Kensington was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1933 to 1974. It covered parts of the inner eastern suburbs of Johannesburg, centred on the suburb of Kensington. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Transvaal Provincial Council.

Franchise notes When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the electoral qualifications in use in each pre-existing colony were kept in place. In the Transvaal Colony, and its predecessor the South African Republic, the vote was restricted to white men, and as such, elections in the Transvaal Province were held on a whites-only franchise from the beginning. The franchise was also restricted by property and education qualifications until the 1933 general election, following the passage of the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931. From then on, the franchise was given to all white citizens aged 21 or over. Non-whites remained disenfranchised until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994.

History Kensington was created in 1933, largely out of the abolished seat of Denver as well as Bezuidenhout, whose long-serving MP Leslie Blackwell moved to the new seat. Blackwell was initially elected for the South African Party, but like the bulk of that party, joined the United Party on its formation in 1934. Like most of Johannesburg, Kensington was a safe seat for the UP throughout its history, and all of Blackwell's successors would come from the same party - many of them elected unopposed. Its last MP, George Denzil Grant Oliver, left parliament on the seat's abolition in 1974, but stood for election in the Durban seat of Pinetown three years later, representing the conservative South African Party.

Members ElectionMemberParty 1933 Leslie Blackwell SAP 1934 United Party 1938 1943 T. P. Gray 1948 1949 by P. A. Moore 1953 1958 1961 1966 1970 G. D. G. Oliver 1974 Constituency abolished Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).

Detailed results Elections in the 1930s

References