Epping Forest
2010 Results:
Conservative: 25148 (53.98%)
Labour: 6641 (14.26%)
Liberal Democrat: 10017 (21.5%)
BNP: 1982 (4.25%)
UKIP: 1852 (3.98%)
Green: 659 (1.41%)
English Democrat: 285 (0.61%)
Majority: 15131 (32.48%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 22842 (52.7%)
Labour: 9078 (21%)
Liberal Democrat: 8181 (18.9%)
Other: 3225 (7.4%)
Majority: 13764 (31.8%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 23783 (53%)
Labour: 9425 (21%)
Liberal Democrat: 8279 (18.5%)
BNP: 1728 (3.9%)
UKIP: 1014 (2.3%)
Other: 631 (1.4%)
Majority: 14358 (32%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 20833 (49.1%)
Labour: 12407 (29.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 7884 (18.6%)
UKIP: 1290 (3%)
Majority: 8426 (19.9%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 24117 (45.5%)
Labour: 18865 (35.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 7074 (13.3%)
Referendum: 2208 (4.2%)
Other: 743 (1.4%)
Majority: 5252 (9.9%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Eleanor Laing(Conservative) (more information at They work for you)
Eleanor Laing(Conservative) (more information at They work for you)Katie Curtis (Labour) Ann Haigh (Liberal Democrat) born 1943. Educated at NE London Polytechnic. Essex County councillor 2001-2005. Epping Forest councillor since 1996. Contested East Ham 2005.Simon Pepper (Green)
Andrew Smith (UKIP) chartered accountant.Pat Richardson (BNP)Kim Sawyer (English Democrat)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 91805
Male: 48.2%
Female: 51.8%
Under 18: 22%
Over 60: 21.7%
Born outside UK: 7.2%
White: 94.2%
Black: 1%
Asian: 3%
Mixed: 1.2%
Other: 0.7%
Christian: 71.1%
Hindu: 1.2%
Jewish: 3.8%
Muslim: 1.4%
Sikh: 0.7%
Full time students: 2.3%
Graduates 16-74: 17.4%
No Qualifications 16-74: 28.5%
Owner-Occupied: 74.2%
Social Housing: 16.9% (Council: 14.5%, Housing Ass.: 2.5%)
Privately Rented: 6%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 4.5%
Not very similar. That seat included Epping itself and Theydon Bois and Waltham Abbey from this seat but larger elements were provideed by Chingford in the south and Harlow in the north. The last Tory and Labour MPs for the old Epping – Norman Tebbitt and Stan Newens respectively, became MPs for Chingford and Harlow on the seats division in 1974 and this seat was taken by John Biggs-Davidson former MP for Chigwell which included the greater part of this seat – Loughton, Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell. Before 1955 that area was also in Epping and before 1945 it also included Wanstead & Woodford
Thanks for the info Pete – I’d wrongly assumed the two seats were almost identical and the political shift was just a result of Essex man moving significantly to the right in the past few decades
I had no idea Harlow was in the old Epping seat, although i thought Chingford might have been
They both were – before 1974.
The Chigwell section of Epping was a separate seat though (Chigwell).
Epping was Labour in 1966, narrowly Tory in 1970 (over 40,000 votes each).
Pete has explained it well – but there’s further discussion of this on the Harlow thread.
I think that most of the Epping Forest seat of current vintage was outside that huge Epping pre 1974.
Chigwell would have been the majority of it I think.
Plus it had the whole of Chingford and Harlow aswell – although maybe some of Chingford was in Walthamstow E & W.
If the Epping seat still existed today it would have an electorate of about 140,000 of which 60,000 in Harlow; 40,000 in Chingford and 40,000 in Epping Forest district. Of the latter about 30,000 are in this constituency (the remaining 40,000 or so having come from Chigwell) and 10,000 forming the extraneous parts of Harlow constituency.
