1885–1918: The parishes of Wandsworth, Tooting Graveney, Streatham, and Putney (including Roehampton).[1]
All of the above were in the ancient hundred of Brixton.[2] The first three parishes were previously in Mid Surrey, having been moved out of East Surrey when the Mid Surrey division was created in 1867.[3]
In 1889 the County of London was created. Wandsworth formed part of the new county. In 1900 the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was formed, as a local authority within the County of London. The Metropolitan Borough included a larger area than the parliamentary constituency, as it added Clapham to the areas which had been in the parliamentary borough.
The constituency grouped a number of communities in northern Surrey, which were converted into South London suburbs, due to the rapid expansion of the London conurbation before and during the existence of the constituency. When the County of London was created most of the comparatively empty land within its boundaries became South London.
The shape was irregular — two key masses joined by the comparatively thin, fast-developing Earlsfield area in the middle. In the north-west of the constituency, Putney and central Wandsworth were areas declining somewhat in status in the period. Working class housing was also spreading from the neighbouring area of Battersea, along the part of the south bank of the River Thames included. However, overall the district was middle class in character, with new estates being developed in the south-east end of the seat at Tooting and Streatham (to the south of Clapham).
The neighbouring parliamentary seats were Fulham (on the north bank of the Thames, opposite to the constituency); to the east of the northern part of the seat and to the north of the middle and south-eastern parts were Battersea and Clapham; to the east of the south-eastern part was Norwood; to the south-east of the constituency was Croydon; to the south was Wimbledon and to the west was Kingston.
In 1918 the seat was split up in complex fashion reflecting major urbanisation of the area. The near-whole new offspring were seats of Putney, Streatham and Wandsworth Central and the partial successors were Balham and Tooting and Clapham.
History
The constituency was, throughout its existence, a Conservative seat. The electorate expanded from 10,088 in 1885 to 39,911 in 1913, without altering the partisan leanings of the area.
The first MP for the seat was Henry Kimber, who was created a baronet in 1904. Kimber was a solicitor by profession. He continued to represent the constituency until he resigned in 1913. Even during the 1906 general election, which was a national Liberal landslide, Kimber only had his majority reduced to 545 (2.2%).
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;
^"Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
