Upminster (UK Parliament constituency)

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.

Upminster
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Upminster in Greater London for the 2005 general election
CountyGreater London
February 1974–2010
Number of membersOne
Replaced byHornchurch and Upminster
Created fromHornchurch

History

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.

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.

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.

The constituency was replaced by the new Hornchurch and Upminster constituency for the 2010 general election.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[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 D Osman 12,339 25.77 +15.94
Labour A Hughes 9,829 20.53 -15.10
National Front G Nobes-Price 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
Third Way 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

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 2013-04-14.
  8. "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  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 2011-01-10.
  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.

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