Epping Forest 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, ...

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 ...

since 1997 by

Eleanor Laing Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing, (' Pritchard; born 1 February 1958) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Epping Forest constituency since 1997. Laing is a member of the Conservative Party and has served as a De ...

, a

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 ...

History

The seat was created for the February 1974 general election, primarily from part of the abolished constituency of

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the London U ...

, together with parts of the abolished constituency 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 ...

. When Epping Forest was first created, it was more favourable to the

Conservatives 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 ...

than the old Epping seat, as it lost the new town of Harlow (inside the old

Epping Rural District Epping was, from 1894 to 1955, a rural district in the administrative county of Essex, England.Vision of ...

) and gained the more Conservative

Chigwell Urban District Chigwell was a local government district in south west Essex, England.Vision of Britain Chigwell UDhistoric map ) It contained the settlements of Chigwell, Loughton and Buckhurst Hill; and formed part of the Metropolitan Police District. Formati ...

. During the Thatcher period the Labour Party's vote was crushed. Even though the Liberals managed to move into second place, their vote did little more than follow national trends and as soon as 1987 their votes dropped away as well. Two former candidates in the Epping Forest constituency have also stood for election as

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

: Steve Norris (

; MP 1988–97) and Julian Leppert (

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

Constituency profile

The constituency includes the

London commuter belt The London metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of London, England. It has several definitions, including the London Travel to Work Area, and usually consists of the London urban area, settlements that share London's infrastructure, and ...

towns of Loughton, Epping and Chigwell (which are served by the Central line) and Waltham Abbey, as well as extensive areas of

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

including the majority of

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

itself.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Chigwell, Epping, and Waltham Holy Cross, and in the Rural District of Epping and Ongar the parishes of Epping Upland, Theydon Bois, and Theydon Garnon. The majority of the new constituency, comprising the Urban District of Chigwell (incorporating Buckhurst Hill and Loughton), had previously been part of the abolished constituency of

. Remaining parts had previously been in the abolished constituency of

. 1983–1997: The District of Epping Forest wards of Broadway, Buckhurst Hill East, Buckhurst Hill West, Chigwell Row, Chigwell Village, Debden Green, Epping Hemnall, Epping Lindsey, Grange Hill, High Beach, Loughton Forest, Loughton Roding, Loughton St John's, Loughton St Mary's, Paternoster, Theydon Bois, Waltham Abbey East, and Waltham Abbey West. Minor loss to

Brentwood and Ongar Brentwood and Ongar is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Burghart, a Conservative, serving since September 2021 as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and ...

. 1997–2010: The District of Epping Forest wards of Broadway, Buckhurst Hill East, Buckhurst Hill West, Chigwell Row, Chigwell Village, Debden Green, Epping Hemnall, Epping Lindsey, Grange Hill, High Beach, Loughton Forest, Loughton Roding, Loughton St John's, Loughton St Mary's, North Weald Bassett, Paternoster, Theydon Bois, Waltham Abbey East, and Waltham Abbey West.

North Weald Bassett North Weald Bassett or simply North Weald is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. The village is within the North Weald Ridges and Valleys landscape area. A market is held every Saturday and Bank Holiday Mo ...

transferred from

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

. 2010–present: The District of Epping Forest wards of Broadley Common, Epping Upland and Nazeing, Buckhurst Hill East, Buckhurst Hill West, Chigwell Row, Chigwell Village, Epping Hemnall, Epping Lindsey and Thornwood Common, Grange Hill, Loughton Alderton, Loughton Broadway, Loughton Fairmead, Loughton Forest, Loughton Roding, Loughton St John's, Loughton St Mary's, Theydon Bois, Waltham Abbey High Beach, Waltham Abbey Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey North East, Waltham Abbey Paternoster, and Waltham Abbey South West. North Weald Bassett ward now transferred to Brentwood and Ongar. Other marginal changes due to redistribution of local authority wards. The constituency comprises

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and E ...

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest District, Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area de ...

, Theydon Bois, part of

North Weald North Weald Bassett or simply North Weald is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. The village is within the North Weald Ridges and Valleys landscape area. A market is held every Saturday and Bank Holiday Mo ...

, small intermediate villages and almost the whole of the ancient Forest itself, except those parts which were transferred to

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 ...

in 1965.

Members of Parliament

The constituency was created in 1974 from the seats of

and

— both of these (then one constituency, Epping) were represented by

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 ...

throughout his tenure as Prime Minister during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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 ...

has won in Epping Forest in every election since the creation of the constituency, and the present MP is the Conservative Dame

, who has been a Deputy Speaker of the House since October 2013 and Chairman of Ways and Means since 2020.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Notional results (before 1974)

Graphical representation

Notes

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Epping Forest (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Essex Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 Epping Forest District