Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30
West Kent elected 2 MPs at the 1880 general election: Charles Henry Mills (Conservative) and William Heneage Legge (Conservative). This page covers every general election in West Kent 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
Thomas Law Hodges (Whig); Thomas Rider (Whig)
3,100
37.5% (top seat)
William Richard Powlett Geary (Conservative)
582 (6.5 pts)
67.3%
1835
William Richard Powlett Geary (Conservative); Thomas Law Hodges (Whig)
2,092
38.4% (top seat)
Thomas Ryder (Whig)
85 (1.3 pts)
48.6%
1837
William Richard Powlett Geary (Conservative); Thomas Law Hodges (Whig)
3,334
35.3% (top seat)
Edmund Filmer (Conservative)
105 (1.0 pts)
60.2%
1841
Edmund Filmer (Conservative); Charles Marsham (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1847
Edmund Filmer (Conservative); Thomas Law Hodges (Whig)
3,127
34.1% (top seat)
Thomas Austen (Conservative)
45 (0.5 pts)
49.7%
1852
Edmund Filmer (Conservative); William Masters Smith (Conservative)
3,193
35.7% (top seat)
Thomas Law Hodges (Whig)
541 (5.9 pts)
48.5%
1857
Charles Wykeham Martin (Peelite); James Whatman (Radical)
3,578
36.6% (top seat)
William Masters Smith (Conservative)
407 (3.8 pts)
59.5%
1859
William Archer Amherst (Conservative); Edmund Filmer (Conservative)
3,684
26.0% (top seat)
Charles Wykeham Martin (Liberal)
100 (0.7 pts)
81.0%
1865
William Archer Amherst (Conservative); William Hart Dyke (Conservative)
4,054
25.9% (top seat)
John Lubbock (Liberal)
158 (1.0 pts)
81.3%
1868
Charles Henry Mills (Conservative); John Gilbert Talbot (Conservative)
3,378
25.8% (top seat)
John Lubbock (Liberal)
55 (0.4 pts)
75.5%
1874
Charles Henry Mills (Conservative); John Gilbert Talbot (Conservative)
5,227
30.7% (top seat)
Archibald Hamilton (Liberal)
1,836 (10.6 pts)
72.1%
1880
Charles Henry Mills (Conservative); William Heneage Legge (Conservative)
5,986
35.2% (top seat)
Henry Mason Bompas (Liberal)
1,129 (6.2 pts)
61.3%
Full Result Breakdown by Election
1832 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Thomas Law Hodges
Whig
3,364
37.5%
Yes
Thomas Rider
Whig
3,100
34.5%
Yes
William Richard Powlett Geary
Conservative
2,518
28.0%
No
1835 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Richard Powlett Geary
Conservative
2,558
38.4%
Yes
Thomas Law Hodges
Whig
2,092
31.4%
Yes
Thomas Ryder
Whig
2,007
30.1%
No
1837 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Richard Powlett Geary
Conservative
3,584
35.3%
Yes
Thomas Law Hodges
Whig
3,334
32.9%
Yes
Edmund Filmer
Conservative
3,229
31.8%
No
1841 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Edmund Filmer
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
Charles Marsham
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1847 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Edmund Filmer
Conservative
3,219
34.1%
Yes
Thomas Law Hodges
Whig
3,127
33.2%
Yes
Thomas Austen
Conservative
3,082
32.7%
No
1852 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Edmund Filmer
Conservative
3,247
35.7%
Yes
William Masters Smith
Conservative
3,193
35.1%
Yes
Thomas Law Hodges
Whig
2,652
29.2%
No
1857 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Wykeham Martin
Peelite
3,896
36.6%
Yes
James Whatman
Radical
3,578
33.6%
Yes
William Masters Smith
Conservative
3,171
29.8%
No
1859 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Archer Amherst
Conservative
3,769
26.0%
Yes
Edmund Filmer
Conservative
3,684
25.4%
Yes
Charles Wykeham Martin
Liberal
3,584
24.7%
No
James Whatman
Liberal
3,460
23.9%
No
1865 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Archer Amherst
Conservative
4,133
25.9%
Yes
William Hart Dyke
Conservative
4,054
25.4%
Yes
John Lubbock
Liberal
3,896
24.4%
No
William Angerstein
Liberal
3,861
24.2%
No
1868 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Henry Mills
Conservative
3,440
25.8%
Yes
John Gilbert Talbot
Conservative
3,378
25.3%
Yes
John Lubbock
Liberal
3,323
24.9%
No
William Angerstein
Liberal
3,196
24.0%
No
1874 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Henry Mills
Conservative
5,295
30.7%
Yes
John Gilbert Talbot
Conservative
5,227
30.3%
Yes
Archibald Hamilton
Liberal
3,391
19.6%
No
Edward Marjoribanks
Liberal
3,346
19.4%
No
1880 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Henry Mills
Conservative
6,413
35.2%
Yes
William Heneage Legge
Conservative
5,986
32.8%
Yes
Henry Mason Bompas
Liberal
4,857
26.6%
No
John May
Conservative Tenant Farmers
977
5.4%
No
Margin Over Time
Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.
Trend
West Kent has been contested at 12 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Whig, Conservative, Peelite, Radical.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won West Kent in the 1880 general election?
Charles Henry Mills (Conservative), William Heneage Legge (Conservative) won West Kent in 1880.
Which parties have won West Kent since 1832?
Since 1832, West Kent has been won by: Conservative, Peelite, Radical, Whig.
What was the closest result in West Kent?
The closest result on record for West Kent was 1868, when Conservative beat Liberal by just 55 votes (0.4 percentage points).
Did West Kent ever elect more than one MP at a time?
Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, West Kent 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.