Epping Forest (UK Parliament constituency)

Epping Forest
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Epping Forest in Essex.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
Electorate	72,212 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Waltham Abbey
Current constituency
Created	1974
Member of parliament	Eleanor Laing (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Epping Chigwell
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Epping Forest is a parliamentary constituency^{[n 1]} in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Eleanor Laing, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1974-1983: The Urban Districts of Chigwell, Epping, and Waltham Holy Cross, and in the Rural District of Epping and Ongar the civil parishes of Epping Upland, Theydon Bois, and Theydon Garnon.

1983-1997: The District of Epping Forest wards of Broadway, Buckhurst Hill East, Buckhurst Hill West, Chigwell Row, Chigwell Village, Debden Green, Epping Hemnall, Epping Lindsey, Grange Hill, High Beach, Loughton Forest, Loughton Roding, Loughton St John's, Loughton St Mary's, Paternoster, Theydon Bois, Waltham Abbey East, and Waltham Abbey West.

1997-2010: The District of Epping Forest wards of Broadway, Buckhurst Hill East, Buckhurst Hill West, Chigwell Row, Chigwell Village, Debden Green, Epping Hemnall, Epping Lindsey, Grange Hill, High Beach, Loughton Forest, Loughton Roding, Loughton St John's, Loughton St Mary's, North Weald Bassett, Paternoster, Theydon Bois, Waltham Abbey East, and Waltham Abbey West.

2010-present: The District of Epping Forest wards of Broadley Common, Epping Upland and Nazeing, Buckhurst Hill East, Buckhurst Hill West, Chigwell Row, Chigwell Village, Epping Hemnall, Epping Lindsey and Thornwood Common, Grange Hill, Loughton Alderton, Loughton Broadway, Loughton Fairmead, Loughton Forest, Loughton Roding, Loughton St John’s, Loughton St Mary’s, Theydon Bois, Waltham Abbey High Beach, Waltham Abbey Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey North East, Waltham Abbey Paternoster, and Waltham Abbey South West.

The constituency comprises Loughton, Epping, Waltham Abbey, Chigwell, Buckhurst Hill, Theydon Bois, part of North Weald, small intermediate villages and almost the whole of the ancient Forest itself, except those parts which were transferred to Greater London in 1965.

Political geography

When Epping Forest was first created, it was more favourable to the Conservative than the old Epping seat, as it lost the new town of Harlow (inside the old Epping Rural District) and gained the more Conservative Chigwell Urban District. During the Thatcher period the Labour Party's vote was crushed. Even though the Liberals managed to move into second place, their vote did little more than follow national trends and as soon as 1987 their votes dropped away as well.

Two former candidates in the Epping Forest constituency have also stood for election as Mayor of London: Steve Norris (Conservative; MP 1988-97) and Julian Leppert (British National Party).

Members of Parliament

The constituency was created in 1974 from the seats of Epping and Chigwell — both of these (then one constituency, Epping) were represented by Winston Churchill throughout his tenure as Prime Minister during World War II. The present MP is the Conservative Eleanor Laing, who has been a Deputy Speaker of the House to John Bercow since October 2013.

Election		Member[2]	Party
	Feb 1974	Sir John Biggs-Davison	Conservative
	1988 by-election	Steve Norris	Conservative
	1997	Eleanor Laing	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Epping Forest[3][4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eleanor Laing[5]	27,027	54.8	+0.8
	UKIP	Andrew Smith[5]	9,049	18.3	+14.4
	Labour	Gareth Barrett	7,962	16.1	+1.9
	Liberal Democrat	Jon Whitehouse[6]	3,448	7.0	−14.5
	Green	Anna Widdup	1,782	3.6	+2.2
	YPP	Mark Wadsworth	80	0.2	+0.2
Majority			17,978	36.4	+3.9
Turnout			49,348	67.1	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Epping Forest[7][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eleanor Laing	25,148	54.0	1.2
	Liberal Democrat	Ann Haigh	10,017	21.5	+3.4
	Labour	Katie Curtis	6,641	14.3	−7.2
	BNP	Patricia Richardson	1,982	4.3	+0.2
	UKIP	Andrew Smith	1,852	4.0	+1.7
	Green	Simon Pepper	659	1.4	N/A
	English Democrats	Kim Sawyer	285	0.6	−0.9
Majority			15,131	32.5	+1.2
Turnout			46,584	64.5	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Epping Forest[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eleanor Laing	23,783	53.0	+3.9
	Labour	Bambos Charalambous	9,425	21.0	−8.3
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Anthony Cyril Heavens	8,279	18.5	−0.1
	BNP	Julian Leppert	1,728	3.9	N/A
	UKIP	Andrew George Smith	1,014	2.2	−0.7
	English Democrats	Robin Tilbrook	631	1.4	N/A
Majority			14,358	32.0
Turnout			44,860	61.6	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.1

