Woodford (UK Parliament constituency)

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

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

Woodford in Essex, 1945–1950

The constituency's only member of parliament for its entire existence was Sir Winston Churchill of the Conservative Party; from 1924 he had represented the Epping constituency from which Woodford was created. He represented the Woodford seat during his second tenure 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. A statue of Churchill was unveiled on Woodford Green in the constituency in 1959.

Boundaries

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

1955–1964: The 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

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Winston Churchill	27,688	72.53
	Independent	Alexander Hancock	10,488	27.47
Majority			17,200	45.06
Turnout			38,176	65.53
	Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Winston Churchill	37,239	59.61	−12.92
	Labour	Seymour Hills	18,740	30.00	New
	Liberal	Howard Vivien Davies	5,664	9.07	New
	Communist	Bill Brooks[1]	827	1.32	New
Majority			18,499	29.61	−15.45
Turnout			62,470	86.06	+20.53
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Winston Churchill	40,938	62.96	+3.35
	Labour	William Aaron Archer	22,359	34.39	+4.39
	Communist	John Ross Campbell	871	1.34	+0.02
	Independent	Alexander Hancock	851	1.31	New
Majority			18,579	28.57	−1.04
Turnout			65,019	83.38	−2.68
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Winston Churchill	25,069	73.02
	Labour	Arnold Keith Morgan Milner	9,261	26.98
Majority			15,808	46.04
Turnout			34,330	75.96
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Woodford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Winston Churchill	24,815	71.24	−1.78
	Labour	Arthur Latham	10,018	28.76	+1.78
Majority			14,797	42.48	−3.57
Turnout			34,833	77.29	+1.33
	Conservative hold		Swing