Francis Annesley (to 1734)	24 Oct 1663	7 Apr 1750	86
16 Mar 1724		George Evans, 1st Baron Carbery [I]	c 1680	28 Aug 1749
18 Aug 1727		John Hoskins Gifford	c 1693	Aug 1744
24 Apr 1734		George Evans, later [1749] 2nd Baron Carbery [I] (to 1747)		2 Feb 1759
		John Bance		23 Feb 1755
4 May 1741		Joseph Townsend	by 1704	8 Jul 1763
24 Jun 1747		John Bance		23 Feb 1755
		Paul Methuen	16 May 1723	22 Jan 1795	71
		Both members were unseated on petition in favour of Chauncy Townsend and Matthew Michell 16 Mar 1748
16 Mar 1748		Chauncy Townsend (to 1768)	23 Feb 1708	28 Mar 1770	61
		Matthew Michell	c 1705	29 Apr 1752
16 Jan 1753		Peregrine Bertie (to 1774)	c 1723	28 Dec 1786
21 Mar 1768		William Blackstone	10 Jul 1723	14 Feb 1780	56
21 Feb 1770		Charles Dillon, later [1787] 12th Viscount Dillon [I]	6 Nov 1745	9 Nov 1813	68
10 Oct 1774		Thomas Francis Wenman (to 1780)	18 Nov 1745	8 Apr 1796	50
		Nathaniel Bayly	c 1726	Oct 1798
20 Mar 1779		Samuel Estwick (to Nov 1795)	c 1736	19 Nov 1795
9 Sep 1780		John Whalley-Gardiner, later [1783] 1st baronet	26 May 1743	18 Nov 1797	54
1 Apr 1784		Chaloner Arcedeckne	c 1743	20 Dec 1809
3 Feb 1786		John Madocks	c 1723	24 Oct 1794
19 Jun 1790		Ewan Law	30 Oct 1747	24 Apr 1829	81
15 Jan 1795		Samuel Estwick (to 1796)	22 Jan 1770	23 Feb 1797	27
27 Nov 1795		Edward Wilbraham-Bootle, later [1828] 1st Baron Skelmersdale	7 Mar 1771	3 Apr 1853	82
27 May 1796		Sir Henry Paulet St. John‑Mildmay, 3rd baronet (to 1802) For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of the St. John‑Mildmay baronets	30 Sep 1764	11 Nov 1808	44
		George Ellis [he was also returned for Seaford, for which he chose to sit]	19 Dec 1753	10 Apr 1815	61
28 Oct 1796		George William Richard Harcourt	9 Feb 1775	19 Dec 1812	37
18 Apr 1800		John Simon Harcourt	14 Dec 1772	21 Feb 1810	37
6 Jul 1802		William Baldwin	c 1737	10 Oct 1813
		Charles Smith	Sep 1756	9 May 1814	57
31 Oct 1806		William Jacob	c 1762	17 Dec 1851
		John Woolmore	1755	2 Dec 1837	82
6 May 1807		Edward Lascelles, later [1812] styled Viscount Lascelles [he was also returned for Northallerton, for which he chose to sit]	10 Jan 1764	3 Jun 1814	50
		Glynn Wynn (to 1809)	1 Sep 1772	23 Apr 1809	36
20 Jul 1807		Henry Lascelles, later [1820] 2nd Earl of Harewood (to 1812)	25 Dec 1767	24 Nov 1841	73
27 Jan 1809		Francis Whittle		by 1838
24 Mar 1810		John de Ponthieu	27 Apr 1765	26 Apr 1813	47
10 Oct 1812		Benjamin Hall	29 Sep 1778	31 Jul 1817	38
		Benjamin Shaw (to 1818)	c 1770	6 Nov 1843
5 Dec 1814		Ralph Franco (later Lopes), later [1831] 2nd baronet (to 1819)	10 Sep 1788	23 Jan 1854	65
23 Jun 1818		Lord Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, later [1832] 2nd Marquess Conyngham (to 1820)	11 Jun 1797	17 Jul 1876	79
1 May 1819		William Leader Maberly	7 May 1798	6 Feb 1885	86
10 Mar 1820		Jonathan Elford	5 Nov 1777	11 Mar 1823	45
		Nathaniel Barton	9 Nov 1764	2 Nov 1828	63
29 Nov 1820		Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st baronet (to 1829)	27 Jan 1755	26 Mar 1831	76
		Philip John Miles	1 Mar 1774	24 Mar 1845	71
9 Jun 1826		Sir George Warrender, 4th baronet (to 1830)	5 Dec 1782	21 Feb 1849	66
2 Mar 1829		Robert Peel, later [1830] 2nd baronet	5 Feb 1788	2 Jul 1850	62
30 Jul 1830		Sir Alexander Cray Grant, 8th baronet	30 Nov 1782	29 Nov 1854	71
		Michael George Prendergast		1834
2 May 1831		Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd baronet (to 1837)	10 Sep 1788	23 Jan 1854	65
		Henry Hanmer	23 Jan 1789	2 Feb 1868	79
15 Jul 1831		Henry Frederick Stephenson	18 Sep 1790	10 Jul 1858	67
REPRESENTATION REDUCED TO ONE MEMBER 1832
