Upminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Upminster
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Upminster in Greater Londonfor the 2005 general election
County	Greater London
February 1974–2010
Seats	One
Created from	Hornchurch
Replaced by	Hornchurch and Upminster

Upminster was a constituency of the House of Commons in east London, which 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 voting system. It was created for the 1974 general election, and abolished for the 2010 general election.

Boundaries

1974–1983: The London Borough of Havering wards of Cranham, Emerson Park, Gooshays, Harold Wood, Heaton, Hilldene, and Upminster.

1983–1997: The London Borough of Havering wards of Ardleigh Green, Cranham East, Cranham West, Emerson Park, Gooshays, Harold Wood, Heaton, Hilldene, and Upminster.

1997–2010: The London Borough of Havering wards of Cranham East, Cranham West, Emerson Park, Gooshays, Harold Wood, Heaton, Hilldene, and Upminster.

History

The constituency shared boundaries with the Upminster electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981.

This usually safe Conservative seat was won by Labour in the landslide of 1997. It became one of the few seats that Labour lost in the 2001 general election. The constituency was replaced by the new Hornchurch and Upminster constituency for the 2010 general election.

Constituency profile

Upminster was the easternmost constituency of the London Borough of Havering, and of Greater London. The constituency was oddly shaped and covered both the wealthiest and the poorest parts of the borough while being London's least ethnically diverse constituency. The constituency included the Upminster suburb of Cranham. The boundary to the north extended beyond the A127 and A12 to include Harold Wood and Harold Hill. In the east the constituency was uniquely the only London constituency to form a protrusion to cross the M25 motorway and include North Ockendon. To the west the boundary also formed a protrusion to include the wealthy suburban area of Emerson Park which otherwise formed part of Hornchurch. The River Ingrebourne formed part of the constituency boundary to the west and the M25 Motorway formed much of the boundary to the east.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1]	Party
	Feb 1974	John Loveridge	Conservative
	1983	Sir Nicholas Bonsor	Conservative
	1997	Keith Darvill	Labour
	2001	Angela Watkinson	Conservative
	2010	constituency abolished: see Hornchurch and Upminster

Elections

Elections in the 1970s

General election February 1974: Upminster ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Loveridge	21,003	39.93
	Labour	John Edward Darley Whysall	19,995	38.02
	Liberal	Andrew Richard Merton	11,596	22.05
Majority			1,008	1.91
Turnout			52,594	82.54
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election October 1974: Upminster ^{[2] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Loveridge	20,966	42.72	+2.78
	Labour	John Edward Darley Whysall	20,272	41.30	+3.28
	Liberal	Andrew Richard Merton	7,844	15.98	−6.07
Majority			694	1.42	−0.51
Turnout			49,082	76.20	−6.34
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.3

General election 1979: Upminster ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Loveridge	27,960	52.7	+10.0
	Labour	John Kent Stephenson	18,895	35.6	−5.7
	Liberal	David Harvey	5,216	9.8	−6.2
	National Front	William John Neary	965	1.8	New
Majority			9,065	17.1	+15.7
Turnout			53,036	80.4	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.8

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Upminster ^{[6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Bonsor	25,153	52.53	−0.19
	SDP	David Osman	12,339	25.77	+15.94
	Labour	Alan Hughes	9,829	20.53	−15.10
	National Front	G Nobes-Pride	566	1.18	−0.64
Majority			12,814	26.76	+9.67
Turnout			47,887	72.07	−8.33
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1987: Upminster ^{[6] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Bonsor	27,946	55.78	+3.25
	SDP	John Martin	11,089	22.13	−3.64
	Labour	Denis O'Flynn	11,069	22.09	+1.56
Majority			16,857	33.65	+6.89
Turnout			50,104	75.22	+3.15
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Upminster ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Bonsor	28,791	55.79	+0.01
	Labour	Terry Ward	14,970	29.01	+6.92
	Liberal Democrats	Terry E. Hurlstone	7,848	15.21	−6.92
Majority			13,821	26.78	−6.86
Turnout			51,609	80.47	+5.25
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1997: Upminster ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Darvill	19,095	46.2	+16.1
	Conservative	Nicholas Bonsor	16,315	39.5	−14.7
	Liberal Democrats	Pamela G. Peskett	3,919	9.5	−6.2
	Referendum	Terry Murray	2,000	4.8	New
Majority			2,770	6.7	N/A
Turnout			41,319	72.3	−8.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Upminster ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angela Watkinson	15,410	45.5	+6.0
	Labour	Keith Darvill	14,169	41.9	−4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Truesdale	3,183	9.4	−0.1
	UKIP	Terry Murray	1,089	3.2	New
Majority			1,241	3.6	N/A
Turnout			33,851	59.6	−12.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.2

General election 2005: Upminster ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angela Watkinson	16,820	48.5	+3.0
	Labour	Keith Darvill	10,778	31.1	−10.8
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Truesdale	3,128	9.0	−0.4
	Residents	Ron F.C. Ower	1,455	4.2	New
	BNP	Chris Roberts	1,173	3.4	New
	UKIP	Alan G. Hindle	701	2.0	−1.2
	Green	Melanie J. Collins	543	1.6	New
	National Liberal	David W. Durant	78	0.2	New
Majority			6,042	17.4	+14.8
Turnout			34,676	63.0	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.9

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

Notes and references

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "U"
2. "'Upminster', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
3. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
4. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
5. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results May 1979". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
6. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
7. "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
8. "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
9. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
12. C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.167 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
13. The 1997 election result is calculated relative to the notional, not the actual, 1992 result.
14. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Constituency map
• Upminster UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK

51°34′23″N0°15′50″E / 51.573°N 0.264°E / 51.573; 0.264