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102-535: Paddington South was a Parliamentary constituency in London which returned one Member of Parliament . It was a compact urban area, but predominantly wealthy, and was most famously represented by Lord Randolph Churchill during the latter part of his career. The constituency was originally made up of the southern part of Paddington Parish. In the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 it was defined as including

204-619: A Liberal candidate, although the local association quickly announced that it did not intend to sponsor anyone. Meanwhile, the Empire Free Trade Crusade , normally allied with the United Empire Party but failing on this occasion due to Lord Beaverbrook 's dislike of Mrs Stewart-Richardson, met with Sir Herbert Lidiard who pledged his support for Empire Free Trade but refused to go into Parliament with his hands tied. The Empire Crusaders then resolved to request

306-682: A Presbyterian, born in Glasgow in 1863. He was senior partner in the London firm of Milne, Gaff & Stirling, chartered accountants. However, Fardell's popularity (he had been knighted since the previous election) held and he won the seat by nearly two to one. On 22 June 1909, Sir George Fardell wrote to the President of the South Paddington Conservative Association to inform him he had decided not to contest

408-535: A candidate can often be elected with the support of only a minority of votes, leaving the majority of votes cast wasted, and thus a moderate winning vote of say just 34 percent repeated in several swing seats can be enough to create a landslide increase in seats won by a government. The district-by-district basis of ' First past the post voting ' elections means that parties will usually categorise and target various districts by whether they are likely to be held with ease, or winnable by extra campaigning, or written off as

510-592: A candidate to stand against him, but could not find one, and Fardell was therefore again unopposed. The local Liberal Party had only just divided up the St Pancras Liberal Association into two separate constituency associations for the North and South divisions. The newly formed South Paddington Liberal Association, under the presidency of Captain Sinclair, selected Williamson Milne. Milne was

612-545: A considerable popularity in the division (he claimed, and was not contradicted in the claim, that Lord Randolph Churchill had named him as his successor). Among the ordinary members of the Association, Ritchie still had a following. At the general meeting of the Association on 2 February 1895, he sent a letter stating that he agreed that his name could go forward to follow Lord Randolph Churchill but did not want to consent to any course of action that would cause dissension in

714-411: A foregone loss hardly worth fighting for. A safe seat is one that is regarded as very unlikely to be won by a rival politician based on the constituency 's past voting record or polling results. Conversely, a marginal seat or swing seat is one that could easily swing either way, and may even have changed hands frequently in recent decades - the party that currently holds it may have only won it by

816-526: A gale near Fowey , Cornwall . All six aboard, including King himself, were lost. The South Paddington Conservative Association turned to its usual supply of candidates, the representatives of the constituency on the London County Council, and invited the 66-year-old Sir Herbert Lidiard (Chairman of the Association for the previous 16 years) to be their candidate, an invitation which Lidiard accepted after some reluctance. The Labour Party entered

918-450: A low effective number of parties . Malta with only two major parties is a stark example of divergence from Duverger's rule. In a system where the intent is to avoid the waste of votes, a set proportion of votes, as a minimum, assures the election of a candidate. This is set as the inverse of the district magnitude plus one, plus one, the Droop quota . Droop is the mathematical threshold that

1020-580: A method called binomial voting , which assigned 2 MPs to each district. In many cases, however, multi-member constituencies correspond to already existing jurisdictions (regions, districts, wards, cities, counties, states or provinces), which creates differences in district magnitude from district to district: The concept of district magnitude helps explains why Duverger's speculated correlation between proportional representation and party system fragmentation has many counter-examples, as PR methods combined with small-sized multi-member constituencies may produce

1122-567: A motion to endorse Vice-Admiral Taylor was defeated by hundreds of votes to 13. All seemed set for another fight between two Conservatives, when the 1931 economic crisis turned political life upside down. Taylor backed the National government in the first House of Commons vote, and at a meeting organised by the South Paddington Conservative and Empire Crusade Association on 30 September insisted that he would be fighting

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1224-537: A much increased turnout, de chair kept the seat Conservative with Labour suffering more from Liberal intervention. Shortly after the election, Thelma de chair discovered that her husband had for two years been renting a flat in Belgravia for his mistress, Carmen Appleton. She was outraged, and the local Conservatives were sympathetic to her. Somerset de chair was left in no doubt that he would not be readopted, and on 14 June 1950 he announced that he would not be fighting

1326-487: A particular group has a slight majority, for instance, gerrymandering politicians can obtain 2/3 of that district's seats. Similarly, by making four-member districts in regions where the same group has slightly less than a majority, gerrymandering politicians can still secure exactly half of the seats. However, any possible gerrymandering that theoretically could occur would be much less effective because minority groups can still elect at least one representative if they make up

1428-595: A quarter of the vote. Following the bruising byelection, the South Paddington Conservative Association quickly moved to select a new candidate to challenge Taylor at the following general election, and in December 1930 picked Herbert Williams who was the former MP for Reading and a junior minister in the Baldwin government in 1928–29. The Conservative whips in Parliament swiftly noticed that Taylor's voting pattern

1530-420: A rural Conservative stronghold. There was a dispute within the local Liberal Association when it came to ballot on the selection of a candidate on 30 October 1885 between Alderman William Lawrence and Hilary Skinner . Lawrence, who was the incumbent Liberal MP for City of London , later complained that he had been induced to stand, and then found that a large number of previously unknown people who were not on

1632-420: A shadow authority alongside the area's three outgoing authorities, being the metropolitan borough councils of Westminster, Paddington and St Marylebone. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965, at which point the old boroughs and their councils were abolished. In 1966 the city was granted the dignity of having a lord mayor . The council's full legal name is "The Lord Mayor and Citizens of

1734-428: A significant percentage of the population (e.g. 20–25%), compared to single-member districts where 40–49% of the voters can be essentially shut out from any representation. Sometimes, particularly under non-proportional or winner-takes-all voting systems, elections can be prone to landslide victories . As the result in each district is not related to votes cast elsewhere and may not reflect a party's national popularity,

1836-886: A significant presence in an area. Many assemblies allow free postage (through franking privilege or prepaid envelopes) from a representative to a constituent, and often free telecommunications. Caseworkers may be employed by representatives to assist constituents with problems. Members of the U.S. Congress (both Representatives and Senators) working in Washington, D.C., have a governmentally staffed district office to aid in constituent services. Many state legislatures have followed suit. Likewise, British MPs use their Parliamentary staffing allowance to appoint staff for constituency casework. Client politics and pork barrel politics are associated with constituency work. In some elected assemblies, some or all constituencies may group voters based on some criterion other than, or in addition to,

1938-517: A slender margin and a party that wants to win it may be able to take it away from its present holder with little effort. In United Kingdom general elections and United States presidential and congressional elections, the voting in a relatively small number of swing seats usually determines the outcome of the entire election. Parties aspire to hold as many safe seats as possible, and high-level politicians, such as prime ministers, prefer to stand in safe seats. In large multi-party systems like India ,

2040-533: A small shift in election results, sometimes caused by swing votes, can lead to no party taking a majority of seats, causing a hung assembly . This may arise from a significant number of seats going to smaller regional parties instead of the larger national parties which are the main competitors at the national or state level, as was the situation in the Lok Sabha (Lower house of the Parliament of India ) during

2142-565: A special attempt to canvass domestic servants in the many large houses in the constituency. Because of the interest, the count was switched from the Thursday night following the poll, to the Friday morning at Paddington Town Hall. The poll on 30 October saw a turnout of 60%, higher than normal in such an area, and the police were much in evidence to ensure order (3,000 people lined Westbourne Grove to hear Vice-Admiral Taylor). Shortly after noon,

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2244-529: A term also used for administrative subdivisions of a municipality. However, in the Republic of Ireland , voting districts are called local electoral areas . District magnitude is a term invented by the American political scientist Douglas W. Rae in his 1967 dissertation The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws . It refers to the number of seats assigned to each district, and thus helping determine

2346-691: Is allowed to affect apportionment, with rural areas with sparse populations allocated more seats per elector: for example in Iceland, the Falkland Islands, Scottish islands, and (partly) in US Senate elections. Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries for political gain. By creating a few "forfeit" districts where opposing candidates win overwhelmingly, gerrymandering politicians can manufacture more, but narrower, wins for themselves and their party. Gerrymandering relies on

2448-466: Is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 1965 have been: Following the 2022 election the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2026. Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 18 wards , with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The council has its main offices at Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street in

