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Epping
Epping
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	Essex
1885–1974
Seats	One
Created from	West Essex
Replaced by	Chingford, Epping Forest and Harlow
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of:	Woodford and Chigwell

Epping was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1885 to 1974. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

Epping was one of eight single-member divisions of Essex (later classified as county constituencies) created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, replacing the three two member divisions of East, South and West Essex.

The seat underwent a significant loss of territory at the 1945 boundary review, with the majority of the electorate forming the new constituency of Woodford. It was abolished for the February 1974 general election when it was divided between the new seats of Chingford, Epping Forest and Harlow.

Its most prominent MP was Winston Churchill, who served as Prime Minister twice, the local MP for twenty-one years from 1924 to 1945, spanning the middle part of his long service as an MP. From 1945, he was the MP for Woodford.

In the 1955 and 1959 general elections, the celebrated cricket commentator and journalist John Arlott stood as the Liberal Party candidate.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1885–1918

The Sessional Divisions of Epping, Harlow, and Ongar; and
Part of the Sessional Division of Dunmow.^[1]

Formed from part of the abolished West Division. See below for areas covered.

1918–1945

The Urban Districts of Buckhurst Hill, Chingford, Epping, Loughton, Waltham Holy Cross, Wanstead, and Woodford; and
The Rural District of Epping.^[2]

Gained Woodford from the abolished Walthamstow Division of Essex and Wanstead from the Romford Division. Lost eastern areas, including Chipping Ongar, to Chelmsford, and northern areas, including Great Dunmow and Hatfield Broad Oak, to Saffron Walden.

1945–1974

The Municipal Borough of Chingford;
The Urban Districts of Epping and Waltham Holy Cross; and
The Rural District of Epping.^[2]

The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 set up Boundaries Commissions to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies in time for the 1945 election.^[3] This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which Epping was divided into two constituencies. As a consequence, the new Parliamentary Borough of Woodford was formed from the Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford (created from amalgamating the two separate Urban Districts) and the Urban District of Chigwell (previously a parish in the Rural District of Epping which had also absorbed the former Urban Districts of Buckhurst Hill and Loughton).

Abolition

The seat was abolished in 1974 following the Second Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. The Borough of Chingford had been absorbed into the London Borough of Waltham Forest on its creation within Greater London and now formed the basis for the new constituency of Chingford within that Borough; the Urban District of Harlow, which had been created out of the Rural District of Epping, together with neighbouring parishes (now part of the merged Rural District of Epping and Ongar), formed the new constituency of Harlow; and remaining parts were included in the new constituency of Epping Forest.

Areas covered

Area	1885	1918	1945	1955	1974
Great Dunmow, Hatfield Broad Oak	Epping	Saffron Walden (part)
Chipping Ongar		Chelmsford (part)		Chigwell	Brentwood and Ongar (part)
Harlow		Epping	Epping	Epping	Harlow
Chingford					Chingford
Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Epping					Epping Forest
Loughton, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell			Woodford	Chigwell	Epping Forest
Woodford	Walthamstow (part)			Woodford¹	Wanstead and Woodford
Wanstead	Romford (part)			Woodford¹	Wanstead and Woodford

¹Renamed Wanstead and Woodford, with minor boundary changes, for the 1964 general election (S.I. 1960/454).^[2]

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party	Notes
	1885	Henry Selwin-Ibbetson	Conservative
	1892	Amelius Lockwood	Conservative
	1917 by-election	Richard Colvin	Unionist
	1923	Leonard Lyle	Unionist
	1924	Rt Hon Winston Churchill	Constitutionalist
	1924	Rt Hon Winston Churchill	Conservative	Prime Minister 1940–1945
	1945	Leah Manning	Labour
	1950	Nigel Davies	Conservative
	1951	Graeme Finlay	Conservative
	1964	Stan Newens	Labour
	1970	Norman Tebbit	Conservative
1974		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Epping ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Henry Selwin-Ibbetson	4,668	61.5
	Liberal	Edmund Barnard	2,915	38.5
Majority			1,744	23.0
Turnout			7,574	82.0
Registered electors			9,239
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Epping ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Selwin-Ibbetson	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Epping ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amelius Lockwood	4,536	62.4	*N/A*
	Liberal	Spencer Barclay Heward	2,738	37.6	New
Majority			1,798	24.8	N/A
Turnout			7,274	76.8	N/A
Registered electors			9,476
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Epping ^[4]^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amelius Lockwood	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Epping ^[4]^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amelius Lockwood	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1906: Epping ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amelius Lockwood	5,204	56.4	*N/A*
	Liberal	Spencer Barclay Howard	4,030	43.6	New
Majority			1,174	12.8	N/A
Turnout			9,234	81.2	N/A
Registered electors			11,374
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Epping ^[4]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amelius Lockwood	6,578	63.1	+6.7
	Liberal	Israel Alexander Symmons	3,845	36.9	−6.7
Majority			2,733	26.2	+13.4
Turnout			10,423	85.7	+4.5
Registered electors			12,164
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.7

General election December 1910: Epping ^[4]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amelius Lockwood	5,990	64.1	+1.0
	Liberal	Israel Alexander Symmons	3,361	35.9	−1.0
Majority			2,629	28.2	+2.0
Turnout			9,351	76.9	−8.8
Registered electors			12,164
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected:

Unionist: Amelius Lockwood
Liberal:

This election was suspended by the Parliament and Registration Act 1916 (royal assent 27 January 1916), which was extended five times, due to the First World War. A general election was finally allowed in December 1918 after the war was over; but first, Amelius Lockwood was disqualified as an MP by being raised to the peerage in 1917, necessitating a by-election. The Liberals, in wartime coalition with the Conservatives and Unionists, did not oppose the Unionist candidate.

