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 (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

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represented in the

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of the

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by Sir Iain Duncan Smith 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 boroughs, London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: London Borough of Enfield, Enfield to the nort ...

. The constituency includes Chingford in the north bordering Enfield down through Highams Park and Hatch Lane into Woodford Green &

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-ea ...

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 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 in ...

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 ...

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 during the Second World War, and again from ...

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

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 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 seeking re-ele ...

did better, getting twice as many votes as Labour with a

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

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. 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 Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

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. 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

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