Hornchurch (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Hornchurch
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
HornchurchConstituency.svg
Boundary of Hornchurch in Greater Londonfor the 2005 general election
County Greater London
1945–2010
SeatsOne
Created from Romford
Replaced by
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of: Upminster

Hornchurch was a borough constituency 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. At the 2010 general election parts formed the new seats of Hornchurch and Upminster; and Dagenham and Rainham.

Contents

Boundaries

1945–1974: The Urban District of Hornchurch.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Havering wards of Elm Park, Hacton, Hylands, Rainham, St Andrew's, and South Hornchurch.

1983–2010: The London Borough of Havering wards of Airfield, Elm Park, Hacton, Hylands, Rainham, St Andrew's, and South Hornchurch. [1] [2]

History

Hornchurch in Essex, showing boundaries used from 1945 to 1950. Hornchurch1945.png
Hornchurch in Essex, showing boundaries used from 1945 to 1950.

The seat established in 1945 covered the Hornchurch Urban District, which had been enlarged in the 1930s to include the civil parishes of Cranham, Great Warley, Rainham, Upminster and Wennington in addition to the parish of Hornchurch, which included the neighbourhoods of Ardleigh Green, Elm Park, Emerson Park, South Hornchurch and Harold Wood. The population of the urban district in 1939 was 81,486. The most populous Hornchurch North West ward was very near to the town of Romford. The area became part of the London Borough of Havering in Greater London in 1965.

In 1974 the seat was redrawn, transferring Cranham, Emerson Park, Great Warley, Harold Wood and Upminster to the new Upminster constituency. The constituency shared boundaries with the Hornchurch electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981. The electoral wards in Havering were redrawn in 1978, with the constituency defined in reference to the new wards from 1983. The new Airfield ward reflected the building of the Airfield Estate housing development on land that had been RAF Hornchurch.

The constituency was abolished for the 2010 election. The areas of the constituency covered by the Elm Park, South Hornchurch, and Rainham and Wennington wards in the London Borough of Havering were merged with Dagenham to form a cross-borough Dagenham and Rainham constituency. Hacton and St Andrews wards in Hornchurch merged with Upminster to form Hornchurch and Upminster. Hylands ward in Hornchurch merged with Romford. Prior to the change in boundaries the new seats were predicted to be marginal Labour and safe Conservative respectively if they followed the voting patterns of the previous Dagenham, Upminster and Romford constituencies. [3]

Constituency profile

The south of the constituency was the industrialised Hornchurch Marshes, which included the eastern part of the Ford Dagenham plant. The adjacent Rainham Marshes had been seen as a site for building large entertainment centres and was viewed as a potential site for the European Disneyland project, although it was considered much less suitable than the current position near Paris. There had been plans to build a casino but permission was not granted.

Hornchurch is a predominantly suburban and residential area. The constituency was a marginal seat due to Rainham and Elm Park's working class voters and because the wealthiest Emerson Park area of Hornchurch did not formed part of the constituency after 1974.

Members of Parliament

The Conservative Robin Squire was elected to Parliament as the member for Hornchurch on 3 May 1979, in one of the most surprising results of that election. Labour-held Hornchurch had not been a marginal seat and Squire had not expected to win it. However, he gained the seat from Alan Lee Williams with a majority of just 769 on a "freak" swing of 8.5% to his party. During the Thatcher years (1979 to 1990) Squire was considered to be a prominent "wet", opposed to the Conservative government's economic and employment policies. After Mrs Thatcher left office in 1990, Squire's political position strengthened and he held junior ministerial posts until the fall of the Major government in 1997. Squire was defending a majority of 9,165 – his personal popularity plus his prominence as a Minister led him to believe that he would hold the seat, but he lost to Labour's John Cryer with a 16% swing and a Labour majority of 5,680. Squire stood against Cryer again in the 2001 general election but was again defeated by a significant majority.

ElectionMember [4] Party
1945 Geoffrey Bing Labour
1955 Godfrey Lagden Conservative
1966 Alan Lee Williams Labour
1970 John Loveridge Conservative
Feb 1974 Alan Lee Williams Labour
1979 Robin Squire Conservative
1997 John Cryer Labour
2005 James Brokenshire Conservative
2010 constituency abolished: see Hornchurch and Upminster, Dagenham and Rainham & Romford

Elections

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Geoffrey Bing 26,856 56.0
Conservative John Theadore de Horne Vaizey15,10031.5
Liberal Norman Clarke Jones5,80712.1
Independent Violet Van der Elst 2320.5
Majority11,75624.5
Turnout 47,99572.3
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Geoffrey Bing 28,463 46.1 −9.9
Conservative James Wentworth−Day 26,69643.2+11.7
Liberal Nancy Seear 6,65310.8−1.3
Majority1,7672.9-21.6
Turnout 61,81285.7+13.4
Labour hold Swing −10.8
General election 1951: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Geoffrey Bing 30,101 47.4 +1.3
Conservative James Wentworth−Day 28,97645.6+2.4
Liberal Nancy Seear 4,7717.0−3.8
Majority1,1251.8-1.1
Turnout 63,84886.3+0.6
Labour hold Swing −0.5
General election 1955: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Godfrey Lagden 29,205 46.2 +0.6
Labour Geoffrey Bing 27,83344.1−3.3
Liberal Donald S. Paterson6,1179.7+2.7
Majority1,3722.1N/A
Turnout 63,15582.0−4.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +2.0
General election 1959: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Godfrey Lagden 34,852 47.5 +1.3
Labour Jo Richardson 27,53037.5−6.6
Liberal Lyndon H. Jones11,05615.1+5.4
Majority7,32210.0+7.8
Turnout 73,43883.9+1.9
Conservative hold Swing +4.0