By-election, 1917: Epping ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Richard Colvin	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

General election 1918: Epping^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Richard Colvin	14,668	72.6	+8.5
	Liberal	Arthur Leonard Horner	4,164	20.6	−15.3
	People's Progressive Coalition	J. Conoley	1,367	6.8	New
Majority			10,504	52.0	+23.8
Turnout			20,199	52.4	−24.5
Registered electors			38,519
	Unionist hold		Swing	+11.9
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Epping^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Richard Colvin	15,300	59.9	−12.7
	Liberal	Gilbert Granville Sharp	10,228	40.1	+19.5
Majority			5,072	19.8	−32.8
Turnout			25,528	63.5	+11.1
Registered electors			40,209
	Unionist hold		Swing	−16.1

General election 1923: Epping^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leonard Lyle	14,528	52.9	−7.0
	Liberal	Gilbert Granville Sharp	12,954	47.1	+7.0
Majority			1,574	5.8	−14.0
Turnout			27,482	66.4	+2.9
Registered electors			41,404
	Unionist hold		Swing	−7.0

General election 1924: Epping^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Constitutionalist	Winston Churchill	19,843	58.9	*N/A*
	Liberal	Gilbert Granville Sharp	10,080	29.9	−17.2
	Labour	J R McPhie	3,768	11.2	New
Majority			9,763	29.0	N/A
Turnout			33,691	78.3	+11.9
Registered electors			43,055
	Constitutionalist gain from Unionist		Swing

General election 1929: Epping^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Winston Churchill	23,972	48.5	−10.4
	Liberal	Gilbert Granville Sharp	19,005	38.4	+8.5
	Labour	Walton Newbold	6,472	13.1	+1.9
Majority			4,967	10.1	−18.9
Turnout			49,449	75.2	−3.1
Registered electors			65,758
	Unionist gain from Constitutionalist		Swing	−9.5

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Winston Churchill	35,956	63.8	+15.3
	Liberal	Arthur Comyns Carr	15,670	27.8	−10.6
	Labour	James Ranger	4,713	8.4	−4.7
Majority			20,286	36.0	+25.9
Turnout			56,339	77.3	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Winston Churchill	34,849	59.0	−4.8
	Liberal	Gilbert Granville Sharp	14,430	24.4	−3.4
	Labour	James Ranger	9,758	16.5	+8.1
Majority			20,419	34.6	−1.4
Turnout			59,037	67.7	−9.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

A general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected:

Conservative: Winston Churchill
Labour: Leon MacLaren^[9]

The election was suspended by the Prolongation of Parliament Act 1940 (royal assent 6 November 1940), which was extended four times, due to the Second World War.

General election 1945: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leah Manning	15,993	44.1	+19.3
	Conservative	Roy Wise	15,006	41.3	−17.8
	Liberal	Sydney Robinson	5,134	14.6	−1.9
Majority			987	2.8	N/A
Turnout			36,313	71.4	+3.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+18.6

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Davies	24,292	49.1	+7.8
	Labour	Leah Manning	20,385	41.2	+3.9
	Liberal	Peter Edwin Lewis	4,755	9.6	−5.0
Majority			3,907	7.9	N/A
Turnout			49,432	86.6	+15.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1951: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graeme Finlay	27,392	54.8	+5.7
	Labour	Leah Manning	22,598	45.2	+4.0
Majority			4,794	9.6	+1.7
Turnout			49,990	85.1	−1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

General election 1955: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graeme Finlay	26,065	46.4	−8.4
	Labour	Leah Manning	22,542	40.2	−5.0
	Liberal	John Arlott	7,528	13.4	New
Majority			3,523	6.2	−3.4
Turnout			56,135	82.3	−2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.7

General election 1959: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graeme Finlay	31,507	44.7	−1.7
	Labour Co-op	Donald F W Ford	27,114	38.4	−1.8
	Liberal	John Arlott	11,913	16.9	+3.5
Majority			4,393	6.2	0.0
Turnout			70,534	84.3	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.1

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Newens	34,991	44.4	+6.0
	Conservative	Graeme Finlay	31,753	40.3	−4.4
	Liberal	Nancy Seear	12,093	15.3	−1.6
Majority			3,238	4.1	N/A
Turnout			78,837	83.3	−1.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.2

General election 1966: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Newens	38,914	48.4	+4.0
	Conservative	E Michael Ogden	31,406	39.0	−1.3
	Liberal	Derek A McKie	10,162	12.6	−2.7
Majority			7,508	9.4	+5.3
Turnout			80,482	82.4	−0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Epping
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Tebbit	43,615	51.5	+12.5
	Labour	Stan Newens	41,040	48.5	+0.1
Majority			2,575	3.0	N/A
Turnout			84,655	73.3	−9.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.2

References

^ Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
^ ^a ^b ^c Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0900178094. OCLC 539011.
^ Gay, Oonagh (28 July 2010). "The Rules for the Redistribution of Seats- history and reform". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The Liberal Year Book, 1907
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
^ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

Sources

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Essex South	UK Parliament constituency Representative for Wanstead, Woodford 1885–1945	Succeeded by Woodford
	UK Parliament constituency Representative for Loughton, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell 1885–1950	Succeeded by Woodford
	UK Parliament constituency Representative for Chingford 1885–1974	Succeeded by Chingford
	UK Parliament constituency Representative for Harlow 1885–1974	Succeeded by Harlow
	UK Parliament constituency Representative for Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Epping 1885–1974	Succeeded by Epping Forest
Preceded by Colne Valley	Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer 1924–1929	Succeeded by Colne Valley
Preceded by Birmingham Edgbaston	Constituency represented by the prime minister 1940–1945	Succeeded by Limehouse