In 1970 Epping had an electorate of 115,000 and Chigwell only a little over 60,000. The majority of Chigwell formed the majority of Epping Forest in 1974, losing the Ongar area to the new Brentwood & Ongar.
Harlow was entirely carved out of the Epping seat, while Chingford was augmented by the northern (and more Tory) part of the abolished Walthamstow East.
In other words this seat takes only about 20% of the old Epping seat and is comprised of about 40% electors taken from Epping and 60% taken from Chigwell
On the old boundaries I think Epping woud have been one of those rare seats (less rare in the London/Essex borders than elsewhere though) which Labour gained in 1997 and was regained by the Tories in 2001
Thanks Pete, that’s useful – and gives much more detail.
I would be very intrigued to know how the old “Epping” voted in 1997, 2001, and 2005,
but it’s probably very hard to find out now.
Very roughly I’d say 2005
would be
C 36,000
Lab 25,000
I’m just doing this roughly in my head,
1997 in “Epping” [of pre 1974] I think would have been about
Lab 39,000
C 37,000
And 1992 in Epping – [estimate on pre 1974]
C 56,000
Lab 29,000
Its a rough estimate.. I think you’re probably about right in most of those. Maybe a Labour majority a shade higher in 1997 – 4-5000 perhaps. Pretty incredible that a Conservative majority of 27,000 in 1992 could be overturned, but obviously with a huge electorate – that is what would have happened
Labour candidate Bill Turner has stood down – Labour will select again on 9th March
Whoever stands for Labour is going to have difficulty holding onto second place. This is particularly so if the BNP vote increases, as on past form the BNP are likely to take more votes from Labour than the LibDems.
Norman Tebbit wrote that in the 1970 election it was very closely fought in the vast Epping seat, although Stan Newens for Labour did seem to be seen as the narrow favourite by many.
At the count, apparently a bundle of 1,000 votes was unaccounted, and if it had turned out to be Labour’s, he feared a majority of just 500+ which could have been over-turned on a recount.
In the event, the 1,000 were Tory votes, so the majority was about 2,500.
Stan Newens became Labour MP for Harlow from 1974-83, and was a Euro MP for London Central later.
Anyone know who won the Labour selection?
I think it was Tony Clements who won the Labour selection but not 100% sure
We may have another MP in trouble here?
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/4677003.EPPING_FOREST__Laing_to_face_confidence_vote/
Eleanor Laing has now paid back the £25,000 mentioned in the above article.
I’d be a ittle surprised if she ended up being deselected, purely because all other deselection attempts of other Tory MPs during the past four years have failed.
You would hope that people have learned that nobody gains when a vote to deselect is called only for it to be soundly defeated. People should make damn sure they have the requisite numbers before they risk damage to the party in that way.
I’m glad this money has been repaid.
Again – don’t know the details of this – there may have been rights aswell as wrongs about it – but it’s good news it’s been repaid.
I’m guessing about 12 sitting Tory MPs have been deselected in the past 20 years, but a few have been via central office (effectively losing the Whip), and a few who were deselected locally were soon after joining other parties. Exceptions seem to be Nicholas Scott, and Nick Hawkins, who was MP for the Constituency I lived in at the time.
The final straw in one of those cases was “kissing the pavement”
The Pope did it all the time.
I just heard on my local news that Eleanor Laing is holding a meeting with the Epping Forest Conservative Association who will vote on whether to deselct her or not. The results will be known later tonight
I’m a Labour supporter but I like Eleanor. They’d be mad to get rid of her.
I don’t think any Association has yet deselected an MP as a result of the expenses scandal – they have either jumped first, or (in the case of Anne Main and James Gray) back the MP
Tory MP for Meriden Iain Mills was another case of “kissing the pavement” in 1996.
I don’t think James Gray’s problems were caused by expenses, really.
I think, officially, expenses was given as a reason to try and get Richard Ottaway deselected.
Sir Patrick Cormack also faced a deselection vote a couple of years ago.
As did Anne McIntosh a few weeks ago.
