It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.
The constituency was created in 1885, as a division of the parliamentary borough of Shoreditch in the East End of London.
The area was administered as part of the Tower division of the county of Middlesex.
The division consisted of the Acron, Haggerston, Kingsland and Whitmore wards.
The territory of the constituency was severed from Middlesex and included in the new County of London.