26 Jul 1837		John Ivatt Briscoe	12 Oct 1791	16 Aug 1870	79
28 Jun 1841		Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd baronet	10 Sep 1788	23 Jan 1854	65
31 Jul 1847		James Wilson	3 Jun 1805	11 Aug 1860	55
27 Mar 1857		Sir Massey Lopes, 3rd baronet	14 Jun 1818	20 Jan 1908	89
18 Nov 1868		John Lewis Phipps [his election was declared void 5 Feb 1869]	1801	10 Jun 1871	69
27 Feb 1869		Charles Paul Phipps	26 Sep 1815	8 Jun 1880	64
3 Feb 1874		Abraham Laverton	1819	13 Oct 1886	67
1 Apr 1880		Charles Nicholas Paul Phipps	4 Nov 1845	9 Dec 1913	68
5 Dec 1885		George Pargiter Fuller	8 Jan 1833	2 Apr 1927	94
25 Jul 1895		Richard Godolphin Walmesley Chaloner, later [1917] 1st Baron Gisborough	12 Oct 1856	23 Jan 1938	81
10 Oct 1900		John Michael Fleetwood Fuller, later [1910] 1st baronet	21 Oct 1864	4 Sep 1915	50
23 Feb 1911		Geoffrey William Algernon Howard	12 Feb 1877	20 Jun 1935	58
14 Dec 1918		George Llewellen Palmer	12 Mar 1857	31 Mar 1932	75
15 Nov 1922		Charles William Darbishire	17 Jun 1875	5 Jun 1925	49
29 Oct 1924		Walter William Shaw	1868	10 May 1927	58
16 Jun 1927		Richard Eric Onslow Long, later [1944] 3rd Viscount Long	22 Aug 1892	12 Jan 1967	74
27 Oct 1931		Robert Villiers Grimston, later [1952] 1st baronet and [1964] 1st Baron Grimston of Westbury	8 Jun 1897	8 Dec 1979	82
15 Oct 1964		Dennis Murray Walters [kt 1988]	28 Nov 1928	1 Oct 2021	92
9 Apr 1992		David James Christian Faber	7 Jul 1961
7 Jun 2001		Andrew William Murrison	24 Apr 1961
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 2010
WEST DERBY (LIVERPOOL)
25 Nov 1885		Lord Claude John Hamilton	20 Feb 1843	26 Jan 1925	81
10 Aug 1888		William Henry Cross	22 Aug 1856	12 Dec 1892	36
10 Jan 1893		Walter Hume Long, later [1921] 1st Viscount Long	13 Jul 1854	26 Sep 1924	70
29 Sep 1900		Samuel Wasse Higginbottom	1853	27 Dec 1902	49
20 Jan 1903		William Watson Rutherford, later [1923] 1st baronet	1853	3 Dec 1927	74
14 Dec 1918		Sir Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st baronet, later [1919] 1st Baron Birkenhead and [1922] 1st Earl of Birkenhead	12 Jul 1872	30 Sep 1930	58
26 Feb 1919		Sir William Reginald Hall For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page	28 Jun 1870	22 Oct 1943	73
6 Dec 1923		Charles Sydney Jones [kt 1937]	7 Feb 1872	16 Feb 1947	75
29 Oct 1924		John Sandeman Allen [kt 1928]	26 Sep 1865	3 Jun 1935	69
6 Jul 1935		David Patrick Maxwell‑Fyfe [kt 1942], later [1954] 1st Viscount Kilmuir and [1962] 1st Earl of Kilmuir	29 May 1900	27 Jan 1967	66
18 Nov 1954		John Victor Woollam	14 Aug 1927	1 Feb 2006	78
15 Oct 1964		Eric Ogden	23 Aug 1923	5 May 1997	73
9 Jun 1983		Robert Nelson Wareing	20 Aug 1930	1 May 2015	84
6 May 2010		Stephen Twigg	25 Dec 1966
12 Dec 2019		Ian Robert Byrne	10 May 1972
WESTERN ISLES
14 Dec 1918		Donald Murray	21 Oct 1862	6 Jul 1923	60
15 Nov 1922		Sir William Dingwall Mitchell Cotts, 1st baronet	15 Jul 1871	20 Jan 1932	60
6 Dec 1923		Alexander Mackenzie Livingstone [kt 1933]	18 Oct 1880	14 Sep 1950	69
30 May 1929		Thomas Bridgehill Wilson Ramsay	2 Jul 1877	20 Oct 1956	79
14 Nov 1935		Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan	21 Aug 1913	17 Nov 1978	65
18 Jun 1970		Donald James Stewart	17 Oct 1920	23 Aug 1992	71
11 Jun 1987		Calum Alasdair MacDonald	7 May 1956
NAME ALTERED TO "NA H-EILEANAN AN IAR" 2005
WEST HAM
1 May 1997		Anthony Louis Banks, later [2005] Baron Stratford [L]	8 Apr 1943	8 Jan 2006	62
5 May 2005		Lyn Carol Brown	13 Apr 1960
WEST HAM NORTH
28 Nov 1885		Edward Rider Cook	4 Jun 1836	21 Aug 1898	62
7 Jul 1886		James Forrest Fulton [kt 1892]	12 Jul 1846	25 Jun 1925	78
Jul 1892		Thomas Newcomen Archibald Grove	1855	4 Jun 1920	64
