Map of the new Borough of Tower Hamlets, 1867.

The Reform Act of 1832 created a political constituency of Tower Hamlets which included Hackney. The Second Reform Act or The Representation of the People Act of 1867 split this into two: Tower Hamlets and Hackney, each with two MPs. At this time Bethnal Green was part of Hackney. Parochial matters were still decided by the local vestries until the creation of the boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney in 1900. The name Tower Hamlets was the obvious choice when the three boroughs were merged in 1965.