Woolwich West (UK Parliament constituency)

Woolwich West
Woolwich West
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
County	Greater London
1918–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Woolwich
Replaced by	Eltham

Woolwich West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983. It centred on Eltham, now in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London.

Woolwich West in the County of London 1918–50

Woolwich West in the County of London 1950–55

Final approximate outline of this seat. Click for surrounding seats. (Colouring: Feb 1974 results)

The constituency was formed for the 1918 general election, when the constituency of Woolwich was divided into Woolwich West and Woolwich East, and abolished in 1983. Although the boundaries changed, Woolwich West in effect became the new Eltham constituency.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Dockyard, Eltham, Herbert, River, St. George's, and St Mary's.

1950–1955: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Avery Hill, Herbert, St George's, Sherard, and Well Hall.^{[dubious – discuss]}

1955–1974: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Avery Hill, Coldharbour, Eltham Green, Falconwood, Herbert, Horn Park, Middle Park, New Eltham, St George's, Sherard, Shooters Hill, and Well Hall.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of academy, Coldharbour, Eltham, Horn Park, Middle Park, New Eltham, St George's, Sherard, Shooters Hill, and Well Hall.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1918	Sir Kingsley Wood	Conservative
1943 by-election	Francis Beech	Conservative
1945	Henry Berry	Labour
1950	William Steward	Conservative
1959	Colin Turner	Conservative
1964	Bill Hamling	Labour
1975 by-election	Peter Bottomley	Conservative
1983	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bottomley	21,222	47.3	+8.7
	Labour	Diana Page^[1]	18,613	41.5	−5.6
	Liberal	(Peter) John Churchill^[1]	4,363	9.7	−4.6
	National Front	Malcolm Skeggs^[1]	630	1.4	N/A
Majority			2,609	5.8	N/A
Turnout			44,828	79.6	+5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

1975 Woolwich West by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bottomley	17,280	48.8	+10.2
	Labour	Joseph Stanyer	14,898	42.1	−5.0
	Liberal	Sheilagh Hobday	1,884	5.3	−9.0
	National Front	Ruth Robinson	856	2.4	New
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	218	0.6	New
	English National	Frank Hansford-Miller	140	0.4	New
	Conservative, Anti-Common Market	Reginald Simmerson	104	0.3	New
	Independent	Peter Bishop	41	0.1	New
Majority			2,382	6.7	N/A
Turnout			35,525
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election October 1974: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	19,614	47.1	+3.0
	Conservative	Peter Bottomley	16,073	38.6	−0.2
	Liberal	JP Johnson	5,962	14.3	−2.9
Majority			3,541	8.5	+3.2
Turnout			41,649	73.9	−8.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.6

General election February 1974: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	20,126	44.1	−6.7
	Conservative	Peter Bottomley	17,690	38.8	−10.5
	Liberal	JP Johnson	7,833	17.2	New
Majority			2,436	5.3	+3.8
Turnout			45,649	81.9	+10.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.9

General election 1970: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	21,036	50.8	−2.9
	Conservative	Maurice Patrick Gaffney	20,418	49.3	+5.0
Majority			618	1.5	−7.9
Turnout			41,454	71.9	−9.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.9

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	23,344	53.7	+2.9
	Conservative	Maurice Patrick Gaffney	19,256	44.3	−2.4
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	906	2.1	−0.4
Majority			4,088	9.4	+5.4
Turnout			43,506	81.4	+0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

General election 1964: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	22,420	50.8	+6.1
	Conservative	Colin Turner	20,639	46.7	−6.0
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	1,112	2.5	−0.1
Majority			1,781	4.0	N/A
Turnout			44,171	81.3	−3.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.1

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Turner	24,373	52.7	+0.7
	Labour	William Hamling	20,678	44.7	−3.3
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	1,189	2.6	New
Majority			3,695	8.0	+4.0
Turnout			46,240	84.8	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 1955: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Steward	23,981	52.0	+2.7
	Labour	William Hamling	22,101	48.0	+1.6
Majority			1,880	4.0	+1.1
Turnout			46,082	83.3	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

General election 1951: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Steward	23,385	49.3	+2.7
	Labour	John Silkin	22,041	46.4	+0.1
	Liberal	David Phillips	2,040	4.3	−2.9
Majority			1,344	2.9	+2.6
Turnout			47,466	82.1	−5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General election 1950: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Steward	21,257	46.6	+8.2
	Labour	Henry Berry	21,118	46.3	−15.0
	Liberal	WR Roberts	3,279	7.2	New
Majority			139	0.3	N/A
Turnout			45,654	87.1	+14.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+11.6

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Berry	23,655	61.6	+20.3
	Conservative	Francis Beech	14,771	38.4	−20.3
Majority			8,884	23.2	N/A
Turnout			38,426	72.3	−3.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	20.3

1943 Woolwich West by-election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Beech	8,204	65.2	+6.5
	Ind. Labour Party	Tom Colyer	3,419	27.2	New
	Independent	J. Ellis	958	7.6	New
Majority			4,785	38.0	+20.7
Turnout			12,581
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kingsley Wood	24,649	58.7	−5.9
	Labour	Arthur George Wansborough	17,373	41.3	+5.9
Majority			7,276	17.3	−11.8
Turnout			42,022	75.8	−1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.9

General election 1931: Woolwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kingsley Wood	26,441	64.6	+24.6
	Labour Co-op	Joseph Reeves	14,520	35.4	−8.8
Majority			11,921	29.1	+20.3
Turnout			40,961	77.4	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Woolwich West ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Kingsley Wood	17,296	45.0	−12.3
	Labour	William Barefoot	16,964	44.2	+1.5
	Liberal	Arthur Stanley Phillips	4,140	10.8	New
Majority			332	0.8	−13.8
Turnout			38,400	76.8	−2.9
Registered electors			50,014
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.9

General election 1924: Woolwich West ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Kingsley Wood	16,504	57.3	+5.1
	Labour	William Barefoot	12,304	42.7	−5.1
Majority			4,200	14.6	+10.2
Turnout			28,808	79.7	+11.9
Registered electors			36,153
	Unionist hold		Swing	+5.1

General election 1923: Woolwich West ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Kingsley Wood	12,380	52.2	−8.0
	Labour	William Barefoot	11,357	47.8	+8.0
Majority			1,023	4.4	−16.0
Turnout			23,737	67.8	−2.3
Registered electors			35,032
	Unionist hold		Swing	−8.0

General election 1922: Woolwich West ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Kingsley Wood	14,453	60.2	+0.1
	Labour	J.T. Sheppard	9,550	39.8	+5.3
Majority			4,903	20.4	−5.2
Turnout			24,003	70.1	+10.1
Registered electors			34,242
	Unionist hold		Swing	−2.6

Election in the 1910s

General election 1918: Woolwich West ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Unionist	Kingsley Wood	12,348	60.1
	Labour	Alexander Gordon Cameron	7,088	34.5
	Ind. Unionist	W.A. Adam	1,109	5.4
Majority			5,260	25.6
Turnout			20,545	60.0
Registered electors			34,248
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)

^ ^a ^b ^c Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 13. ISBN 0102374805.
^ Whitaker's Almanack (1945), p.306
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Spen Valley	Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer 1940–1943	Succeeded by Combined Scottish Universities

[ee79-1] Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 13. ISBN 0102374805.

[2] Whitaker's Almanack (1945), p.306

[3] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[4] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[5] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[6] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[7] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

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Woolwich West
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Greater London
1918–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Woolwich
Replaced by	Eltham