15 Jul 1895		Ernest Gray [kt 1925]	27 Aug 1856	6 May 1932	75
15 Jan 1906		Charles Frederick Gurney Masterman [Following the general election in Dec 1910, he was unseated on petition 20 Jun 1911]	25 Oct 1874	17 Nov 1927	53
8 Jul 1911		Baron Maurice Arnold de Forest	9 Jan 1879	6 Oct 1968	89
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918, BUT REVIVED 1950
23 Feb 1950		Arthur William John Lewis	21 Feb 1917	25 Jun 1998	81
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED FEB 1974
WEST HAM SOUTH
28 Nov 1885		Joseph Lynn Leicester	24 Dec 1825	13 Oct 1903	77
7 Jul 1886		George Edward Banes	2 Feb 1829	16 Jul 1907	78
Jul 1892		James Keir Hardie For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page	15 Aug 1856	26 Sep 1915	59
15 Jul 1895		George Edward Banes	2 Feb 1829	16 Jul 1907	78
15 Jan 1906		William James Thorne	8 Oct 1857	2 Jan 1946	88
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918, BUT REVIVED 1950
23 Feb 1950		Frederick Elwyn Jones [kt 1964], later [1974] Baron Elwyn‑Jones [L]	24 Oct 1909	4 Dec 1989	80
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED FEB 1974
WESTHOUGHTON (LANCASHIRE)
28 Nov 1885		Frank Hardcastle	12 May 1844	6 Nov 1908	64
Jul 1892		Edward George Villiers Stanley, styled Baron Stanley, later [1908] 17th Earl of Derby	4 Apr 1865	4 Feb 1948	82
18 Jan 1906		William Tyson Wilson	1855	14 Aug 1921	66
5 Oct 1921		Rhys John Davies	15 Apr 1877	31 Oct 1954	77
21 Jun 1951		Joseph Thomas Price	9 Oct 1902	1 Feb 1973	70
24 May 1973		Roger Stott	7 Aug 1943	8 Aug 1999	56
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983
WEST LINDSEY (LINCOLNSHIRE)
SEE "GAINSBOROUGH"
WEST LOOE (CORNWALL)
14 Apr 1660		John Buller	c 1632	1716
		John Kendall	7 Aug 1631	after 1702
4 Apr 1661		John Nicholas [he was also returned for Wilton and for Ripon, for which he chose to sit]	19 Jan 1624	9 Jan 1705	80
		John Trelawny (to 1685)	c 1625	c Feb 1682
10 Jun 1661		Sir Henry Vernon, 1st baronet	16 Dec 1606	11 Apr 1676	69
21 Feb 1677		John Trelawny	c 1646	14 May 1680
19 Feb 1681		Jonathan Trelawny	14 Feb 1648	1705	57
21 Apr 1685		Henry Trelawny	c 1658	8 Jan 1702
		James Kendall (to 1690)	17 Jun 1647	10 Jul 1708	61
11 Jan 1689		Percy Kirke		31 Oct 1691
24 Feb 1690		Edward Seymour, later [1708] 5th baronet	18 Dec 1663	29 Dec 1740	77
		Jonathan Trelawny	14 Feb 1648	1705	57
25 Oct 1695		James Kendall (to 1702)	17 Jun 1647	10 Jul 1708	61
		John Mountstephen	28 Apr 1644	19 Dec 1706	62
2 Dec 1701		Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh [I] (to 1703) [expelled 1 Feb 1703]	8 Feb 1641	5 Jan 1712	70
28 Jul 1702		Sidney Godolphin [he was also returned for Helston, for which he chose to sit]	12 Jan 1652	23 Sep 1732	80
3 Dec 1702		Richard Hele [he was also returned for Plympton Erle as a result of a petition on 28 Jan 1703, for which he chose to sit]	27 Mar 1679	Dec 1709	30
31 Mar 1703		Henry Poley	5 Jan 1654	7 Aug 1707	53
		Charles Seymour	after 1679	10 Oct 1740
22 May 1705		Sir Charles Hedges (to 1713)	30 Jan 1650	10 Jun 1714	64
		John Mountstephen	28 Apr 1644	19 Dec 1706	62
23 Jan 1707		Francis Palmes	by 1663	15 Jan 1719
15 May 1708		John Conyers	6 Mar 1650	10 Mar 1725	75
19 Oct 1710		Arthur Maynwaring	9 Jul 1668	13 Nov 1712	44
20 Apr 1713		John Trelawny, later [1721] 4th baronet (to 1715)	26 Jul 1691	2 Feb 1756	64
7 Sep 1713		Sir Charles Wager	c 1666	24 May 1743
1 Feb 1715		Thomas Maynard	c 1685	8 Sep 1742
		George Delaval (to 1724)	c 1667	22 Jun 1723
12 Apr 1722		Sir John Trelawny, 4th baronet (to 1727)	26 Jul 1691	2 Feb 1756	64
20 Jan 1724		Edward Trelawny (to 1733)	9 Jul 1699	16 Jan 1754	54
23 Aug 1727		John Willes (to 1737)	29 Nov 1685	15 Dec 1761	76
26 Jan 1733		Thomas Walker	c 1664	22 Oct 1748
4 May 1734		Edward Trelawny [his election was declared void]	9 Jul 1699	16 Jan 1754	54
20 Feb 1735		John Owen (to 1741)	c 1698	29 Dec 1775
9 Feb 1737		John Strange [kt 1740]	c 1696	18 May 1754
12 May 1741		Sir Charles Wager	c 1666	24 May 1743
		Benjamin Keene (to 1747)	c 1697	15 Dec 1757
10 Dec 1743		John Frederick, later [1770] 4th baronet (to 1761)	28 Nov 1708	9 Apr 1783	74
2 Jul 1747		William Noel	19 Mar 1695	8 Dec 1762	67
16 May 1757		William Trelawny, later [1762] 6th baronet (to 1767)	c 1722	11 Dec 1772
30 Mar 1761		Francis Buller	31 Oct 1723	31 Oct 1764	41
19 Jan 1765		John Sargent (to 1768)	1715	20 Sep 1791	76
10 Jul 1767		James Townsend (to 1774)	8 Feb 1737	1 Jul 1787	50
21 Mar 1768		William Graves	c 1724	30 Apr 1801
11 Oct 1774		Sir William James, 1st baronet (to Jan 1784)	c 1721	16 Dec 1783
		Charles Ogilvie	c 1731	1788
7 Jun 1775		John Rogers	15 Aug 1750	22 feb 1832	81
9 Sep 1780		John Buller	28 Feb 1745	26 Nov 1793	48
20 Mar 1782		John Sommers Cocks, later [1821] 1st Earl Somers (to Apr 1784)	6 May 1760	5 Jan 1841	80
3 Jan 1784		John Buller	28 Feb 1745	26 Nov 1793	48
5 Apr 1784		John Lemon	6 Nov 1754	5 Apr 1814	59
		John Scott (to 1790)	24 Oct 1747	5 May 1819	71
21 Aug 1784		James Adams	5 Jun 1752	14 Sep 1816	64
21 Jun 1790		Sir John William de la Pole, 6th baronet	27 Jun 1757	30 Nov 1799	42
		John Pardoe	c 1756	26 Apr 1796
30 May 1796		John Buller	10 Jan 1771	3 Apr 1849	78
		Sitwell Sitwell, later [1808] 1st baronet (to 1802)	Sep 1769	4 Jul 1811	41
22 Nov 1796		John Hookham Frere	21 May 1769	7 Jan 1846	76
7 Jul 1802		James Buller (to 1805)	9 Nov 1772	14 Nov 1830	58
		Thomas Smith	c 1754	24 Apr 1831
21 Dec 1803		Quintin Dick (to 1806)	7 Feb 1777	26 Mar 1858	81
23 Jan 1805		Ralph Allen Daniell (to Oct 1812)	22 Jul 1762	28 Mar 1823	60
1 Nov 1806		James Buller	9 Nov 1772	14 Nov 1830	58
17 Jan 1812		Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke For further information on the death of this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of the MPs for Reigate	6 Jun 1768	5 May 1831	62
10 Oct 1812		Charles Buller	31 May 1774	17 May 1848	73
		Anthony Buller	26 Jul 1780	27 Jun 1866	85
11 Mar 1816		Henry William Fitzgerald-de Ros, later [1831] 22nd Baron de Ros	12 Jun 1793	29 Mar 1839	45
		Sir Charles Hulse, 4th baronet (to 1826)	12 Oct 1771	25 Oct 1854	83
19 Jun 1818		Henry Goulburn	19 Mar 1784	12 Jan 1856	71
9 Jun 1826		John Buller	10 Jan 1771	3 Apr 1849	78
		Charles Buller (to 1830)	31 May 1774	17 May 1848	73
6 Apr 1827		Sir Charles Hulse, 4th baronet (to 1832)	12 Oct 1771	25 Oct 1854	83
12 Feb 1830		Charles Buller	6 Aug 1806	29 Nov 1848	42
29 Apr 1831		Sir Anthony Buller	26 Jul 1780	27 Jun 1866	85
CONSTITUENCY DISENFRANCHISED 1832

	Alexander Brogden
	MP for Wednesbury 1868‑1885
	Brogden died as a result of being badly burnt. At the Coroner's inquest following his death, it was found that Brogden, who had been ill for some time, was sitting by his fire when he leaned over to stir the coals, fell against the grate and received severe burns, to which he later succumbed.
	Thomas Price
	MP for Weobly 1702‑1705
	Thomas Price was the eldest son of Robert Price, MP for Weobly 1685-1687, 1690-1700 and from Jan 1701 until he was appointed a Baron of the Exchequer in June 1702. He held this role until October 1726, when he was appointed a Justice of the Common Pleas, which position he held until his death in 1733. Thomas Price's younger brother, Uvedale Tomkyns Price, also sat for Weobly 1713-1715 and 1727-1734.
