West Kent (formally known as "Kent, Western") was a county constituency in Kent in South East England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

All three two-member constituencies in Kent were abolished in 1885: East Kent, Mid Kent and West Kent. They were replaced by eight new single-member constituencies: Ashford, Dartford, Faversham, Isle of Thanet, Medway, St Augustine's, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge.

Boundaries 1832–1868: The Lathes of Sutton-at-Hone and Aylesford, and the Lower Division of the Lathe of Scray.

1868–1885: The Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone.

Members of Parliament Election1st Member1st Party2nd Member2nd Party 1832 Thomas Law Hodges Whig Thomas Rider Whig 1835 Sir William Geary, Bt Conservative 1838 by-election Sir Edmund Filmer, Bt Conservative 1841 Viscount Marsham Conservative 1845 by-election Thomas Austen Conservative 1847 Thomas Law Hodges Whig 1852 William Masters Smith Conservative Feb 1857 by-election Charles Wykeham Martin Peelite Apr 1857 James Whatman Radical 1859 Viscount Holmesdale Conservative Sir Edmund Filmer, Bt Conservative 1865 William Hart Dyke Conservative 1868 Sir Charles Mills, Bt Conservative John Gilbert Talbot Conservative 1878 by-election Viscount Lewisham Conservative 1885 constituency abolished

Election results Elections in the 1830s

Rider retired at the close of the first day's poll

Geary resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Marsham succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Romney and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Filmer's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Talbot resigned in order to contest the 1878 Oxford University by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

Legge was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, requiring a by-election.

References

Sources