Chingford and Woodford Green (UK Parliament constituency)

Chingford and Woodford Green is a constituency in North East London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sir Iain Duncan Smith of the Conservative Party since its creation in 1997.[n 1]

Chingford and Woodford Green
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Chingford and Woodford Green in Greater London
CountyGreater London
Population88,149 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate64,770 (December 2010)[2]
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentSir Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative)
SeatsOne
Created fromChingford and Wanstead & Woodford

Constituency profile edit

The seat covers the outer London commuter suburbs of Chingford, Highams Park and Woodford with high levels of owner-occupier housing,[3] along with part of Epping Forest. Once safely Conservative, the seat is now marginal with Labour due to young families and ethnic minority voters moving into the constituency.[4]

Boundaries edit

 
Wards of the constituency (not affected by 2010 boundary changes)

The seat initially comprised the London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of Chingford Green, Endlebury, Hale End and Highams Park, Hatch Lane, Larkswood, Valley, and the London Borough of Redbridge wards of Church End and Monkhams.

2017 edit

Following a review of ward boundaries which became effective in May 2017,[5] the parts in the London Borough of Redbridge comprised the Monkhams ward, most of the Churchfields ward and part of the South Woodford ward.

Proposed edit

 
Chingford and Woodford Green in 2023

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be expanded to the south-east to include the Bridge ward and the remainder of the Churchfields ward, transferred from Ilford North. The part of the South Woodford ward will be transferred to Leyton and Wanstead.[6]

Following a local government boundary review in Waltham Forest which came into effect in May 2022,[7][8] the constituency will now comprise the following from the next general election:

  • The London Borough of Redbridge wards of: Bridge; Churchfields; Monkhams.
  • The London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of: Chingford Green; Endlebury; Hatch End and Highams Park South (most); Hatch Lane and Highams Park North; Larswood (most); Valley; Upper Walthamstow (part).[9]

History edit

 
Map of present boundaries

Pre creation edit

Before 1945, both Chingford and Woodford were part of the Epping parliamentary constituency, for which wartime Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill was MP. The Chingford and Woodford Green constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the former seats of Chingford and Wanstead & Woodford. Both seats previously had well-known MPs, Norman Tebbit and Winston Churchill respectively. Iain Duncan Smith had been MP for Chingford since 1992, then was elected MP for this constituency five years later in 1997.

Post creation edit

At the seat's inauguration at the 1997 general election, there was a Conservative majority of over 5000 or 13%; the Conservatives retained the seat in 2001 with a majority little changed on a low turnout. In 2005, the Conservative incumbent did better, getting twice as many votes as Labour with a swing to the party of 6.4% (over double that nationally) from Labour. The 2015 result gave the seat the 119th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.[10] At the 2017 snap election, Duncan Smith was re-elected with a greatly reduced majority on a 7% swing to Labour, slightly more than a sixth of his 2010 margin; while this was in keeping with the large swings to Labour throughout Greater London at that election, it seems to suggest an increasingly marginal seat, even though the Conservatives hold three-quarters of the local council seats in the wards which make up the constituency.[citation needed] The 2019 general election saw the Conservatives retaining the seat, although with a smaller majority than 2017 due to a swing to Labour, contrary to the national trend, making it the 15th most marginal Conservative seat by percentage of majority.[11]

Member of Parliament edit

Election Member[12][13] Party Notes
1997 Iain Duncan Smith Conservative MP for Chingford (1992–1997)

Elections edit

Elections in the 2020s edit

Next general election: Chingford and Woodford Green
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith[14]
Liberal Democrats Josh Hadley[15]
Reform UK Paul Luggeri[16]
Labour Faiza Shaheen[17]