	Robert Price's biographer, Edmund Curll, in his book The Life of the late Honourable Robert Price [London 1734] includes the following brief sketch of Thomas Price:-
	The first Child they [Robert Price and his wife, Lucy Rodd] had was a Son, born at Foxley [in Yazor, Herefordshire], on the 16th Day of January 1680 … Thomas Price, Esq., died while on his Travels … The expression of Mr. Justice Price, to all his Relations and Friends, even to the Day of his own Death, was, that the Loss of his eldest Son Thomas was irreparable!
	This very hopeful young Gentleman, Thomas Price, Esq., was educated at Westminster School, and, upon leaving it, was entered a Gentleman-Commoner of St. John's College in Cambridge. After finishing his Academical Studies, he was chosen Member of Parliament for the Borough of Weobly in Herefordshire, when he was but twenty two Years of Age.
	As his Father had done, he, likewise, made the grand Tour of France and Italy, and sent over several agreeable Letters, recounting the Progress of his Travels. But the Acquaintance he had contracted with a Venetian Lady, it is presumed, was the Cause of his Death. His Person being very amiable, and more particularly so, from his having a fine Head of Hair, with which this Madona became extremely enamoured; and when these Ladies find a Lover to their liking, (especially, among all the Foreigners they meet with, an English Gentleman;) if they signify any Inclinations of a Departure, they make them a Present, of an unknown Dose, which will put a Period to their Lives according to the Time it is allotted for, either of Days, Months or Years. It so, fatally, happened that Mr. Price had declared his Intentions of going to Genoua; and the first Accident which befel him in his Way from the City of Venice to that Republick, he was attacked and a Quarrel drawn upon him by an Italian Nobleman, whom he fought, and disarmed. Then proceeding on his Journey, he arrived safe at Genoua.
	Here he had not been long before he found himself greatly out of Order. Among other Symptoms, which caused the utmost Anxiety, his Hair came off by Handfuls, and, the many Fears he had grew too strong for him to bear; insomuch, that it cost him his Life in the Year 1706. It was not through the want of any Temporary Blessings; he having by him, a Bill of Credit for Five Hundred Pounds, and a considerable Sum in Gold, when he died. The Senate of Genoua seized all his Effects; and being a Protestant, alias a Heretick, they permitted his Remains no other than a Watry-Grave, letting them down, in a Leaden Coffin, into the Sea.
	The unhappy Death of this Gentleman has been differently related, as occasioned (by a Point of good Breeding here, though the Jealousy of Foreigners will not bear it) in the following Manner, viz.
	Mr. Price being at an Entertainment, drank to a Lady, the Wife of a Venetian Nobleman; which was, by the Husband, so highly resented, that he vowed his Destruction. Some Gentlemen in Company desired Mr. Price to go Post for Genoua, from which he was at that Time about twenty Leagues. He did so, and arrived there in Safety; but he was pursued by Bravoes, and through the Lattices of his Chamber Window in the Inn where he lay, shot in his Bed the next Morning.
	Others relate, that the Venetian Nobleman whom he had fought with, and disarmed, in his Journey between Venice and Genoua, being full of the most malicious and cowardly Resentment, sent his Servant after Mr. Price, who acted the Part of a villainous Bravo and killed him.
	But tho' there is not any Certainty on which of these different Rumours to fix the Death of this unhappy Gentleman, yet certain it is, that a good Son, and the express Image, in all Respects, of his Father, was lost to his parents in the Bloom of Life.
	There are, therefore, three possible reasons for his death - first, at the hands of a jealous husband, who shot him or caused him to be shot; second, that he had been poisoned by a spurned lover; or third, depending upon the interpretation of "an unknown Dose", that he killed himself due to the ravages caused by syphilis.
	Sir William Reginald Hall
	MP for Liverpool West Derby 1919‑1923 and Eastbourne 1925‑1929
	The following biography of Sir William Reginald Hall appeared in the September 1958 issue of the Australian monthly magazine Parade. Surprisingly, no mention is made of the fact that Hall was always known by the nickname of "Blinker", on account of a chronic facial twitch.
	All through World War 1 an oddly-assorted band sat closeted day and night in Room 40 at the Admiralty working out puzzles on which hinged the fate of nations. They included high officers of all the services, professors from Oxford and Cambridge, a director of the Bank of England, a world-renowned music critic, a West End stage star, a publisher, an art expert, a famous dress designer, a Doctor of Divinity, a Roman Catholic priest and many others. They worked in the utmost secrecy. Not even a cleaner penetrated that office for four years. In it countless intercepted enemy wireless messages and signals were decoded - the basis of the whole British intelligence system. Presiding genius of Room 40 and a whole world-wide network of secret agents, counter-spies and cloak-and-dagger experts was dynamic, piercing-eyed, staccato-voiced Admiral Sir Reginald Hall. As Director of Naval Intelligence, he was primarily responsible for providing the Admiralty with information on enemy naval movements.
	William Reginald Hall was born in Wiltshire on June 28, 1870. His father, Captain [William Henry] Hall [1842-1895], founded the Intelligence Department at the Admiralty [in 1887]. From a Navy cadet at 14, young William Hall rose to Commander at 31 and Captain four years later. On the outbreak of World War I, Hall had command of the fine new cruiser Queen Mary. He revolutionised navy routine to improve conditions for the crew - shorter watches, washing machines, films, hot showers, library and their own chapel on board. In November, 1914, Hall was relieved of his command and ordered to report to the Admiralty. He was appointed Director of Intelligence, and told to get to work.
	Room 40 and its history-making wartime record was the result. Round him Hall gathered men and women from the academic, legal, literary and business worlds. Till then intelligence on enemy naval moves had come from foreign agents, look-out vessels cruising round ports, prisoners, fishermen and suchlike. Under Hall the whole set-up was changed to use newly- developed wireless. Scores of listening posts were set up in England and Europe, to intercept enemy wireless messages of all kinds. The signals were sent in code. Hall's experts had the job of deciphering them.
	Germany changed the code at monthly intervals. Before long, however, the code was changed every 24 hours. Each day teams of cipher experts went to work to break the new code. Sometimes, German tricks and false trails held them up for hours, but not once did Room 40 fail to decipher a message eventually. From intercepted and deciphered German wireless messages Hall after only a couple of weeks warned the Navy that a small German fleet was on the move in the Heligoland Bight. A British cruiser and destroyer force caught the German fleet, sank three cruisers and one destroyer for little loss and sent the rest running for cover. Similarly, on December 15, 1914, Room 40 alerted the Admiralty of a forthcoming German raid on Scar- borough in Yorkshire. The Germans got through and bombarded the town, but were chased off by the Navy. A week later Hall gave details of a rendezvous between the German raiding cruiser, Dresden, and a collier in the Atlantic. The navy ordered our ships Kent and Glasgow to the scene. The Dresden was sunk.
	Early in 1915, Admiral Hall knew Germany was planning a revolt in Ireland to cause trouble for England. Intercepted messages revealed their plan to land the Irish patriot Sir Roger Casement secretly to spark the uprising. Hall immediately chartered the luxury yacht, Sayonara, owned by American millionaire Anthony Drexel. He sent her off to the Irish west coast, ostensibly on a pleasure cruise. Her captain was Lieutenant F.M. Simon of the Royal Navy. Major Wilfred Russell posed as her owner. Outwardly they were Americans. Simon and Russell, however, skilfully conveyed the impression by speech, gesture, dress and attitude that they were really Germans pretending to be Americans. Hall hoped the obvious German flavour about her owner and captain would take in the Irish. Thus information could probably be wormed out about the Casement plans.
	Main trouble for the plotters came from English Navy units in the area and loyal Irish who were unaware of the masquerade. Complaints poured in on London authorities about the German spy ship at work in Irish waters. This was exactly what Hall wanted. The Royal Navy watched the Sayonara constantly and once even placed her under arrest. Local Sinn Feiners knew this and welcomed Simon and Russell every time they put ashore. They revealed full details of prepar- ations to join Casement as soon as he landed. The loyal Irish were not so pleased to see Simon and Russell. On one occasion they stoned them as spies. One Irish Marquess was so incensed at official muddle-headedness over the Sayonara that he made a special trip to London. He bearded the First Sea Lord in his office and threatened to blow the lid off the "disgraceful affair" in the House of Lords. To avoid wrecking the whole scheme, the Marquess was referred to Hall, who let him into the secret.
	The Sayonara was all ready to spring the trap if Casement appeared at Achill Head as the Sinn Feiners anticipated. Germany, however, decided Ireland was not yet ripe for revolt. The Casement project was delayed till 1916. The Sayonara quietly slipped back to England. Hall's organisation was again well on the job in 1916 when Casement did land in Ireland. Full details were known by tapping wireless messages from Berlin to the German Ambassador in Washington. As soon as Casement stepped ashore he was arrested by Hall and Sir Basil Thomson of Scotland Yard. Hall was responsible for the later execution of Sir Roger Casement. Though convicted, and sentenced to death, public sympathy for the Irish patriot seemed likely to save his life. From personal conviction Hall felt he should hang. He arranged the circulation of scandalous extracts from Casement's private diary [which portrays Casement as a predatory homosexual]. A revulsion of public feeling followed. The campaign for mercy petered out and Casement went to the gallows.
	Meanwhile Hall constantly hoaxed the enemy. In the spring of 1915, British forces in France were weakened through sending troops to the Dardanelles. To counteract this, Hall tricked Germany into diverting units from France to the Belgian coast. Fake messages were sent to Berlin ostensibly through spies the Germans did not know had long been captured. These told of the massing of an imaginary invasion fleet of flat-bottomed boats at Hull. German plans in 1915 to raise a revolt in India by plotters from the United States were known to Hall from the beginning. He let them get to the stage of sailing from San Francisco with a shipload of arms bought in America. Once on the high seas a gunboat appeared, detained the arms ship, arrested the plotters and confiscated arms worth 300,000 dollars.
	The later famous thriller writer, A[lfred] E[dward] W[oodley] Mason [1865‑1948], was one of Hall's best undercover agents. He did invaluable work in Spain, Mexico, Morocco and other places. Mason thwarted a scheme to send petrol on rafts to German submarines from Spanish ports. He uncovered a wild plan to bomb Gibraltar from a Spanish plane ostensibly giving a demonstration of flying acrobatics. Mason also discovered and smashed an under-cover group channelling cash from Germans in Spain to promote an uprising in Morocco.
	Whatever new scheme Germany tried, Hall and his men seemed to get wind of it. Hall's greatest test came in the great U-Boat onslaught on Allied shipping that reached its peak in the autumn of 1916. Reliable intelligence on U-Boat movements was essential. As well as from wireless interception, Hall got it from hundreds of agents throughout Europe - in German dock- yards, on neutral steamers, in foreign consulates, in convoys and hunting squadrons, in prisoner-of-war camps.
	In January, 1917, with the U-Boats seemingly turning the struggle in Germany's favour, Admiral Hall was presented with a stroke of luck which be realised could change the whole course of the war. It was a deciphered message sent from the German Foreign Minister, Zimmermann, to his Ambassador, von Eckardt, in Mexico City. More than anything else that message, which Hall at once turned over to U.S. President Wilson, forced America into World War I. It stated Germany's intention to begin unrestricted U-Boat attacks on all Atlantic shipping (including American) and her efforts to persuade Mexico to declare war and invade Texas. [For further information, see "The Zimmermann Telegram" by Barbara Tuchman (Macmillan, New York 1958)] It was the last straw. With America's entry into the conflict, the scales swung decisively in the allies' favour and Germany's ultimate defeat was inevitable.
	With peace, Admiral Hall, who had been knighted, faded into semi-obscurity. With his mind and energies set implacably on the war and victory during his years of triumph, he had trodden on many toes. Once the powerful press baron Lord Northcliffe called on him in Room 40. The Admiral was affronted that Northcliffe did not remove his hat - and rather tactlessly showed it. He pressed a button. A messenger appeared. Hall asked him to fetch his cap. When it arrived, he jammed it on his head and continued the conversation. Northcliffe never forgave the blunt reminder of his own discourtesy. He was believed responsible for the behind-the-scenes moves that resulted in Hall's retirement after the Armistice. Still under 50, the Admiral won a seat in the House of Commons, but gradually faded from the public eye. He died in 1943.
	James Keir Hardie
	MP for West Ham South 1892‑1895 and Merthyr Tydfil 1900‑1915
	The following biography of Hardie appeared in the March 1967 issue of the Australian monthly magazine Parade:-
	One August day in 1892 a horse-drawn carriage packed with roughly dressed and wildly excited passengers, one of them blowing lustily on a cornet, made its noisy way to the House of Commons. Passers-by stared in astonishment as a small, bearded man in a tweed suit, flannel shirt and cloth cap descended from the carriage and walked calmly through the gates. His name was Keir Hardie. His arrival at Westminster that morning was a momentous event in English political history, the advent of the Labour Party in the House of Commons. Hardie was the first Labour member of Parliament in England, having just been elected by dockers of the London working class suburb of West Ham. The clothes he wore were his way of announcing that he himself was a working man and he was not going to dress himself up in the uniform of another class, even to sit in Parliament.
	A stubborn idealist from the hitherto voiceless ranks of the economic underdogs, Keir Hardie was a unique phenomenon as he sat alone in the House of Commons in 1892. Tories and Liberals despised him and the newspapers ridiculed him. But for years he battled on single-handed to win a better deal for workers and the poor. In Parliament he spoke long and earnestly about hours, wages, conditions of work and child labour. His well-fed opponents listened indifferently or branded him a dangerous agitator. And he lived to see more than 40 other Labour MPs beside him - and the idea of a Labour government of Britain no longer a dream.
	The son of a carpenter, James Keir Hardie was born in 1856 in a tumble-down, two-room cottage in Legbrannock, a grimy mining village in Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was still a child when the family moved to Glasgow so his father could work in the shipyards. However, scarcity of jobs, strikes and frequent accidents reduced the father's earnings so they were always on the verge of destitution. School for young Hardie was out of the question. At the age of eight he was packed off to work as a messenger boy in the office of the shipping company. For his weekly half-crown he put in six 10-hour days, running all over Glasgow, rarely allowed to rest and frequently helped on his way by kicks.
	When he dared to ask for a sixpenny rise he was sacked. So he went off to the shipyards and landed a four-shilling-a-week job as a rivet boy. "You'll have to learn as you go", the foreman told the eight-year-old. "And mind, if you fall and kill yourself, it's your own fault and nobody else is to blame." Working 12 hours a day, regardless of wind, rain or snow, and often high up on dangerous scaffolding, the boy had to catch the red-hot rivet in a small pail, grip it with tongs and insert it in the hole ready for the striker to hammer home. Despite the risks he was content with the job because of the extra pay he could take home. Then came the disaster of a strike. He could not afford the luxury of being idle so he got another messenger job in a bakery. When he was a few minutes late one payday he was sacked on the spot and lost a week's wages.
	Shortly afterwards the Hardie family moved to the mining village of Newarthill in Lanarkshire. There, still only 10, Keir learnt at first hand the horrors of the 19th century miner's life. Pitifully small wages, long hours, back-breaking labour and the ever-present fear of a pit disaster or unemployment - all these turned the miners into men prematurely aged, often drunk and without self-respect or hope. The lad started in the mine as a trapper. He had to sit for 12 hours a day in a tiny air vent and manipulate a curtain to keep air circulating below. Unlike the other mine boys, he used the time to educate himself. He taught himself to write on a piece of slate, painfully printing words that he had learned to spell by gazing at open books in shop windows.
