Woodford (UK Parliament constituency)

Woodford
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Essex
1945–1964
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Wanstead & Woodford
Created from	Epping

Woodford was a parliamentary constituency in Essex which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1945 until it was renamed for the 1964 general election.

File:Woodford1945.png

Woodford in Essex, 1945-50

The constituency's only Member of Parliament for its entire existence was Sir Winston Churchill of the Conservative Party. He represented the seat during his second term as Prime Minister, and continued to hold it until he retired aged 89 at the 1964 general election; it was the last seat he represented in a parliamentary career that spanned over 60 years. He was the Father of the House for the last five years of his tenure in the seat.

Boundaries

1945-1955: The Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford, and the Urban District of Chigwell.

1955-1964: The Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford.

The constituency's boundaries were subject to a radical change in 1955, when the new Chigwell constituency was created, removing the less urbanised parts of the seat. The new Wanstead and Woodford constituency was subject to minor boundary changes reflecting alterations to the Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford since the last general redistribution of parliamentary seats in 1955. The pre and post 1964 seats comprised the whole municipal borough, within its 1955 and 1964 boundaries respectively.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1945	Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill	Conservative
	1964	constituency abolished. See Wanstead and Woodford

Election results

General Election 1959: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill	24,815	71.24
	Labour	Arthur C. Latham	10,018	28.76
Majority			14,797	42.48
Turnout				77.29
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill	25,069	73.02
	Labour	Arnold Keith M. Milner	9,261	26.98
Majority			15,808	46.05
Turnout				75.96
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill	40,938	62.96
	Labour	William A. Archer	22,359	34.39
	Communist	John Ross Campbell	871	1.34
	Independent	Alexander Hancock	851	1.31
Majority			18,579	28.57
Turnout				83.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill	37,239	59.61
	Labour	S. Hills	18,740	30.00
	Liberal	Howard Vivien Davies	5,664	9.07
	Communist	W. Brooks	827	1.32
Majority			18,499	29.61
Turnout				86.06
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1945: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill	27,688	72.53
	Independent	Alexander Hancock	10,488	27.47
Majority			17,200	45.05
Turnout				65.53
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)

Preceded by Epping	UK Parliament constituency Loughton, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell 1950 – 1955	Succeeded by Chigwell
	UK Parliament constituency Wanstead, Woodford 1945 – 1964	Succeeded by Wanstead and Woodford

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Limehouse	Constituency represented by the Leader of the Opposition 1945–1951	Succeeded by Walthamstow West
Preceded by Walthamstow West	Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 1951–1955	Succeeded by Warwick and Leamington
Preceded by Gower	Constituency represented by the Father of the House 1959–1964	Succeeded by Saffron Walden