Bridgwater (UK Parliament Constituency) - History

History

Bridgwater is one of the oldest Parliamentary Constituencies in the House of Commons, having elected Members of Parliament since 1295.

The original borough constituency was disenfranchised for corruption in 1870. From 4 July 1870 the town was incorporated within the county constituency of West Somerset.

When there was a redistribution of Parliamentary seats to take effect at the 1885 general election, a new county division of Bridgwater was created.

Bridgwater has traditionally had a radical tradition, though in recent years this has become less noticeable in election results as the constituency has expanded considerably beyond Bridgwater town itself.

The seat received particular fame in late 1938 when a by-election took place in the aftermath of the signing of the Munich Agreement. Opponnents of the agreement persuaded the local Labour and Liberal parties to not field candidates of their own against the Conservative candidate, but to instead jointly back an independent standing on a platform of opposition to the Government's foreign policy, in the hope that this would be the precursor to the formation of a more general Popular Front of opposition to the government of Neville Chamberlain in anticipation of the General Election due in either 1939 or 1940. The noted journalist Vernon Bartlett stood as the independent Popular Front candidate and achieved a sensational victory in what was hitherto a Conservative seat. He represented the constituency for the next twelve years.

In 1970 another by-election in the constituency achieved fame as it was the first occasion when 18, 19 and 20 year olds were able to vote in the UK Parliamentary election. The first under-21 year old to cast a vote was Susan Wallace. The by-election was won by the future Conservative Cabinet Minister Tom King who held the seat for the next thirty-one years. The Conservatives have continued to hold the seat to this day.