General Election 2001: Epping Forest[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eleanor Laing	20,833	49.1	+3.6
	Labour	Christopher David Naylor	12,407	29.3	−6.3
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Anthony Cyril Heavens	7,884	18.6	+5.2
	UKIP	Andrew George Smith	1,290	3.0	N/A
Majority			8,426	19.8
Turnout			42,414	58.4	−14.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Epping Forest[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eleanor Laing	24,117	45.5	−14.0
	Labour	Stephen William Murray	18,865	35.6	+12.6
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Robinson	7,074	13.3	−3.7
	BNP	Paul Henderson	743	1.4	N/A
Majority			5,252	9.9
Turnout			53,750
	Conservative hold		Swing	−13.3

General Election 1992: Epping Forest[12][13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Norris	32,407	59.5	−1.4
	Labour	Stephen William Murray	12,219	22.4	+4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Beryl Austen	9,265	17.0	−2.4
	Epping Forest Residents Association	Andrew O'Brien	552	1.0	N/A
Majority			20,188	37.1	−4.5
Turnout			54,443	80.5	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1980s

Epping Forest by-election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steven Norris	13,183	39.5	−21.5
	Social and Liberal Democrats	Andrew J. Thompson	8,679	26.0	+6.6
	Labour	Stephen William Murray	6,261	18.7	+0.4
	Social Democrat	Michael G. Pettman	4,077	12.2	−7.2
	Green	Andrew M. Simms	672	2.0
	National Front	Tina Wingfield	286	0.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	David Edward Sutch	208	0.6	N/A
	Rainbow Alliance - Change the World	Miss Jackie Moore	33	0.1	N/A
	Vote no Belsen for South Africans	Brian G. Goodier	16	0.0	N/A
Majority			4,504	13.5
Turnout			33,415	49.1	−27.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Epping Forest[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Biggs-Davison	31,536	60.9	+4.4
	Liberal	Anthony James Humphris	10,023	19.4	−5.4
	Labour	Stephen William Murray	9,499	18.4	+1.3
	Green	Richard Francis Denhard	695	1.3	N/A
Majority			21,513	41.6
Turnout			51,753	76.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.9

General Election 1983: Epping Forest[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Biggs-Davison	27,373	56.5	−1.2
	Social Democratic	Michael G. Pettman	11,995	24.8	+12.0
	Labour	Ms. H.J. Bryan	8,289	17.1	−10.3
	Ecology	R,W, Boenke	452	0.9	N/A
	BNP	S.H. Smith	330	0.7	N/A
Majority			15,378	31.8
Turnout			48,439	72.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.6

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Epping Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Biggs-Davison	29,447	57.7	+10.0
	Labour	W D Shepherd	13,994	27.4	−5.9
	Liberal	D Kitching	6,528	12.8	−6.3
	National Front	B. Wilkins	1,110	2.2	N/A
Majority			15,453	30.3
Turnout			51,079	76.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.0

General Election 1974 October: Epping Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Biggs-Davison	22,392	47.7	+0.9
	Labour	S.J. Palfreman	15,618	33.3	+2.2
	Liberal	D.F.J. Wood	8,952	19.1	−3.0
Majority			6,774	14.4
Turnout			46,962	73.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.7

General Election 1974 February: Epping Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Biggs-Davison	24,290	46.8	−7.5
	Labour	W.J. Sheaff	16,123	31.1	−14.7
	Liberal	D.F. Wood	11,478	22.1	+22.1
Majority			8,167	15.7
Turnout			51,891	81.8	+8.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

Notional results (before 1974)

Notional General Election 1970: Epping Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Biggs-Davison	35,010	54.3	+9.2
	Labour		29,506	45.7	+4.3
Majority			5,504	8.5
Turnout			64,516	73.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5

Notional General Election 1966: Epping Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		21,834	44.1
	Labour		20,504	41.4
	Liberal		7,202	14.5
Majority			1,330	2.7
Turnout				82.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes and references

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
3. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
5. http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/epping-forest-2015.html
6. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/12867690.Ex_mayor_selected_for_election_by_Lib_Dems/
7. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. 2010 election result
9. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
14. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Coordinates: 51°40′N 0°05′E / 51.67°N 0.09°E