2550-580: Is larger than 1 where multiple members are elected - plural districts ), and under plurality block voting (where voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled), proportional representation or single transferable vote elections (where the voter casts just one vote). In STV elections DM normally range from 2 to 10 members in a district. But 21 are elected in a single contest conducted through STV in New South Wales (Australia). In list PR systems DM may exceed 100. District magnitude

2652-519: Is maximized where: DM is moderate where districts break up the electorate or where relatively few members overall are elected, even if the election is held at-large. District magnitude may be set at an equal number of seats in each district. Examples include: all districts of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected 6 members (5 members since 2017); all those of the Parliament of Malta send 5 MPs; Chile, between 1989 and 2013, used

2754-404: Is not synonymous with proportional representation. The use of "general ticket voting" prevents the multiple-member representation of the district from being mixed and balanced. Where list PR is used in the district, a closed list PR method gives the party machine, not the voters, the power to arrange the candidates on the party list. In this case, a large district magnitude helps minorities only if

2856-456: Is the legal term. In Australia and New Zealand , Electoral districts are called electorates , however elsewhere the term electorate generally refers specifically to the body of voters. In India , electoral districts are referred to as " Nirvācan Kṣetra " ( Hindi : निर्वाचन क्षेत्र ) in Hindi , which can be translated to English as "electoral area" though the official English translation for

2958-425: Is the mathematical minimum whereby no more will be elected than there are seats to be filled. It ensures election in contests where all votes are used to elect someone. (Probabilistic threshold should include the likely number of votes wasted to minor lists). For instance, a 10%-polling party will not win a seat in a 5-member district (Droop quota of 1/6=16.67%) but will do so in a 10-member district as its 10 percent of

3060-660: Is used such as general ticket voting. The concept of magnitude explains Duverger's observation that single-winner contests tend to produce two-party systems , and proportional representation (PR) methods tend to produce multi-party systems . District magnitude is minimal (exactly 1) in plurality voting in single-member districts ( First-past-the-post voting used in most cases). As well, where multi-member districts are used, threshold de facto stays high if seats are filled by general ticket or other pro-landslide party block system (rarely used nationwide nowadays). In such situations each voter has one vote. District magnitude

3162-642: The Investors Chronicle and the Banker , and had fought previous elections in his native Dunbartonshire . Labour initially selected Robert S. W. Pollard, but Pollard resigned the candidacy on 15 February 1951 stating that as a pacifist and a member of the Society of Friends , he could not accept the Labour government's rearmament programme. The party then fell back to Charles Wegg-Prosser, who had become

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3264-650: The Bishop of London and later by the Church Commissioners in the 1820s starting with Connaught Square; it was originally known as Tyburnia after the River Tyburn . This area was always a prosperous one and no longer had the problem of the Tyburn gallows which were removed in 1783. However, the early 20th century saw some of the houses divided into flats and a wholescale redevelopment was undertaken under

3366-660: The Cantonal Council of Zürich are reapportioned in every election based on the number of votes cast in each district , which is only made possible by use of multi-member districts, and the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina , by contrast, is apportioned without regard to population; the three major ethnic groups – Bosniaks , Serbs , and Croats – each get exactly five members. Malapportionment occurs when voters are under- or over-represented due to variation in district population. In some places, geographical area

3468-783: The Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) in this way in the elections in October 2012 . Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London , England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London . The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings are generally held at Westminster Council House , also known as Marylebone Town Hall, and

3570-439: The wasted-vote effect , effectively concentrating wasted votes among opponents while minimizing wasted votes among supporters. Consequently, gerrymandering is typically done under voting systems using single-member districts, which have more wasted votes. While much more difficult, gerrymandering can also be done under proportional-voting systems when districts elect very few seats. By making three-member districts in regions where

3672-593: The 'No More War' Movement) easily prevailed. Five years after the byelection, the divisions within Conservatism in the division were becoming forgotten and Taylor had built up something of a personal following. Ronald Thomson, who was a salesman and Paddington Borough Councillor for Church Ward, fought as the Labour candidate and cut Taylor's majority, although by less than the national swing. With another election expected to be called by 1940, Labour adopted G.I.Thain as their candidate to unseat Ernest Taylor, however,

