The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election, when with very minor boundary changes it was replaced by the new constituency of Poplar South. A small amount of the constituency's territory was added to Bow and Bromley.
1885–1918: In 1885 the area was administered as part of the county of Middlesex. It was located in the Tower division, in the east of the historic county. The suburban neighbourhood of Poplar formed a division of the parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets.
In 1889 the Tower division of Middlesex was severed from the county, for administrative purposes. It became part of the County of London. In 1900 the lower tier of local government in London was re-modelled. Poplar constituency became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar.
1950–1974: When a re-distribution of parliamentary seats took effect in 1950, the constituency was re-created. It then included the whole of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar.