According to Namier and Brooke in The House of Commons 1754–1790, the right of election was in the freemen of the borough who numbered about 100. The town was known as an Admiralty borough and at least one MP was usually an Admiral.
The Earl of Sandwich was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1771 to 1782. He imposed tighter Admiralty control over the borough. This change of policy led to an independent element of the local Council supporting challengers to the Admiralty candidates between 1774 and 1780.
When party politics re-emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Portsmouth was a predominantly Whig constituency. It only once elected a Tory Member of Parliament between 1790 and 1832.
The Reform Act 1832 considerably expanded the electorate of the borough. The freemen retained their ancient right franchise, but were outnumbered by the new occupier voters amongst the 1,295 electors registered in 1832. As a result of the expanded electorate the borough became more competitive. Contested elections became the norm rather than the exception, as they had been before the Reform Act.
Candidates with naval connections continued to be frequent in Portsmouth, after the Reform Act. The borough developed into a marginal constituency, particularly in the last half century of its existence.
Boundaries
The parliamentary borough of Portsmouth was (as the area remains in the 21st century) a major seaport and naval base on the south coast of England. It is situated in the county of Hampshire.
^Percy was re-elected to serve in the Long Parliament but was also elected for Northumberland, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Portsmouth
^This list follows that given by Brunton & Pennington. Cobbett lists Dowse as elected after the Civil War to replace Nicholas Weston, disabled from sitting in 1642, but Brunton & Pennington's more recent research records Weston as MP for Newtown (Isle of Wight).
^ a bErle was also elected for Wareham, which he chose to represent, and did not for Portsmouth in this Parliament
^On petition, the result of the 1710 election was overturned, and Wager and Jennings were declared not to have been duly elected
^Gore was re-elected in 1747, but had also been elected for Bedford, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Portsmouth
^It was afterwards discovered that Legge, who had been elected in his absence, had been dead some days before his election, which was declared void
^Admiral from 1757
Election notes
The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).
Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.
Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Sedgwick 1715–1754, Namier and Brooke 1754–1790, Stooks Smith 1790–1832 and from Craig thereafter. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information or differs from the other sources this is indicated in a note after the result.
Election results 1715–1800
Elections in the 1710s
Seat vacated when Wager was appointed to an office
Seat vacated when Wager was appointed to an office
Elections in the 1720s
Elections in the 1730s
Death of Lewis
Elections in the 1740s
Death of Stewart
Seat vacated when Cavendish was appointed to an office
Seat vacated on the grant of a pension, at the pleasure of the Crown, to Gordon
Source for party: Stooks Smith
Elections in the 1790s
Seymour is referred to as Hugh Seymour-Conway in the above list of members of parliament
Election results 1801–1918
Elections in the 1800s
Death of Seymour
The above list of members of parliament includes David Montagu Erskine as an MP in 1806, in succession to his father Thomas Erskine (who became Lord Chancellor and was elevated to the peerage as the 1st Baron Erskine in 1806). Stooks Smith does not record this election
Note (1857): Number of voters unknown. The turnout is estimated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that electors did not use both their votes, the figure given will be an underestimate of actual turnout.
Note (1859): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Elections in the 1860s
Note (1865): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Expansion of the electorate provided for by the Reform Act 1867
Note (1868): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
Elections in the 1870s
Note (1874): Estimated turnout, see the 1857 note.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
^ a b cWedgwood, J.C., History of Parliament: Biographies of the Members of the Commons House, 1439–1509 (London, 1936), 1.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
^ a b c d e f g h i j"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t uStooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 131–134. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
^ a bMosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. pp. 138, 150. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
^ a bChurton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. pp. 22–23, 185.
^Gambles, Anna (1999). Protection and Politics: Conservative Economic Discourse 1815–1852. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. p. 244. ISBN 0-86193-244-7. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
^ a b cSalmon, Philip; Spencer, Howard. "Portsmouth". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p qCraig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
^"The Representation of Portsmouth". Hampshire Telegraph. 20 March 1880. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ a b c d e f g hCraig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
Sources
Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
The House of Commons 1715–1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
The House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973))
Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
Who's Who of British members of parliament, Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
Who's Who of British members of parliament, Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [2]
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)