Elections in the 2010s edit

General election 2019: Chingford and Woodford Green[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith 23,481 48.5 –0.6
Labour Faiza Shaheen 22,219 45.9 +2.0
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Seeff 2,744 5.6 +1.2
Majority 1,262 2.6 –2.6
Turnout 48,444 74.1 +2.9
Registered electors 65,393
Conservative hold Swing –1.3
General election 2017: Chingford and Woodford Green[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith 23,076 49.1 +1.2
Labour Bilal Mahmood 20,638 43.9 +15.1
Liberal Democrats Deborah Unger 2,043 4.4 –1.1
Green Sinead King 1,204 2.6 –1.6
Majority 2,438 5.2 –13.9
Turnout 46,961 71.2 +5.5
Registered electors 65,958
Conservative hold Swing –7.0
General election 2015: Chingford and Woodford Green[21] [22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith 20,999 47.9 –4.9
Labour Bilal Mahmood 12,613 28.8 +6.1
UKIP Freddy Vachha 5,644 12.9 +10.3
Liberal Democrats Anne Crook 2,400 5.5 –11.3
Green Rebecca Tully 1,854 4.2 +2.7
TUSC Len Hockey[23] 241 0.6 New
Class War Lisa Mckenzie 53 0.1 New
Majority 8,386 19.1 –11.0
Turnout 43,804 65.7 –0.8
Registered electors 66,680
Conservative hold Swing –5.5
General election 2010: Chingford and Woodford Green[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith 22,743 52.8 –0.4
Labour Cath Arakelian 9,780 22.7 –3.0
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Seeff 7,242 16.8 –0.9
BNP Julian Leppert 1,288 3.0 New
UKIP Nick Jones 1,133 2.6 –0.2
Green Lucy Craig 650 1.5 New
Independent None Of The Above[n 2] 202 0.5 New
Independent Barry White 68 0.2 New
Majority 12,963 30.1 +2.6
Turnout 43,106 66.5 +3.5
Registered electors 64,831
Conservative hold Swing +1.3

Elections in the 2000s edit

General election 2005: Chingford and Woodford Green[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith 20,555 53.2 +5.0
Labour Simon Wright 9,914 25.7 –7.7
Liberal Democrats John Beanse 6,832 17.7 +2.2
UKIP Michael McGough 1,078 2.8 New
Independent Barry White 269 0.7 New
Majority 10,641 27.5 +12.7
Turnout 38,648 63.0 +1.5
Registered electors 61,386
Conservative hold Swing +6.4
General election 2001: Chingford and Woodford Green[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith 17,834 48.2 +0.7
Labour Jessica Webb 12,347 33.4 –1.2
Liberal Democrats John Beanse 5,739 15.5 0.0
BNP Jean Griffin 1,062 2.9 +0.5
Majority 5,487 14.8 +1.9
Turnout 36,982 58.5 –12.2
Registered electors 63,252
Conservative hold Swing +1.0

Elections in the 1990s edit

General election 1997: Chingford and Woodford Green[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Duncan Smith 21,109 47.5
Labour Tommy Hutchinson 15,395 34.6
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Seeff 6,885 15.5
BNP Alan Gould 1,059 2.4
Majority 5,714 12.9
Turnout 44,448 70.7
Registered electors 62,904
Conservative win (new seat)

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
  2. ^ Original name Adam Osen

References edit

  1. ^ "Chingford and Woodford Green: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. ^ UK Polling Report http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/chingfordandwoodfordgreen/
  4. ^ Tribune https://tribunemag.co.uk/2019/01/the-new-marginal
  5. ^ LGBCE. "Redbridge | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  6. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 3 London region.
  7. ^ LGBCE. "Waltham Forest | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  8. ^ "The London Borough of Waltham Forest (Electoral Changes) Order 2021".
  9. ^ "New Seat Details - Chingford and Woodford Green". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Conservative Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Conservative Defence 2024". Election polling. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Chingford and Woodford Green 1997–". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  13. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)
  14. ^ "I'm fighting to win the next election, says Sir Iain Duncan Smith". Conservative Post. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Find My Prospective Parliamentary Candidate". Reform UK. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Our rundown of Labour parliamentary selections over the weekend". Labour List. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Chingford & Woodford Green Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Chingford & Woodford Green parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  20. ^ Baker, Carl (14 July 2017). "General Election 2017: results and analysis – Briefing paper number CBP 7979" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  21. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  22. ^ "General Election results, 7 May 2015". Walthamforest.gov.uk. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Trade unionist chosen to stand at election (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)". Guardian-series.co.uk. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  24. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  25. ^ http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/sopn-chingford.pdf. Retrieved 20 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  26. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  28. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources edit

External links edit

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition
2001–2003
Succeeded by

51°37′01″N 0°00′11″E / 51.617°N 0.003°E / 51.617; 0.003