Located in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in London, it was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act for the 1885 general election and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.

The area had been part of the former two-seat Tower Hamlets constituency, which was divided at the 1885 general election.

In November 1912, Lansbury resigned his seat so he could test public opinion on women's suffrage.

Lansbury was the only member of the cabinet of the Second Labour Ministry to both remain with the party and secure re-election at the 1931 general election.

The neighbourhoods of Bow and Bromley were combined to form a division of the parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets.