Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30
Tower Hamlets elected 2 MPs at the 1880 general election: James Bryce (Liberal) and Charles Thomson Ritchie (Conservative). This page covers every general election in Tower Hamlets from 1832 to 1880.
This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.
Full Election History, 1832–1880
Election
Elected
Votes
Vote Share
Runner-up
Majority
Turnout
1832
Stephen Lushington (Whig); William Clay (Radical)
3,751
31.5% (top seat)
Leicester FitzGerald Charles Stanhope (Whig)
799 (6.3 pts)
63.7%
1835
William Clay (Radical); Stephen Lushington (Whig)
2,580
47.7% (top seat)
James Ryder Burton (Conservative)
2,115 (36.3 pts)
30.8%
1837
William Clay (Radical); Stephen Lushington (Whig)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1841
William Clay (Radical); Charles Richard Fox (Whig)
4,096
34.6% (top seat)
George Richard Robinson (Conservative)
1,913 (14.1 pts)
49.1%
1847
George Donisthorpe Thompson (Radical); William Clay (Radical)
3,839
49.2% (top seat)
Charles Richard Fox (Whig)
1,217 (9.6 pts)
33.9%
1852
William Clay (Radical); Charles Salisbury Butler (Radical)
7,718
32.3% (top seat)
George Donisthorpe Thompson (Radical)
3,150 (13.2 pts)
50.8%
1857
Acton Smee Ayrton (Radical); Charles Salisbury Butler (Radical)
7,297
35.9% (top seat)
William Clay (Radical)
643 (2.9 pts)
38.9%
1859
Charles Salisbury Butler (Liberal); Acton Smee Ayrton (Liberal)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1865
Charles Salisbury Butler (Liberal); Acton Smee Ayrton (Liberal)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1868
Acton Smee Ayrton (Liberal); Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda (Liberal)
7,849
28.0% (top seat)
Octavius Edward Coope (Conservative)
403 (1.1 pts)
54.1%
1874
Charles Thomson Ritchie (Conservative); Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda (Liberal)
5,900
29.7% (top seat)
Edmund Hay Currie (Liberal)
878 (3.6 pts)
37.0%
1880
James Bryce (Liberal); Charles Thomson Ritchie (Conservative)
11,720
30.6% (top seat)
Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda (Liberal)
1,336 (3.4 pts)
47.8%
Full Result Breakdown by Election
1832 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Stephen Lushington
Whig
3,978
31.5%
Yes
William Clay
Radical
3,751
29.7%
Yes
Leicester FitzGerald Charles Stanhope
Whig
2,952
23.4%
No
Frederick Marryat
Whig
1,934
15.3%
No
1835 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Clay
Radical
2,779
47.7%
Yes
Stephen Lushington
Whig
2,580
44.3%
Yes
James Ryder Burton
Conservative
465
8.0%
No
1837 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Clay
Radical
Unopposed
Yes
Stephen Lushington
Whig
Unopposed
Yes
1841 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Clay
Radical
4,706
34.6%
Yes
Charles Richard Fox
Whig
4,096
30.1%
Yes
George Richard Robinson
Conservative
2,183
16.1%
No
Andrew Kennedy Hutchinson
Whig
1,775
13.1%
No
Thomas Edward Perronet Thompson
Radical
831
6.1%
No
1847 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
George Donisthorpe Thompson
Radical
6,268
49.2%
Yes
William Clay
Radical
3,839
30.2%
Yes
Charles Richard Fox
Whig
2,622
20.6%
No
1852 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Clay
Radical
7,728
32.3%
Yes
Charles Salisbury Butler
Radical
7,718
32.3%
Yes
George Donisthorpe Thompson
Radical
4,568
19.1%
No
Acton Smee Ayrton
Radical
2,792
11.7%
No
William Newton
Radical
1,095
4.6%
No
1857 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Acton Smee Ayrton
Radical
7,813
35.9%
Yes
Charles Salisbury Butler
Radical
7,297
33.5%
Yes
William Clay
Radical
6,654
30.6%
No
1859 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Salisbury Butler
Liberal
Unopposed
Yes
Acton Smee Ayrton
Liberal
Unopposed
Yes
1865 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Salisbury Butler
Liberal
Unopposed
Yes
Acton Smee Ayrton
Liberal
Unopposed
Yes
1868 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Acton Smee Ayrton
Liberal
9,839
28.0%
Yes
Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda
Liberal
7,849
22.3%
Yes
Octavius Edward Coope
Conservative
7,446
21.2%
No
Edmond Beales
Liberal
7,160
20.4%
No
William Newton
Liberal-Labour
2,890
8.2%
No
1874 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Thomson Ritchie
Conservative
7,228
29.7%
Yes
Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda
Liberal
5,900
24.2%
Yes
Edmund Hay Currie
Liberal
5,022
20.6%
No
Acton Smee Ayrton
Liberal
3,202
13.2%
No
Frederick Augustus Maxse
Liberal
2,992
12.3%
No
1880 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
James Bryce
Liberal
12,020
30.6%
Yes
Charles Thomson Ritchie
Conservative
11,720
29.9%
Yes
Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda
Liberal
10,384
26.5%
No
Benjamin Lucraft
Liberal-Labour
5,103
13.0%
No
Margin Over Time
Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.
Trend
Tower Hamlets has been contested at 12 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Whig, Radical, Liberal, Conservative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Tower Hamlets in the 1880 general election?
James Bryce (Liberal), Charles Thomson Ritchie (Conservative) won Tower Hamlets in 1880.
Which parties have won Tower Hamlets since 1832?
Since 1832, Tower Hamlets has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Radical, Whig.
What was the closest result in Tower Hamlets?
The closest result on record for Tower Hamlets was 1868, when Liberal beat Conservative by just 403 votes (1.1 percentage points).
Did Tower Hamlets ever elect more than one MP at a time?
Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Tower Hamlets elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.