West Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Gloucestershire was a parliamentary constituency in Gloucestershire, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

It was created by the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election as a 2-seat constituency (i.e. electing two Members of Parliament). It was abolished for the 1885 general election.

A new single-member West Gloucestershire constituency, covering a smaller area, was created for the 1950 general election. It was abolished for the 1997 general election.

History

1950 to 1997

The 1950 to 1997 single-member constituency was held by the Labour Party from its creation in 1950 until 1979 and then held by the Conservative Party until its abolition.

Boundaries

1832 to 1885

The constituency was the western division of the historic county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.

The place of election was the small town of Dursley. This was where the hustings were situated and electors voted (by spoken declaration in public, before the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

The qualification to vote in county elections, in the period, was to be a 40 shilling freeholder.

The parliamentary borough constituencies of Cheltenham,......
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