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Godfrey Lagden 30,933 41.6 −5.9
Labour Trevor Williams30,69941.3+3.8
Liberal Ralph Taylor12,72517.1+2.0
Majority2340.3-9.7
Turnout 74,35781.9−2.0
Conservative hold Swing −4.9
General election 1966: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alan Lee Williams 38,406 52.1 +10.8
Conservative Godfrey Lagden 35,37347.9+6.3
Majority3,0334.2N/A
Turnout 73,77981.1−0.8
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +2.3

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative John Loveridge 36,124 49.7 +1.8
Labour Alan Lee Williams 30,29441.7−10.4
Liberal Bryan G. Sell6,2278.6New
Majority5,8308.0N/A
Turnout 72,64572.8−8.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +6.1

Note: This constituency underwent boundary changes after the 1970 election, so was notionally a Labour seat.

General election February 1974: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alan Lee Williams 21,763 45.0 −3.7
Conservative J. Jackson15,56732.2−7.5
Liberal B. McCarthy10,39121.5+12.9
PEOPLE B. Percy−Davis6191.3New
Majority6,19612.8+4.8
Turnout 48,34080.8+8.0
Labour hold Swing +1.8
General election October 1974: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alan Lee Williams 21,336 48.5 +3.5
Conservative Robin Squire 14,53533.1+0.9
Liberal B.G. McCarthy7,28416.6−4.9
PEOPLE B. Percy−Davis7971.8+0.5
Majority6,80115.5+2.7
Turnout 43,95272.7−8.1
Labour hold Swing +1.3
General election 1979: Hornchurch
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Robin Squire 21,340 44.9 +11.8
Labour Alan Lee Williams 20,57143.3−5.2
Liberal Christopher Lewcock [5] 4,6579.8−6.8
National Front Alfred Harris [5] 9942.1New
Majority7691.6N/A
Turnout 47,56278.1+5.4
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +8.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Hornchurch [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Robin Squire 21,393 47.0 +2.1
Labour Alan Williams12,20926.9−16.4
SDP John Martin11,25124.7+14.9
National Front A.M. Joyce4021.2New
Ecology Michael Crowson2190.5New
Majority9,18420.1+18.5
Turnout 45,47473.7−4.4
Conservative hold Swing +9.3
General election 1987: Hornchurch [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Robin Squire 24,039 51.2 +4.2
Labour Alan Williams13,34528.4+1.5
Liberal Mark Long9,60920.4−4.3
Majority10,69422.8+2.7
Turnout 44,71275.3+1.6
Conservative hold Swing +1.4

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Hornchurch [8] [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Robin Squire 25,817 53.5 +2.3
Labour Leonie Cooper 16,65234.5+6.1
Liberal Democrats Barry J. Oddy5,36611.1–9.3
Independent Ind SDTerrence F. Matthews4530.9New
Majority9,16519.0–3.8
Turnout 48,28879.8+4.5
Conservative hold Swing –1.9
General election 1997: Hornchurch [10] [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Cryer 22,066 50.2 +15.7
Conservative Robin Squire 16,38637.3–16.2
Liberal Democrats Rabi Martins3,4467.8–3.3
Referendum Rory E.B. Khilkoff-Bouldi1,5953.6New
Independent Jenny Trueman2590.6New
ProLife Alliance Joseph Sowerby1890.4New
Majority5,68012.9N/A
Turnout 43,94172.8–7.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +16.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Hornchurch [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Cryer 16,514 46.4 –3.8
Conservative Robin Squire 15,03242.3+5.0
Liberal Democrats Sarah E. Lea2,9288.2+0.4
UKIP Lawrence Webb8932.5New
National Liberal David Durant1900.5New
Majority1,4824.1-8.8
Turnout 35,55758.3–14.5
Labour hold Swing –4.4
General election 2005: Hornchurch [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative James Brokenshire 16,355 42.8 +0.5
Labour John Cryer 15,87541.6–4.8
Liberal Democrats Nathaniel Green2,8947.6–0.6
BNP Ian Moore1,3133.4New
UKIP Laurence Webb1,0332.7+0.2
Residents Malvin P. Brown3951.0New
National Liberal Graham K. Williamson3040.8+0.3
Majority4801.2N/A
Turnout 38,16963.5+5.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +2.6

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. 16 March 1983. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. 28 June 1995. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  3. ↑ "Review of parliamentary constituencies in the North London Boroughs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)
  5. 1 2 Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 14. ISBN   0102374805.
  6. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  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. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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