Paddington (UK Parliament constituency)
| Paddington | |
|---|---|
| Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons |
|
| February 1974–1983 | |
| Number of members | one |
| Replaced by | Westminster North and City of London and Westminster South |
| Created from | Paddington North and Paddington South |
Paddington was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Paddington district of London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election, partially replacing the previous Paddington North and Paddington South constituencies, and abolished for the 1983 general election. A Paddington borough constituency has three times been recommended during early stages of Boundary Commission inquiries, only to be altered before the final report was issued.
In the Initial Report of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England published in October 1947, the Commission recommended that the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington should form an undivided Parliamentary Borough returning one member, with an electorate on 15 October 1946 of 87,032. The Government brought in a Representation of the People Bill based on the recommendations, but after pressure from some affected local authorities, decided give extra seats to some towns and cities where the electorate had resulted in the area narrowly missing out on an additional Member. Paddington was one of three Metropolitan Boroughs with very large electorates, and its total was higher than any other. On 18 March 1948 the Government put down amendments to the Bill which included awarding two seats to Paddington. A division into redrawn Paddington North and Paddington South borough constituencies followed.
In their 1967 Christmas message to their fans, Christmastime Is Here Again!, the Beatles included a skit where a game-show winner is "elected as an independent candidate for Paddington! Look after yourself!" Paddington was still a divided borough at this point, but had lost electorate. The Metropolitan Borough of Paddington had been absorbed into the City of Westminster in local government changes in April 1965. The Second Periodical Review of constituency boundaries commenced in 1965, and the City of Westminster was allocated three seats, a reduction of one. Initially the Commission proposed to transfer the Maida Vale ward from Paddington North to St Marylebone constituency, and merge the remainder of Paddington North with the whole of Paddington South in a Paddington borough constituency. Objections led to a local inquiry, which caused the Commission to revise their recommendation to include Maida Vale ward in Paddington constituency while removing Hyde Park ward (previously in Paddington South) to St Marylebone. Further representations led the Commission to revise their recommendations again, and to include Hyde Park ward in the Paddington constituency. The constituency was defined as the following wards of the City of Westminster: Harrow Road, Hyde Park, Lancaster Gate, Maida Vale, Queen's Park and Westbourne. The new constituency was a precise merger of the two previous Paddington divisions.
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