And weren’t some people starting to push for a deselection vote on David Wilshire before he announced his intention to retire?
There have been several deselection votes this Parliament. None of which have actually lead to deselection.
Wasn’t Roy Thomason (Bromsgrove 1992-1997) also deselected?
Unsurprisingly, she has survived the deselection vote (according to Conhome).
Thank goodness for that!!
Thanks to boundary changes, Sir Winston Churchill was MP for Chigwell twice, from 1924-45, when it was in the Epping constituency, and from 1950-55, when it was in the Woodford constituency and just before it was transferred to an eponymous seat
I presume Epping Forest itself was in the Epping seat from 1885 until 1974?
Apart from that small parts of the forest remain as far south as Leytonstone and in other parts of Waltham Forest, cerrtainly the main body of Epping Forest has been wholly in this constituency since 1974.
Before then is slightly more complex however. The forest was divided between the old Chigwell UD (containing Loughton) and Waltham Holy Cross UD. Waltham Holy Cross was always part of the Epping constituency but Chigwell formed part of the new Woodford seat from 1945 to 1955 and then of course Chigwell from 1955-1974
The BNP have selected Epping Forest councillor Pat Richardson here
Epping Forest Labour Party appear to change their PPC every few months. The national party website now lists Katie Curtis as the local PPC: http://www.labour.org.uk/ppc/katie_curtis/611/ Here is her website: http://katie4eppingforest.wordpress.com/
Odd, really, as the previous PPC appeared to be at least enthusiastic and ready to fight an election. Interestingly, Curtis works for Unite, the union trying to get its people into parliament. No risk of that happening in Epping Forest!
Cons Hold= 16,000 maj
Con Hold
Maj 16300
Con maj 16,750
Official List -
Katie Elizabeth CURTIS – Labour
Ann Mary HAIGH – Lib Dem
Eleanor Fulton LAING – Con
Simon Benjamin PEPPER – Green
Pat Richardson – BNP
Kim SAWYER – Eng Dem
Andrew George SMITH – UKIP
CON HOLD
On a lighter note, isn’ this the end of the central line or did this part of the line shut years ago under the Conservatives?
I would have thought this is a safe conservative seat
Gabriella,
The Central LIne goes to Epping it used to go on to Ongar but that part of the line that was closed years ago.
The line from Epping to Ongar closed on 30 September 1994, at which time it was operating only a Monday-Friday peak hours service.
Which wards (not in present day terms) made up the old Epping constituency during Churchill’s wartime premiership?
thanks
This is the electoral district that contains Chigwell – made famous in the show “Birds of a Feather”!
I’m somewhat surprised how Tory Waltham Abbey now is.
In May 2011, a pretty even year between Conservative and Labour nationally,
all 5 district wards are strongly Conservative.
It’s true Labour seemed to leave the opposition to the Lib Dems and Greens (the former who didn’t do well either) in 4 of the 5,
but I though Waltham Abbey, along with Debden would have been Labour in the 1980s.
2 out of 5 had Labour candidates.
There are some large estates in Waltham Abbey – Ninefields North & South, and part of Upshire to the east – although that is also an original village.
“This is the electoral district that contains Chigwell – made famous in the show “Birds of a Feather”!”
Though a lot of the “village” scenes were actually filmed in Pinner on the other side of London.
Pinner admittedly is a bit similar to Chigwell in being wealthy, solidly Tory and with a significant Jewish minority.
Joe James
You need Pete Whitehead’s encyclopaedic records, but my memory is that Waltham Abbey like Debden was Labour in the 1970s (not the 1980s – what are you thinking of?)
Was territory from the then Epping seat taken from it to create the then-new constituency of Woodford in 1945? Churchill transferred to it that year, and Epping was a Labour gain in the person of Leah Manning, though with a very slim majority. Perhaps if Churchill had stayed on in Epping his personal following might just have been enough for him to hold on in that seat (despite the electorate’s recollection of the pre-WWII Conservative government).