3774-473: The 'coupon' election of 1918, Harris received the endorsement of the Coalition and was therefore readopted without any difficulty. The South Paddington Liberal Association, despite supporting Asquith and therefore opposing the Coalition, had declined in its organisation and therefore once again declined to field a candidate. Paddington had a Borough Labour Party at the time but its efforts were concentrated in

3876-619: The 1918 election, but feared (correctly, as it turned out) that it would not be possible to keep it Conservative. However, King was the second candidate in the race as the Anti-Waste League had announced on 31 July 1921 the selection of Ernest Sawyer as its candidate for the division. Sawyer decided to fight as an unofficial Conservative and his supporters established the Independent Conservative Association of South Paddington to promote him; he had

3978-404: The 1990s. Elected representatives may spend much of the time serving the needs or demands of individual constituents , meaning either voters or residents of their district. This is more common in assemblies with many single-member or small districts than those with fewer, larger districts. In a looser sense, corporations and other such organizations can be referred to as constituents, if they have

4080-592: The Association. This diplomatic withdrawal was largely accepted and only one member (Sir Joseph Dimsdale) voted against the adoption of Fardell. The Liberals, having waited for the Conservatives to choose their candidate, again opted out of the contest given Fardell's popularity, and Fardell was returned unopposed. Fardell was unanimously re-adopted in the general election a few months later, and again ran unopposed. Fardell faced no difficulties in securing renomination at this election. The Liberal Association sought

4182-620: The Boundary Commission recommended that Paddington North and Paddington South be merged into a single Paddington constituency in a report issued in 1969. This change took effect at the February 1974 general election . Although the boundaries were slightly changed during its history, the principal areas of the constituency remained the same. In the east, the Hyde Park Estate had been built on land owned originally by

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4284-666: The Church Commissioners in the 1950s. West of this estate, on the north side of Kensington Gardens , is Lancaster Gate , built in 1856 but with many later buildings including those to replace bomb damage. The Barrie Estate, built by the London County Council in the 1950s, was one of the few social housing blocks to be built near the park. In later years, many of the terraces were replaced with or converted to hotels. Further west and beyond Queensway came apartment blocks such as Orme Court. North of this area

4386-766: The City of Westminster", but it is generally known as Westminster City Council. From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater London Council . The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention , and refuse disposal ; with the boroughs (including Westminster) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection . The Greater London Council

4488-485: The Conservative Association to choose a different candidate. When Lidiard declared that he would break the whip to vote in favour of Empire Free Trade, a statement welcomed by Beaverbrook, Neville Chamberlain wrote to him asking for clarification; Lidiard replied stating that he took this position in order to preserve the unity of his local association. In consequence, official Conservative endorsement

4590-550: The Conservative government". The Paddington Borough Labour Party had not been reformed as two Divisional Labour Parties, largely due to resistance on the part of the leadership who felt it would dilute their power and resented pressure from the Labour Party to reorganise. They once again concentrated on Paddington North. No Liberal candidate was nominated. The division within Conservative ranks therefore drew attention to

4692-511: The Conservatives and therefore Conservative MP Lord Randolph Churchill chose it as a bolthole after his existing constituency of Woodstock was abolished in boundary changes. Churchill had originally declared his intention to fight in the Birmingham Central division, but decided to go for this constituency where he had his London home. Churchill was not a very great fan of the constituency, regarding it as inferior in social status to

4794-545: The East End of London by the British Union of Fascists (he stood as a BUF candidate for the London County Council in 1937). However he had never been an anti-Semite and after the election wrote to Sir Oswald Mosley protesting his use of antisemitism and resigning from the party. Wegg-Prosser later became a forceful and effective anti-fascist speaker. Labour put some effort into winning the campaign, and shortly after

4896-752: The Harrow Road to Little Venice , then back on to the Harrow Road between Little Venice and Edgware Road. At this point, the constituency was defined as the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington : Hyde Park, Lancaster Gate East, Lancaster Gate West, Westbourne, and the part of the Church ward south of a line on the southern side of the Grand Junction Canal to the Harrow Road Bridge, and thence along

4998-626: The Liberal Party entered the contest with few illusions, given a national tide against them. Rev. Page Hopps, the Liberal candidate, came from Leicester and said at a public meeting at the opening of the campaign that he had no hope of beating Lord Randolph Churchill but had decided to fight because of abusive language used in Churchill's election address and in order to show him that he could not have South Paddington all to himself. Churchill

5100-559: The No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 wards of the Parish. This comprised an area bounded by Bayswater Road and Kensington Gardens on the south, Chepstow Place and Ledbury Road on the west, Harrow Road , Westbourne Terrace and Praed Street on the north, and Edgware Road on the east. In 1918 there were boundary changes which moved the northern boundary further north to the Grand Union canal from

5202-573: The Paddington South Conservative Association wrote to Churchill asking him to confirm whether it was his intention to seek re-election as a Conservative, and whether he would support the general policy of the Conservative Party. Churchill responded that he did intend seeking re-election, and it would be as a Conservative, and that he would give the same support he had given in the past. This response

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5304-557: The Warwick Estate in the 1960s. The changes in 1918 also brought into the constituency the Paddington Railway station and Paddington Basin. Overall, this made for a constituency which moved slowly but perceptibly down the social scale during the years, although the preponderance of the electorate were still prosperous at all times. At the 1885 general election , the seat was expected to be a reasonably fair bet for

5406-414: The advantage over King of being a local resident, and many important local Conservatives backed him. Sawyer insisted that he was a supporter of Bonar Law , and that Law's endorsement of King came from ignorance of local circumstances. He used King's membership of the government under David Lloyd George to impeach his commitment to Conservatism, insisting that he himself was an "unfettered loyal supporter of

5508-600: The contest with Dorothy Evans , Secretary of the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries . Interest was however already aroused at the prospect of the United Empire Party of Viscount Rothermere contesting the byelection. One constituent wrote to The Times to report that he had been canvassed by the party. On 15 September, the party announced that Mrs Nell Stewart-Richardson would be its candidate. At this stage it also seemed likely that there would be

5610-425: The council had been under Conservative majority control since the creation of the current authority in 1965. The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows: The role of Lord Mayor of Westminster is largely ceremonial. Political leadership

5712-476: The council has its main offices at Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street. Whilst an important centre of royal authority from Saxon times, Westminster was not formally incorporated as a borough for local government purposes until 1900. However, it was declared a city in 1540. From 1856 the area of the modern borough was within the area governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works , which

5814-407: The council moved the homeless elsewhere, and sold council homes to groups who were more likely to vote Conservative. On investigation, the policy was ruled to be illegal, and it was revealed that some of the homeless had been rehoused in condemned accommodation. After leaving office, Porter was found guilty of wilful misconduct and ordered to repay £36.1   million; a payment of £12.3   million

5916-437: The division at the general election. On 5 October, Williams announced "in the present national emergency" that he would withdraw his candidature, and the South Paddington Conservative Association declared that it would not divide the forces supporting the National government. Taylor therefore obtained Conservative endorsement and in a straight fight with Labour candidate Lucy Cox (a former schoolmistress then working as Secretary of

6018-597: The division at the next election, as he was retiring from political life. The Association immediately proceeded to choose a candidate and on 21 July the Executive decided to recommend Henry Harris , one of the constituency's representatives on the London County Council, as the new candidate. Shortly thereafter the South Paddington Liberal Association chose a locally-resident barrister, F. T. H. Henlé, as their candidate. The circumstances of

6120-480: The east end in the 1892 election. However, Ritchie's role in establishing the London County Council had made him unpopular among Conservatives as the council had become a Liberal dominated body. Instead, the executive of the Paddington South Conservative Association unanimously chose their chairman, George Fardell, who had been a member of the Vestry, the Metropolitan Board of Works and the London County Council, and had

6222-553: The election never took place. Following the end of the war, the Conservatives were confident of re-election and Vice-Admiral Taylor again offered himself as the Conservative candidate. Labour selected Charles Wegg-Prosser , a former Articled Clerk to a Solicitor, and a Major in the London Irish Rifles . Wegg-Prosser had undertaken an unusual journey to the Labour Party, having been attracted to economic fascism while at university and been appointed as Principal Speaker for

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6324-491: The election, in which the Conservatives highlighted the tax increases of the 1909 budget, helped Harris improve on Fardell's 1906 majority. The election of December was essentially a rerun of that in January. Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; At

6426-408: The election. King's statements that there was no difference between his policy and that of Lloyd George, and his 1918 pledge to be free of party ties, were publicised to show that he had acted hypocritically in becoming a Whip for Bonar Law. The result of the election, a victory of more than two to one for King, was a surprise to many. The Conservatives went into the 1923 election with the dispute of

