Chingford and Woodford Green is a
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
in
North East London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
by
Sir Iain Duncan Smith
Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was Se ...
of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
since its creation in 1997.
Constituency profile
The seat covers the outer London commuter suburbs of Chingford, Highams Park and Woodford with high levels of owner-occupier housing, along with part of the Epping Forest. Once safely Conservative, the seat is now marginal with Labour due to young families and ethnic minority voters moving into the constituency.
Boundaries
The London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of Chingford Green, Endlebury, Hale End and Highams Park, Hatch Lane, Larkswood, Valley, as well as the London Borough of Redbridge wards of Church End and Monkhams have been selected to form the seat since inception.
Out of 24 council seats that make up Chingford and Woodford Green the Conservatives hold 18 and Labour hold 5.
The boundaries of Chingford and Woodford Green take in a large slice of the
London Borough of Waltham Forest
The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to th ...
. The constituency includes
Chingford
Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the ...
in the north bordering Enfield down through Highams Park and Hatch Lane into
Woodford Green
Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping Fo ...
&
South Woodford
South Woodford is an area of east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-east of ...
and also takes in a part of the
London Borough of Redbridge
The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough established in 1965.
The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest to the west, the ...
.
History
Before 1945, both Woodford and Chingford were part of
Epping Epping may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Epping railway station, Sydney
* Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
* Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...
for general elections, for which wartime
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
was MP. The 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
Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit (born 29 March 1931) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment (1981–1983), Secretary of State for Trad ...
and Winston Churchill respectively.
Iain Duncan Smith
Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...
had been MP for Chingford since 1992, then was elected MP for this constituency five years later in 1997.
;Political history
Chingford and Woodford Green and its predecessors have been solid
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
wards since the beginning of the
Thatcher period in 1979. The closest contest in the 20th century was from the
Labour Party at the
1997 general election, with a Conservative majority of over 5000; the Conservatives retained the seat in 2001 with a majority little changed on a low turnout. In 2005, the Conservative
incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...
did better, getting twice as many votes as Labour with a
swing to the party of 6.4% (over double that nationally) from
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
. The 2015 result gave the seat the 119th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.
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
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
at that election, it seems to suggest an increasingly
marginal seat
A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...
, even though the Conservatives hold three-quarters of the local council seats in the wards which make up the constituency. The 2019 general election saw the Conservatives retaining the seat, although with a smaller majority than 2017 due to a swing to Labour, despite significant movement against the opposing party nationwide.
Member of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
See also
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in London
The region of Greater London, including the City of London, is divided into 73 parliamentary constituencies which are sub-classified as borough constituencies, affecting the type of electoral officer and level of expenses permitted.
Constituencie ...
Notes
References
Sources
Election result, 2005(BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001(BBC)
(Election Demon)
(Guardian)
External links
nomis Constituency Profile for Chingford and Woodford Green— presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
(Election results from 1922 onwards)
(Election results from 1955 onwards)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chingford And Woodford Green (Uk Parliament Constituency)
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997
Parliamentary constituencies in London
Politics of the London Borough of Waltham Forest
Politics of the London Borough of Redbridge
Chingford