Erith and Crayford (UK Parliament constituency)

Erith and Crayford
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1955–1997
Created fromDartford
Replaced byErith & 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

Erith and Crayford in Kent, boundaries used 1955-74

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

Election Member Party Notes
1955 Norman Dodds Labour Co-op Previously MP for Dartford from 1945. Died 1965
1965 by-election James Wellbeloved Labour
1981 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

References

  1. ^ a b c Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 9. ISBN 0102374805.
  2. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

51°28′N 0°11′E / 51.46°N 0.18°E / 51.46; 0.18