Wanstead and Woodford (UK Parliament constituency)

Wanstead and Woodford was a constituency in North East London, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency existed from the 1964 general election until it was abolished in the 1997 general election.

Wanstead and Woodford
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyGreater London
19641997
SeatsOne
Created fromWoodford
Replaced byChingford & Woodford Green, Ilford North, and Leyton & Wanstead

History of results

edit
 
The original extent of the constituency from 1964 to 1974, shown by the shaded council area in local government terms
Approximate boundaries of the constituency in its second form. Click for surrounding seats. (Colouring: Feb 1974 results)
Approximate boundaries of the constituency in its final form. Click for surrounding seats. (Colouring: 1987 results)

Between 51.7% and 63.6% of voters in the constituency supported the Conservative candidate in general elections (no by-elections occurred during this period). The runner-up party alternated between Liberal and Labour candidates, with the Conservative majority over the runner-up ranging from 26.7% to 43%.

Boundaries

edit

1964–1974: The constituency covered the area of the Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford in Essex. From 1965 to 1974, this area fell under the London Borough of Redbridge for local government purposes.

1974–1983: The constituency comprised the following wards in the London Borough of Redbridge: Bridge, Clayhall, Snaresbrook, Wanstead, and Woodford.

1983–1997: The constituency included the London Borough of Redbridge wards of Bridge, Church End, Clayhall, Monkhams, Roding, Snaresbrook, and Wanstead.

Creation and successors

edit

This seat was defined by the Parliamentary Constituencies (Ilford and Woodford) Order 1960, which took effect at the next general election, held in 1964.[1] This Order adjusted the boundaries of Ilford North, Ilford South, and Woodford (which was renamed Wanstead and Woodford), to align with the borough boundaries set in 1956.

This was the only boundary adjustment for any constituencies between the 1955 and February 1974 general elections.[citation needed]

Until 1974, the seat closely mirrored its predecessor, Woodford, with only minor boundary changes.[citation needed]

The constituency was dissolved in 1997 and divided to:

Proposals to re-establish the seat were included in the Boundary Commission review published on 13 September 2011.[3] If implemented, the new seat would consist of the wards Monkhams, Bridge, Church End, Roding, Snaresbrook, and Wanstead, with Clayhall rejoining, along with the addition of Cranbrook and Valentines in Redbridge, located east of the A406 trunk road.

Members of Parliament

edit
Election Member[4] Party
1964 Patrick Jenkin Conservative
1987 James Arbuthnot Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Chingford and Woodford Green, Ilford North & Leyton and Wanstead

Elections

edit

Elections in the 1960s

edit
General election 1964: Wanstead and Woodford [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Jenkin 19,580 55.31 −15.93
Liberal John Ernest Lockwood 8,901 25.15 N/A
Labour James George Morrell 6,917 19.54 −9.22
Majority 10,679 30.17 −12.31
Turnout 35,398 79.35 +2.06
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1966: Wanstead and Woodford [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Jenkin 19,063 56.07 +0.76
Labour David Edward de Saxe 8,785 25.84 +6.30
Liberal John Charles Griffiths 6,150 18.09 −7.06
Majority 10,278 30.23 +0.06
Turnout 33,998 76.82 −2.53
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

edit
General election 1970: Wanstead and Woodford[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Jenkin 20,065 61.15 +5.08
Labour Anthony Philip Barker 8,522 25.97 +0.13
Liberal Richard Hugh Hoskins 4,224 12.87 −5.22
Majority 11,543 35.18 +4.95
Turnout 32,811 67.77 −9.05
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Wanstead and Woodford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Jenkin 23,056 51.72
Liberal DJ Gilby 11,155 25.02
Labour R Darlington 10,365 23.25
Majority 11,901 26.70
Turnout 44,576
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Wanstead and Woodford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Jenkin 21,209 53.20
Labour R Darlington 10,369 26.02
Liberal DJ Gilby 8,272 20.76
Majority 10,840 27.18
Turnout 39,850
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: Wanstead and Woodford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Jenkin 26,214 63.61
Labour Michael Mcnulty[8] 8,464 20.54
Liberal Alan Cornish[8] 6,535 15.86
National Front Charles Bond[8] 957 2.32 New
Majority 17,750 43.07
Turnout 42,170
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

edit
General election 1983: Wanstead and Woodford[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick Jenkin 23,765 60.25
Liberal Keith Crawford 9,411 23.86
Labour Lesley Hilton 5,334 13.52
Ecology Cynthia Warth 476 1.21 New
National Front Harold Marshall 456 1.16
Majority 14,354 36.39
Turnout 39,442 68.35
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: Wanstead and Woodford[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Arbuthnot 25,701 61.3 +0.9
Liberal John Bastick 9,289 22.1 −1.8
Labour Lesley Hilton 6,958 16.6 +3.1
Majority 16,412 39.2 +2.8
Turnout 41,948 72.4 +4.1
Conservative hold Swing +1.4

Elections in the 1990s

edit
General election 1992: Wanstead and Woodford[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Arbuthnot 26,204 60.0 −1.3
Labour Lyn Brown 9,319 21.3 +4.7
Liberal Democrats Gary P. Staight 7,362 16.8 −5.3
Green Francis M. Roads 637 1.5 New
Natural Law Anthony J. Brickell 178 0.4 New
Majority 16,885 38.7 −0.5
Turnout 43,700 78.3 +5.9
Conservative hold Swing −3.0

See also

edit

Notes and references

edit
  1. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (Ilford and Woodford) Order, 1960 (S.I. 1960 No. 454)
  2. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995 No. 1626)
  3. ^ "Wanstead and Woodford BC" (PDF). Initial Proposals. Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
  5. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
  6. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1950–1973 by FWS Craig
  7. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1950–1973 by FWS Craig
  8. ^ a b c Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 19. ISBN 0102374805.
  9. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2010.