	By the time he was 18 and a full-fledged coal-hewer, Keir Hardie could read and write. Earnest-minded, a teetotaller and devoutly religious, he began attending a night school. He studied English grammar and literature, history, geography and shorthand. He read the Scot's literary heroes, Burns and Carlyle. Because of his unusual education it was not long before he developed into an outspoken critic of the fearful conditions in the Lanarkshire mines. Because he could put into words the grievances and aspirations of his tongue-tied workmates, he was elected to deputations to petition for safety measures, shorter hours and better wages. He paid dearly for his zeal. Branded as a troublemaker, he was sacked, and blacklisted at every mine in Lanarkshire.
	He hit back by forming a union of all miners in the county with himself as secretary. Meanwhile to eke out a living he acted as correspondent for a Glasgow newspaper and wrote for radical magazines. At 24 Keir Hardie led the Lanarkshire miners in their first organised strike. Though it failed in its immediate objectives it demonstrated the union's power and gradually the mine-owners made concessions. After his marriage in 1886 Hardie moved to Ayrshire, where he founded another union. He settled in a cottage in Cumnock and again earned his bread by journalism while battling for the miners.
	By now mine-owners throughout Scotland were denouncing him as a dangerous revolutionary. To his followers he was a hero and by 1888 the Ayrshire Miners Union was able to pay its secretary a modest 30 shillings a week. With that and his earnings from journalism Hardie founded his own monthly paper, Labour Leader, to "advocate reform in every direction which promises to bring relief to the toiling millions". His horizons were widening. Now he wanted better conditions not only for miners but for all workers. He saw they could be best obtained by direct representation in Parliament.
	So was born the idea of an independent political party of working men, to represent working men. From Keir Hardie's dream the British Labour Party was eventually to emerge. Before him several members had been elected to Parliament as avowed representatives of the working class, but in the Commons they always allied themselves with the Liberal Party. Hardie was the first to insist on the need for a completely independent Labour party, free from any other affiliation.
	His pioneer venture into politics was daunting. In 1888 he stood as an independent Labour candidate in a by‑election in Lanarkshire and was crushingly defeated. It was clear the Scottish miners were not yet united enough to elect a representative of their own. So in 1892, financed by his Ayrshire union, Hardie went to London and won the East End seat of West Ham [South]. No figure like him had ever been seen in the sedate precincts of Parliament. One day, as he arrived in his workman's clothes, he was stopped by a policeman at the doorway. "Are you working here, mate?" the constable asked. "Yes", was the laconic reply. "On the roof?" persisted the policeman. "No, on the floor", said the member for West Ham.
	Hardie was then only 36, but his hair was streaked with silver and he looked years older. Ignoring overtures from the Liberal Party to join it, he steadfastly sat out his term as a party of one. He made his presence felt as he tenaciously forced the attention of the House of Commons on such unpalatable subjects as an eight-hour day, a minimum wage, municipal housing, factory acts and workers' compensation laws. Opponents denounced him as anti-Christian and a "believer in bloody revolutions". Reforms which he advocated - and which in a few years were to be accepted as a matter of course - were described as "certain to bankrupt Britain and lead to the inevitable disintegration of the Empire".
	On an eventful day in 1894 three happenings were reported - the French President François [Sadi] Carnot was assassinated, an heir was born to the Duke of York [the baby was later to be King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor] and 290 miners were killed in a Welsh colliery disaster [at the Albion Colliery in Cilfynydd, Glamorgan]. The House of Commons prepared to adopt a resolution of condolence for the French Republic and another of congratulation to the royal family. Keir Hardie then asked the Liberal Government to propose a resolution of sympathy for the families of the dead miners. When the government refused Hardie retaliated by opposing the motion of congratulation on the birth of the prince, well knowing that he would be the target of violent public abuse.
	He lost his seat in the general election of 1895. Five years later he was back again as MP for the Welsh mining seat of Merthyr, which elected him for the rest of his life. While out of the House he turned his paper, Labour Leader, into a weekly and on a shoestring budget fought vigorously to win mass trade union support for Labour representation. Though he was still the only Labour Party candidate elected in 1900 [this is incorrect - Richard Bell was elected for Derby], only five more years passed before Keir Hardie saw his lifelong struggle rewarded when he became the leader of a Parliamentary Labour Party of 29 members.
	Despite recurring ill-health he worked incessantly for his ideals on an income that rarely exceeded £4 a week. By the time World War I broke out the ailing Keir Hardie had relinquished the leadership of the Labour Party to Ramsay MacDonald, who was to become the first Labour Prime Minister, in 1924. As a fanatical pacifist, however, it was Hardie who had spearheaded the party's fight to avoid war. By now a world-famous figure in Labour and socialist circles, he clung to the hope that the workers of Europe would unite to prevent the war by threat of a general strike. His disillusionment was overwhelming. In every country almost all radical leaders put patriotism before the cause of international solidarity.
	He died in 1915. He was only 59 and his doctor said just before the end: "He wasn't ill as we know it. He's past medicine or drugs. He just doesn't want to live in a world at war."

	Copyright © 2003-2017 Leigh Rayment
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