Romford is a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

since

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Andrew Rosindell Andrew Richard Rosindell MP (; born 17 March 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Romford since 2001. He has been the international director of the European Foundation, chair ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. It was created in 1885 and was subject to significant changes in boundaries in 1918 and 1945. It initially covered a huge swathe of what is now

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, with parts of the constituency progressively removed as they experienced significant increases in population as London expanded. The constituency has more or less coincided with the town of

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

since 1955.

Boundaries

Historic

1885–1918: The Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, and part of the Sessional Division of Becontree. 1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Barking and Romford, and the Rural District of Romford. 1945–1950: The Borough of Romford. 1950–1955: The Borough of Romford, and the Urban District of Brentwood. 1955–1974: The Borough of Romford. 1974–1983: The London Borough of Havering wards of Bedfords, Central, Collier Row, Gidea Park, Heath Park, Mawney, and Oldchurch. 1983–1997: The London Borough of Havering wards of Brooklands, Chase Cross, Collier Row, Gidea Park, Heath Park, Mawney, Oldchurch, Rise Park, and St Edward's. 1997–2010: The London Borough of Havering wards of Ardleigh Green, Brooklands, Chase Cross, Collier Row, Gidea Park, Heath Park, Mawney, Oldchurch, Rise Park, and St Edward's. 2010–2024: The London Borough of Havering wards of Brooklands, Havering Park, Hylands, Mawneys, Pettits, Romford Town, and Squirrel's Heath. NB: Contents, but not the boundaries of the constituency, were changed as a result of a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2022.

Current

Further to the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, 2023, the composition of the constituency from the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

will be expanded slightly to include parts of the Emerson Park ward (as it existed on 1 December 2020), primarily that part of polling district EM2 to the west of the River Ravensbourne. Following this minor change, as well as reflecting the 2022 local government review, the constituency now comprises the following wards of the London Borough of Havering from the 2024 general election: * Havering-atte-Bower; Hylands and Harrow Lodge; Marshalls and Rise Park; Mawneys; Rush Green and Crowlands; St Alban's; St Edwards; Squirrel's Heath.

History

This seat was created in the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...

. It included the civil parishes of Havering-atte-Bower, Hornchurch and Romford which together formed the

Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower Havering, also known as Havering-atte-Bower, was a royal manor and ancient Liberty (division), liberty whose area now forms part of, and gives its name to, the London Borough of Havering in Greater London. The manor was in the possession of the C ...

, combined with Barking (including Great Ilford), Dagenham, East Ham, Little Ilford and Wanstead. The 1918 revision removed the populous county borough of

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Essex, East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a ...

(including Little Ilford) and the municipal borough of

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

. Wanstead became part of the Epping constituency. The parishes of Cranham, Great Warley and Upminster were gained from

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

and Rainham and Wennington were gained from South East Essex. The Romford constituency then comprised the parishes of Barking, Cranham, Dagenham, Great Warley, Havering-atte-Bower, Hornchurch, Noak Hill, Rainham, Romford, Upminster and Wennington. At the 1935 general election there were 167,939 people registered to vote, making Romford the largest constituency in the country. By 1939 this had risen to 207,101, although

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

had become larger. The

House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 41) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established permanent boundary commissions for each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and ...

caused the constituency to be divided. The revised boundary coincided with the municipal borough of

, which had been enlarged in the 1930s to include Havering-atte-Bower and Noak Hill. The Brentwood Urban District, which had been expanded in the 1930s to include Hutton, Ingrave and South Weald, was included in the constituency from 1950 to 1955. Harold Hill was removed from the constituency in 1974. The constituency shared boundaries with the Romford electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981. Subsequent boundary revisions have been relatively minor, with Ardleigh Green gained from Upminster in 1997 and Hylands gained from Hornchurch in 2010.

Constituency profile

The constituency created in 1885 covered a large swathe of what became East London. The population of East Ham, which included Thameside docks and industry, increased from 9,713 in 1881 to 133,487 in 1911. Ilford, a prosperous railway suburb further from London, went from a population of 7,645 in 1881 to 78,188 in 1911. The 1918 revision removed these urbanised places, replacing them with the rural parishes of Cranham (population 489 in 1911), Wennington (364) and the semi-rural Great Warley (2,051), Rainham (1,972) and Upminster (2,468). It was now a much more sparsely populated constituency, aside from the ancient

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

s of

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

(31,294) and

(16,970) and the pre-First World War housing estates at Emerson Park, Romford Garden Suburb and Upminster Garden Suburb. During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

the large London County Council estate at

Becontree Becontree ( or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...

was constructed with around 23,000 homes in the parishes of Barking and Dagenham. The Thameside part of the constituency was industrial and included the

Ford Dagenham Ford Dagenham is a major automotive factory located in Dagenham, London, operated by the Ford of Britain subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The plant opened in 1931 and has produced 10,980,368 cars and more than 39,000,000 engines in its history ...

plant. There was suburban housing growth in most parishes, including some large estates such as Elm Park Garden City. Barking, Dagenham and Romford were incorporated as boroughs and rural parishes had been eliminated by 1934. The 1945 revision left the constituency with the town of Romford, the Collier Row and

Gidea Park Gidea Park () is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly an affluent and residential area, it was historically located in the county of Essex. It saw significant expansion in t ...

suburbs and the more rural Havering-atte-Bower and Noak Hill. The inclusion of

Brentwood Urban District Brentwood Urban District was a local government district in south Essex, England from 1899 to 1974. The district was created in 1899 from the parish of Brentwood which from 1894 had formed part of Billericay Rural District. In 1934 when Bille ...

in the constituency between 1950 and 1955 added the town of Brentwood and its rural hinterland. Romford Borough Council built post-Second World War estates at Collier Row, Chase Cross and Rise Park. Another large London County Council estate of 25,000 homes was constructed at

Harold Hill Harold Hill is a suburban area in the London Borough of Havering, East London. northeast of Charing Cross. It is a district centre in the London Plan. The name refers to King Harold II, who held the manor of Havering-atte-Bower, and who wa ...

and completed in 1958. The constituency became part of the

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

in 1965. The 1974 revision removed the Harold Hill estate from the constituency. The addition of Ardleigh Green in 1997 and Hylands in 2010 further expanded the interwar suburban part of the constituency. The 2020 mid-year population estimate for the constituency was 107,064.

Members of Parliament

Although Romford has been highly

marginal Marginal may refer to: * Marginal (album), ''Marginal'' (album), the third album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2001 * Marginal (manga), ''Marginal'' (manga) * ''El Marginal'', Argentine TV series * Marginal seat or marginal c ...

in terms of majorities obtained through much of the 20th century, its boundaries have changed significantly. It has been Conservative since the February 1974 general election, except for the 1997 landslide. It was one of the few Conservative gains in

. The 2015 result made the seat the 157th safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

* Caused by Wigram's resignation * Caused by Theobald's death

Elections in the 1880s

Boundary changes

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards)

(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 51.588, 0.187, type:city_region:GB-HAV, display=title Politics of the London Borough of Havering Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Romford