6528-504: The electoral register had been added to the committee only 48 hours before the ballot, and that that was the reason Skinner won on the night by seven votes. Lawrence therefore decided to fight the seat as an unofficial Liberal candidate. Skinner invited Lawrence to arbitration as to who should get the nomination, but Lawrence refused. The end results proved that the expectations for the constituency had been accurate. Liberal voters remained loyal to their official candidate. For this election,

6630-495: The high-density Brunel Estate. North of the railway line, and between the canal and Harrow Road, was an industrial area which included the London Lock Hospital . The area added to the constituency after 1918 included some poor quality housing around the northern end of Westbourne Terrace, which was the scene for much of the 1950 film The Blue Lamp before being cleared and redeveloped by the London County Council as

6732-531: The location they live. Examples include: Not all democratic political systems use separate districts or other electoral subdivisions to conduct elections. Israel , for instance, conducts parliamentary elections as a single district. The 26 electoral districts in Italy and the 20 in the Netherlands have a role in the actual election, but no role whatsoever in the division of the seats. Ukraine elected half of

6834-475: The lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs , including Westminster (which inherited Westminster's city status), Paddington and St Marylebone , each with a borough council. The larger London borough called the City of Westminster and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963 , with the first election held in 1964 . For its first year the council acted as

6936-447: The make-up of the district map, made easier by a multitude of micro-small districts. A higher magnitude means less wasted votes, and less room for such maneuvers. As well, a fair voting system in the district contests also means that gerrymandering is ineffective because each party gets their fair share of seats however districts are drawn, at least theoretically. Multiple-member contests sometimes use plurality block voting , which allows

7038-474: The middle of the Harrow Road. In 1950 there was no change in the boundary but the definition was changed to take account of ward boundary changes which had taken place in 1919. The constituency was defined as the Church, Hyde Park, Lancaster Gate East, Lancaster Gate West and Westbourne wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington. No changes were made in 1955, but due to a falling electorate,

7140-590: The much more promising North division, and therefore Harris once again had the luxury of an unopposed re-election. In June 1921, Sir Henry Harris (as he had become known, to stop him being confused with the leading Liberal Percy A. Harris on the London County council) announced that he would not contest the next general election. That November, Captain Douglas King was selected. King was a Government Whip and sitting MP for North Norfolk having won it at

7242-557: The next election. On 28 June, Judge Bensley Wells granted Thelma de chair a decree nisi of divorce on grounds of the adultery of her husband in an undefended suit. With a narrow Parliament and an election possibly imminent, the Conservative Association quickly selected Robert Allan as their new candidate. Allan, a former Commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , was then the General Manager of

7344-550: The number of representatives allotted to each. Israel and the Netherlands are among the few countries that avoid the need for apportionment entirely by electing legislators at-large . Apportionment is generally done on the basis of population . Seats in the United States House of Representatives , for instance, are reapportioned to individual states every 10 years following a census, with some states that have grown in population gaining seats. By contrast, seats in

7446-406: The number of seats to be filled in any election. Staggered terms are sometimes used to reduce the number of seats up for election at any one time, when district magnitude is more than one. The number of seats up for election varies the ease or difficulty to be elected, as the threshold de facto decreases in proportion as the number of seats being filled increases, unless a pro-landslide voting system

7548-478: The only opposition to Robert Allan. In line with the national swing, Allan improved his majority. Constituency The names for electoral districts vary across countries and, occasionally, for the office being elected. The term constituency is commonly used to refer to an electoral district, especially in British English , but it can also refer to the body of eligible voters or all the residents of

7650-504: The party machine of any party chooses to include them. In a multi-member district where general ticket voting is not used, there is a natural impetus for a party to open itself to minority voters, if they have enough numbers to be significant, due to the competitive environment produced by the electoral system. Apportionment is the process of allocating a number of representatives to different regions, such as states or provinces. Apportionment changes are often accompanied by redistricting ,

7752-508: The poll (but before the result was declared), one of the campaign organisers was fined 40 s. for using a loud-speaker so loud that a neighbour said it sounded like "a brass band in the room". However, Taylor was re-elected by more than 3,500 votes. By now in his early seventies, Vice-Admiral Taylor decided in 1947 to retire at the next election. In February 1948 the Conservatives chose the author Somerset de Chair as their candidate. De Chair had been elected MP for South West Norfolk in 1935 but

