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Erith and Crayford
Erith and Crayford
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1955–1997
Created from	Dartford
Replaced by	Erith & Thamesmead and Bexleyheath & Crayford

Erith and Crayford was a constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK's Parliament.

It was created for the 1955 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election, when it was replaced by the new constituencies of Erith & Thamesmead and Bexleyheath & Crayford.

For its final 32 years it was in the London Borough of Bexley, south-east London but for its first ten years instead in Kent, divided among two council districts, below the higher tier of Kent County Council.

History

Boundaries

1955–1974: The Municipal Borough of Erith, and the Urban District of Crayford.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Belvedere, Bostall, Crayford North, Crayford Town, Crayford West, Erith Town, and Northumberland Heath.

1983–1997: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Belvedere, Bostall, Crayford, Erith, North End, Northumberland Heath, and Thamesmead East.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party	Notes
1955	Norman Dodds	Labour Co-op	Previously MP for Dartford from 1945. Died 1965
1965 by-election	James Wellbeloved	Labour
1981	James Wellbeloved	SDP
1983	David Evennett	Conservative	Contested and lost Bexleyheath and Crayford in 1997. Subsequently, MP for the seat from 2005
1997	constituency abolished: see Erith and Thamesmead & Bexleyheath and Crayford

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1955: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Norman Dodds	24,957	60.43
	Conservative	Edward Gardner	16,339	39.57
Majority			8,618	20.86
Turnout			41,296
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

General election 1959: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Norman Dodds	24,523	56.65
	Conservative	James J Davis	18,763	43.35
Majority			5,760	13.30
Turnout			43,286
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Norman Dodds	22,806	53.1	−3.5
	Conservative	B Black	13,951	32.3	−11.0
	Liberal	Stanley W Vince	6,189	14.4	New
Majority			8,855	20.8	+7.5
Turnout			42,946
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

By-election 1965: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Wellbeloved	21,835	55.4	+2.3
	Conservative	David Madel	14,763	37.5	+5.2
	Liberal	Stanley W Vince	2,823	7.2	−7.2
Majority			7,072	17.9	−2.9
Turnout			39,421
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Wellbeloved	24,243	55.53
	Conservative	David Madel	15,033	34.43
	Liberal	Stanley W Vince	3,827	8.77
	Communist	L Smith	556	1.27	New
Majority			9,210	21.10
Turnout			43,659
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Wellbeloved	23,012	55.9	+0.4
	Conservative	H.J. Jackson	18,158	44.1	+9.7
Majority			4,854	11.8	−9.3
Turnout			41,170	71.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Wellbeloved	22,632	46.1	−9.8
	Conservative	R.I. Raitt	15,551	31.7	−12.4
	Liberal	Stanley W. Vince	10,951	22.3	New
Majority			7,081	14.4	+2.6
Turnout			49,134	81.8	+10.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Wellbeloved	22,670	51.2	+5.1
	Conservative	M. MacDonald	14,203	32.1	+0.4
	Liberal	T. Hibbert	7,423	16.8	−5.5
Majority			8,467	19.1	+4.7
Turnout			44,296	73.1	−8.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Erith and Crayford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Wellbeloved	22,450	47.3	−3.9
	Conservative	Simon Blunt^[1]	19,717	41.5	+9.4
	Liberal	Florence Jamieson^[1]	4,512	9.5	−7.3
	National Front	Owen Hawke^[1]	838	1.8	New
Majority			2,733	5.8	−13.3
Turnout			47,517	77.5	+4.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Erith and Crayford^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Evennett	15,289	37.1	−1.7
	SDP	James Wellbeloved	14,369	34.9	+25.4
	Labour	Malcolm Smart	11,260	27.3	−22.7
	BNP	O. Hawke	272	0.7	New
Majority			920	2.2	N/A
Turnout			41,190	73.5	−4.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+10.5

General election 1987: Erith and Crayford^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Evennett	20,203	45.2	+8.1
	Labour	Colin Hargrave	13,209	29.5	+2.2
	SDP	James Wellbeloved	11,300	25.3	−9.6
Majority			6,994	15.7	+13.5
Turnout			44,712	75.4	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Erith and Crayford^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Evennett	21,926	46.5	+1.3
	Labour	Nigel Beard	19,587	41.5	+12.0
	Liberal Democrats	Florence M. Jamieson	5,657	12.0	−13.3
Majority			2,339	5.0	−10.7
Turnout			47,170	79.7	+4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.3