Coventry East (UK Parliament constituency)

Coventry East
Coventry East
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1945–February 1974
Seats	one
Created from	Coventry
Replaced by	Coventry North East,; Coventry South East

Coventry East was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Coventry in the West Midlands. 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.

It was only ever represented by one Member - Labour cabinet minister Richard Crossman.

History

Until 1945, the city of Coventry was represented by a single Member. Population growth meant that it had grown to 89,001 electors at the time of the 1935 general election, and in the 1939 electoral register it had 87,487 electors.^[1] The County Borough of Coventry had also expanded its boundaries in the late 1930s, taking in an additional 66,425 electors. Two nearby divisions of Warwickshire had exceptionally large electorates: Nuneaton at 112,503 and Tamworth at 118,131. Accordingly, the area was included in the Schedule to the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 as abnormally large constituencies to be divided by the Boundary Commission before the first post-war general election.

The Boundary Commission proposed to create two divisions within the new boundaries of the County Borough, with Coventry East comprising ten wards and having a 1939 electorate of 76,860.^[2] On the new electoral register compiled for the 1945 general election, the constituency had 74,676 electors on the civilian residence register, 67 on the Business Premises register, and 5,166 on the service register.^[3]

A new Boundary Commission review began in 1965 by which time Coventry's electorate had increased and the city was allocated four seats; they were named after the ordinal points of the compass. The recommendations of the Commission came into effect at the February 1974 general election, at which point Coventry East ceased to exist as a Parliamentary constituency. This coincided with Richard Crossman's retirement from parliament; he died of liver cancer two months after the election.

Boundaries

1945–1950: The County Borough of Coventry wards of All Saints, Foleshill, Hernall, Hillfields, Longford, Lower Stoke, St Mary's, St Paul's, Upper Stoke, and Walsgrave.

1950–1974: The County Borough of Coventry wards of Charterhouse and Binley, Longford, Lower Stoke, Upper Stoke, and Walsgrave.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1945	Richard Crossman	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished

Election results

General election 1945: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	34,379	60.51
	Conservative	Harry Weston	15,630	27.51
	Communist	William Alexander	3,986	7.02
	Liberal	Charles Payne	2,820	4.96
Majority			18,479	32.50
Turnout			56,815	71.15
Registered electors			79,853
	Labour win (new seat)

General election 1950: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	30,456	59.29	−1.22
	Conservative	Timothy Berthier Meek	17,003	33.10	+5.59
	Liberal	Samuel Henry Davis	3,420	6.66	+1.70
	Communist	William Alexander	487	0.95	−6.07
Majority			13,453	26.19	−6.31
Turnout			51,366	88.18	+17.03
Registered electors			58,254
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.41

General election 1951: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	32,108	62.29	+3.00
	Conservative	Gavin Welby	19,437	37.71	+4.61
Majority			12,671	24.58	−1.61
Turnout			51,545	85.74	−2.44
Registered electors			60,115
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.81

General election 1955: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	27,712	56.19	−6.10
	Conservative	Michael Ayerst Hooker	21,608	43.81	+6.10
Majority			6,104	12.38	−12.20
Turnout			49,320	81.16	−4.58
Registered electors			60,769
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.10

General election 1959: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	32,744	56.72	+0.53
	Conservative	John Biffen	24,982	43.28	−0.53
Majority			7,762	13.44	+1.06
Turnout			57,726	81.66	+0.50
Registered electors			70,689
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.53

General election 1964: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	36,246	59.82	+3.10
	Conservative	Ian Gow	23,208	38.30	−4.98
	Communist	Harry Bourne	1,138	1.88	New
Majority			13,038	21.52	+8.08
Turnout			60,592	77.86	−3.80
Registered electors			77,821
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.04

General election 1966: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	36,757	60.83	+1.01
	Conservative	John Wakeham	18,061	29.89	−8.41
	Liberal	Jan Maria Mokrzycki	4,235	7.01	New
	Communist	Harry Bourne	1,368	2.26	+0.38
Majority			18,696	30.94	+9.42
Turnout			60,421	77.33	−0.53
Registered electors			78,131
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.71

General election 1970: Coventry East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	36,275	59.34	−1.49
	Conservative	Maurice Edward Jones	24,010	39.27	+9.38
	Communist	John Hosey	841	1.38	−0.88
Majority			12,265	20.07	−10.87
Turnout			61,126	70.58	−6.75
Registered electors			86,603
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.44

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)

^ "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 10 of session 1943-44, p. 3.
^ "Report of the Boundary Commission for England", Cmd. 6634, p. 36.
^ "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 107 of session 1944-45, p. 5.

[1] "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 10 of session 1943-44, p. 3.

[2] "Report of the Boundary Commission for England", Cmd. 6634, p. 36.

[3] "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 107 of session 1944-45, p. 5.

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