7854-611: The powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions and business rates. It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing , social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Prior to that

7956-463: The previous year having been settled in King's favour and able to present a united front. An unopposed return was thought likely, but at a late stage Hubert Carr-Gomm came forward as a Liberal candidate. Carr-Gomm had been MP for Rotherhithe from 1906 to 1918 and Private Secretary to Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Prime Minister, but had no links to the area. Poorly prepared, he was able to take only 33% of

8058-503: The principal Labour Party member locally. The Liberals declined to fight again following their lost deposit the previous year. Despite the presence of Herbert Morrison at an eve of poll joint meeting in support of both the Paddington candidates, Labour was unable to reduce the Conservative majority. After the tumult of the previous years, the 1955 general election was a relatively dull affair with Charles Wegg-Prosser again providing

8160-529: The principal right-wing challenger to the Conservative, despite her insistence on standing even "if an Admiral or anybody else came and took her policy"; the South Paddington division had one of the highest proportions of women voters in the country. Lidiard was accused of having broken his pledge by a questioner, in a meeting which ended with blows being struck. The Labour Party also turned up outside other election meetings with loudspeaker vans, and made

8262-461: The redrawing of electoral district boundaries to accommodate the new number of representatives. This redrawing is necessary under single-member district systems, as each new representative requires their own district. Multi-member systems, however, vary depending on other rules. Ireland, for example, redraws its electoral districts after every census while Belgium uses its existing administrative boundaries for electoral districts and instead modifies

8364-442: The representation of minorities. John Stuart Mill had endorsed proportional representation (PR) and STV in the mid-19th century precisely to respond to this shortcoming. With lower district magnitudes, the only way to include demographic minorities scattered across the country is to force parties to include them: Large district magnitudes increase the chance for diverse walks of life and minority groups to be elected. However, it

8466-602: The represented area or only those who voted for a certain candidate. The terms (election) precinct and election district are more common in American English . In Canadian English , the term is used, especially officially, but is also colloquially and more commonly known as a riding or constituency . In some parts of Canada, constituency is used for provincial districts and riding for federal districts. In colloquial Canadian French , they are called comtés ("counties"), while circonscriptions comtés

8568-451: The result was declared with Vice-Admiral Taylor winning by 941. Taylor said the result was a great blow "to those wobblers who, while not opposing [Empire Free Trade], are afraid to adopt it". Lidiard hit at the press, saying that he had been beaten "by the most intensive press campaign of abuse and misrepresentation ever known in any by-election in our political history", and asserted that "the electors have been misled". Labour polled just over

8670-437: The rules permit voters not to rank all the candidates or prevent them from ranking all the candidates, some votes are declared exhausted. Thus it is common for one or two members in a district to be elected without attaining Droop. Larger district magnitudes means larger districts, so annihilate the need and practice of gerrymandering , Gerrymandering is the practice of partisan redistricting by means of creating imbalances in

8772-463: The single largest group to take all the district seats. Each voter having just one vote in a multi-member district, Single voting, a component of most party-list proportional representation methods as well as single non-transferable vote and single transferable vote , prevents such a landslide. High district magnitude is a major factor in the inclusion of minorities . Plurality (and other elections with lower district magnitudes) are known to limit

8874-501: The stuccoed terraces were built in the mid-19th century to provide good quality accommodation although not of the very highest class. On Queensway, Whiteleys Department Store had been founded in 1863 and steadily expanded, having a major rebuilding in 1908–12. Between this area and Westbourne Terrace was an area redeveloped as the Hallfield Estate after 1947 by Paddington Borough Council using Denys Lasdun as architect. To

8976-542: The term is "constituency". The term "Nirvācan Kṣetra" is used while referring to an electoral district in general irrespective of the legislature. When referring to a particular legislative constituency, it is simply referred to as "Kṣetra" along with the name of the legislature, in Hindi (e.g. 'Lok Sabha Kshetra' for a Lok Sabha constituency). Electoral districts for buli municipal or other local bodies are called "wards". Local electoral districts are sometimes called wards ,

9078-520: The vote exceeds the Droop quota in such a district (1/11=9%). In systems where a noticeable number of votes are wasted, such as Single non-transferable voting or Instant-runoff voting where transferable votes are used but voters are prohibited from ranking all candidates, you will see candidates win with less than Droop. STV is intended to avoid waste of votes by the use of transferable votes but even in STV, if

9180-488: The vote. The disintegration of the Liberal Party in London led to their withdrawal from Paddington in 1924. Douglas King , by now a Commodore, was returned unopposed. Commodore King was again returned unopposed at this election. He was one of only seven MPs to enjoy re-election without a contest, and one of only three in Great Britain. On Wednesday 20 August 1930, Commodore King's cutter yacht Islander sank in

9282-485: The west was Westbourne Grove which developed as a shopping street in the 1860s and leading to Notting Hill . Between Westbourne Grove and the railway line which led to Paddington railway station were smaller houses and garden squares. Although originally developed as a residential area of some quality, this area swiftly declined. In the very last years of the constituency, disused railway sidings north of Westbourne Park Road were developed by Westminster City Council as

9384-610: The writ for the byelection was moved. The volte-face by Lidiard incensed Beaverbrook who organised a meeting of Empire Crusaders on 17 October at which Vice-Admiral Ernest Taylor was adopted as the Empire Crusader candidate. Lord Rothermere also pledged his support for Taylor. There was a lively campaign with a great attendance and much heckling at public meetings in support of the various candidates. Beaverbrook and Rothermere's newspapers strongly supported their candidate. Vice-Admiral Taylor soon eclipsed Mrs Stewart-Richardson as

9486-565: Was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees. Westminster became a local education authority in 1990 when the Inner London Education Authority was dissolved. In the late 1980s, the under the leadership of Conservative councillor Shirley Porter , the council was involved in the homes for votes scandal . In marginal wards,

9588-523: Was defeated in 1945 by 53 votes. His wife was elected to the London County Council from Paddington South in 1949. Labour reselected Charles Wegg-Prosser, who had been elected to Paddington Borough Council in November 1945, and had now set up a Solicitor's practice on Praed Street. For the first time in 27 years the Liberals entered the field, with commercial law barrister Saul Myer fighting the seat. With

9690-683: Was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London . From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards . One such district was initially called the Westminster District , which was renamed the St Margaret and St John Combined Vestry in 1887. In 1900

9792-637: Was eventually accepted. Since 2000 the Greater London Authority has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions. The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has

9894-574: Was held in March, there were only four members voting against his endorsement. No Liberal candidate came forward and he was once again returned unopposed. The death of Lord Randolph Churchill led to a by-election at which the choice of Conservative candidate was the key decision. The first thought was that the constituency might prove a base for Charles Ritchie , the former President of the Local Government Board who had lost his seat in

9996-422: Was no different from a Conservative MP, and in January 1931 offered him the candidacy at Camberwell North if he would relinquish South Paddington, an offer which Taylor declined, telling the press "I am the Conservative member for the constituency, and I am entitled to call my organization the Conservative Association". When the full membership of the South Paddington Conservative Association met on 27 January 1931,

10098-479: Was not daunted; his election address was the origin of the much-quoted description of Gladstone as "an old man in a hurry". The result was regarded as a strong rebuff to the local Liberals, and when Churchill had to submit to re-election following his appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he ran unopposed. Later in 1886, Churchill was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer , requiring a by-election in which he

10200-468: Was not entirely satisfactory to the executive of the association, but a majority decided that he would be recommended for endorsement as their candidate. Churchill's enthusiastic support for the Moderate (i.e. Conservative) candidates in the London County Council election of that spring helped his standing in the Conservative Association and the constituency, and when a general meeting of the Association

10302-456: Was re-elected unopposed. Churchill's relationship with his constituency association had come under strain following his resignation from the government and criticism of it. His dissatisfaction with the party became so widespread that it was rumoured that he intended to stand down, although no announcement was made. Eventually, with a general election imminent, on 3 February 1892 the Chairman of

10404-501: Was withdrawn on 30 September. This decision led the United Empire Party to withdraw its endorsement from Mrs Stewart-Richardson, although she refused to withdraw from the election. However, Lidiard and the Conservative Association tried to forge a compromise by passing a resolution (6 October) which declared that Lidiard realised that only loyalty to the Conservative Party would see Empire Free Trade enacted. A few days later, Conservative Central Office decided to restore official support and

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