1868–1885: The parishes of Chelsea, Fulham, Hammersmith, and Kensington.
1885–1918: The parish of St Luke, Chelsea.
Chelsea (after the local government changes in 1965) is a district of
Inner London, comprising for administrative purposes the southern part of the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Its southern boundary is on the north bank of the River
Thames. It adjoins
Westminster to the east,
Fulham to the west and
Kensington to the north. Before 1868 the area was represented in Parliament as part of the
county constituency of
Middlesex. With the expansion westwards of the urban area around
Westminster, the former village of
Chelsea and neighbouring areas had by 1868 developed enough to be made a
Parliamentary borough and given two seats in the
House of Commons. The parliamentary borough comprised four
civil parishes: Chelsea,
Fulham,
Hammersmith and
Kensington. In 1885, the existing parliamentary borough was divided into five single-member constituencies. The
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 defined the redrawn Chelsea seat as comprising the parish of St Luke, Chelsea. The constituency had a detached outlier, the
Kensal Green area, because of its history as a detached part of St Luke parish. (The remaining parishes became the constituencies of
Fulham,
Hammersmith,
Kensington North and
Kensington South.) In 1889, the historic county of
Middlesex was divided for administrative purposes.
Chelsea became part of the
County of London. No changes were made to parliamentary boundaries, however. In the 1918 redistribution of Parliamentary seats, the
Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea (created as a local government unit in 1900) was represented by one MP. In the redistribution which took effect in 1950, the then
Brompton ward of the
Metropolitan Borough of Kensington was added to the existing area of the constituency. In 1965, the
London County Council area was absorbed by the new
Greater London Council. The constituency was included in a new
London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, although the Parliamentary boundaries were not altered immediately. In the redistribution that took effect in 1974, the
Kensington and Chelsea, Chelsea constituency consisted of the then
Brompton, Cheyne, Church,
Earls Court, Hans Town, North Stanley, Redcliffe, Royal Hospital and South Stanley
wards of Kensington and Chelsea. The constituency shared boundaries with the
Chelsea electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981. From the 1983 redistribution,
Chelsea consisted of Abingdon, Brompton, Cheyne, Church, Courtfield, Earls Court, Hans Town, North Stanley, Redcliffe, Royal Hospital and South Stanley
wards of Kensington and Chelsea. 98.5% of the constituency had been in the pre-1983
Chelsea and 1.5% had been part of
Kensington. In the 1997 redistribution,
Chelsea ceased to exist as a constituency. The area was included in the
Kensington and Chelsea constituency, which covered the central and southern portions of the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, including the centres of both
Kensington and
Chelsea. The constituency had the highest concentration of those born in the European Community (5.4% of the population) and those born in the Old Commonwealth (3.3% of the population) in 1981. ==Members of Parliament==