Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Woolwich
Woolwich
Former borough constituency ; for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Greenwich
Replaced by	Woolwich East and Woolwich West
1983–1997
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Woolwich East
Replaced by	Erith & Thamesmead, and Greenwich & Woolwich

Last updated May 25, 2025

Woolwich was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1918 and from 1983 to 1997. It centred on Woolwich, now in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London.

History

In 1918, the seat was split into Woolwich East and Woolwich West. In 1983, most of Woolwich West became Eltham while the recreated Woolwich constituency was largely based on Woolwich East. In 1997, the seat was split up along different lines, with part of it going into neighbouring Erith and Thamesmead, and part of it merging with the Greenwich seat to form the new Greenwich and Woolwich seat.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The parishes of Woolwich, Eltham and Plumstead.^[1]

Woolwich, showing boundaries used from 1983 to 1997. Woolwich1983Constituency.svg — Woolwich, showing boundaries used from 1983 to 1997.

1983–1997: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Abbey Wood, Arsenal, Burrage, Eynsham, Glyndon, Lakedale, Plumstead Common, St Mary's, St Nicholas, Shrewsbury, Slade, Thamesmead Moorings, and Woolwich Common.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1918

	Member	Party
1885	Edwin Hughes	Conservative
1902 by-election	Lord Charles Beresford	Conservative
1903 by-election	Will Crooks	Labour
1910 (January)	William Augustus Adam	Conservative
1910 (December)	Will Crooks	Labour
1918	Constituency divided. See Woolwich East and Woolwich West

MPs 1983–1997

	Member	Party	Notes
1983	John Cartwright	SDP	Formerly Labour MP for Woolwich East.
1988		SDP (1988)
1990		Independent Social Democrat
1992	John Austin-Walker	Labour
1997	Constituency abolished. See Erith & Thamesmead, and Greenwich & Woolwich

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Woolwich^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Austin	17,551	44.2	+7.2
	Ind. Social Democrat	John Cartwright	15,326	38.6	–3.1
	Conservative	Kevin J.T. Walmsley	6,598	16.6	–4.6
	Natural Law	Sarah J.E. Hayward	220	0.6	New
Majority			2,225	5.6	+0.9
Turnout			39,695	70.9	+0.2
Registered electors			55,977
	Labour gain from SDP		Swing	+5.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Woolwich^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	John Cartwright	17,137	41.7	+1.2
	Labour	John Austin	15,200	37.0	+3.6
	Conservative	Anthony Salter	8,723	21.2	−3.9
Majority			1,937	4.7	−2.4
Turnout			41,060	70.7	+2.7
Registered electors			58,071
	SDP hold		Swing

General election 1983: Woolwich^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	John Cartwright	15,492	40.5	+32.3
	Labour	Audrey Wise	12,767	33.4	–25.5
	Conservative	Philomena Brown	9,616	25.1	–5.5
	BNP	TC Fitz-Gerald	384	1.0	New
Majority			2,725	7.1	–21.1
Turnout			38,259	68.0
Registered electors			56,297
	SDP win (new seat)

1979 notional result ^[5]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	22,128	58.8
	Conservative	11,518	30.6
	Liberal	3,077	8.2
	Others	896	2.4

Turnout		37,619
Electorate

Elections in the 1910s

General election December 1910: Woolwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Will Crooks	8,252	50.7	+1.6
	Conservative	William Adam	8,016	49.3	−1.6
Majority			236	1.4	N/A
Turnout			16,268
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.6

General election January 1910: Woolwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Adam	8,715	50.9	+7.5
	Labour	Will Crooks	8,420	49.1	−7.5
Majority			295	1.8	N/A
Turnout			17,135
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.5

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Woolwich^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Will Crooks	9,026	56.6	*N/A*
	Conservative	William Adam	6,914	43.4	N/A
Majority			2,112	13.2	N/A
Turnout			15,490	89.2	N/A
Registered electors			17,870
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

1903 Woolwich by-election ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Will Crooks	8,687	61.4	*New*
	Conservative	Geoffrey Drage	5,458	38.6	N/A
Majority			3,229	22.8	N/A
Turnout			14,145	87.7	N/A
Registered electors			16,136
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

1902 Woolwich by-election ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Charles Beresford	Unopposed
Registered electors			15,376
	Conservative hold

General election 1900: Woolwich^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Edwin Hughes	Unopposed
Registered electors			14,592
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Woolwich^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hughes	6,662	63.3	+3.9
	Lib-Lab	Ben Jones	3,857	36.7	−3.9
Majority			2,805	26.6	+7.8
Turnout			10,519	78.2	−3.5
Registered electors			13,458
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.9

General election 1892: Woolwich^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hughes	5,992	59.4	−2.9
	Lib-Lab	Ben Jones	4,100	40.6	+2.9
Majority			1,892	18.8	−5.8
Turnout			10,092	81.7	+5.4
Registered electors			12,347
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.9

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Woolwich^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hughes	4,647	62.3	+5.2
	Liberal	George Evatt	2,811	37.7	−5.2
Majority			1,836	24.6	+10.4
Turnout			7,458	76.3	−8.9
Registered electors			9,769
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.2

General election 1885: Woolwich^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Edwin Hughes	4,758	57.1
	Liberal	Henry Montagu Hozier	3,569	42.9
Majority			1,189	14.2
Turnout			8,327	85.2
Registered electors			9,769
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

↑ "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. 11 June 1987. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1983. Politics Resources. 9 June 1983. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
↑ "BBC/ITN NOTIONAL ELECTION 1979". election.demon.co.uk. BBC/ITN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.

Sources

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)

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[1] "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.

[2] "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

[3] "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. 11 June 1987. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

[4] "Politics Resources". Election 1983. Politics Resources. 9 June 1983. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

[5] "BBC/ITN NOTIONAL ELECTION 1979". election.demon.co.uk. BBC/ITN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2025.

[craig1885-6] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.

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Woolwich
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Greenwich
Replaced by	Woolwich East and Woolwich West
1983–1997
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Woolwich East
Replaced by	Erith & Thamesmead, and Greenwich & Woolwich