Croydon North West
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County1955–1965: Surrey
1965–1997: Greater London
1955–1997
SeatsOne
Created fromCroydon North and Croydon West
Replaced byCroydon North

Croydon North West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Politics and history of the constituency

The Croydon North West constituency was created for the 1955 general election, just five years after a previous re-organisation of the three seats in the County Borough of Croydon.

It took in areas of the former Croydon North and Croydon West constituencies and bordered Croydon North East and Croydon South, as well as, when originally created, the constituencies of Streatham, Norwood, Beckenham and Mitcham.

The constituency was abolished at the 1997 general election and was entirely subsumed within the new Croydon North, with the addition of the Thornton Heath, Upper Norwood and South Norwood wards.

For almost all of its history, Croydon North West had Conservative Members of Parliament. It was the scene of a famous by-election in 1981, following the death of its MP, won by Bill Pitt for the SDP-Liberal Alliance. However, it returned to the Conservatives two years later, remaining so until it was snatched by Malcolm Wicks for the Labour Party at the 1992 general election.

Boundaries

1955–1974: The County Borough of Croydon wards of Bensham Manor, Norbury, Upper Norwood, West Thornton, and Whitehorse Manor.

1974–1983: The same wards in the London Borough of Croydon.

1983–1997: Wards of the above borough: Bensham Manor, Beulah, Broad Green, Norbury, West Thornton, and Whitehorse Manor.

When first created, Croydon North West included the areas of Norbury, Upper Norwood and parts of west Croydon and Thornton Heath. It saw various boundary changes, largely stretching further south and losing its more easterly parts. At the time of its abolition in 1997, Croydon North West covered all of West Croydon, Selhurst, Norbury and parts of Thornton Heath around the Thornton Heath Pond, within the London Borough of Croydon.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberPartyNotes
1955 Fred Harris Conservative
1970 Robert Taylor Conservative Died 1981
1981 by-election Bill Pitt Liberal
1983 Humfrey Malins Conservative
1992 Malcolm Wicks Labour
1997 constituency abolished: see Croydon North

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1955: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fred Harris 26,297 56.9
Labour Ronald Huzzard 15,760 34.1
Liberal Ivy Elizabeth Hallett Thurston 4,139 9.0
Majority 10,537 22.8
Turnout 46,196
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1959: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fred Harris 25,111 54.79
Labour David W. Chalkley 14,658 31.98
Liberal Ivy Elizabeth Hallett Thurston 6,061 13.22
Majority 10,453 22.81
Turnout 45,830 78.78
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fred Harris 19,577 46.90
Labour J.A.P. Palmer 13,967 33.46
Liberal Ronald E J Banks 8,201 19.65
Majority 5,610 13.44
Turnout 41,745 74.38
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fred Harris 18,578 45.39
Labour Michael J Stewart 15,882 38.81
Liberal Ronald E J Banks 6,466 15.80
Majority 2,696 6.58
Turnout 40,926 74.35
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Taylor 19,260 49.88 +4.49
Labour Stanley John Boden 14,687 38.04 -0.77
Liberal Ronald E J Banks 4,666 12.08 -3.72
Majority 4,573 11.84 +5.25
Turnout 38,613 67.66 -6.69
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Taylor 17,887 42.18 -7.70
Labour Stanley John Boden 14,816 34.94 -3.10
Liberal Bill Pitt 9,707 22.89 +10.81
Majority 3,071 7.24 -4.60
Turnout 42,410 77.45 +9.79
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Taylor 16,035 41.97 -0.21
Labour Stanley John Boden 14,556 38.10 +3.16
Liberal Bill Pitt 6,563 17.18 -5.71
National Front Peter John Holland 1,049 2.75 New
Majority 1,479 3.87 -3.37
Turnout 38,203 69.24 -8.21
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Taylor 19,928 49.42 +7.45
Labour Stanley John Boden 16,159 40.07 +1.97
Liberal Bill Pitt 4,239 10.51 -6.67
Majority 3,769 9.35 +5.48
Turnout 40,326 72.52 +3.28
Conservative hold Swing +2.74

Elections in the 1980s

By-election 1981: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Bill Pitt 13,800 39.95 +29.44
Conservative John Butterfill 10,546 30.53 -18.89
Labour Stanley John Boden 8,967 25.96 -14.11
National Front Nick Griffin 429 1.24 New
Independent Pro-Life Marilyn Gillies Carr 340 0.98 New
Ecology John Foster 155 0.45 New
Constitutional Movement Suzan McKenzie 111 0.32 New
Disabled War Pensioners Association Lawrence Brooks 81 0.23 New
Democratic Monarchist, Public Safety, White Resident Bill Boaks 51 0.15 New
Family Law Reform Party George Major 31 0.09 New
London Federation of Self-Employed Josef Joseph 20 0.06 New
Anti-Common Market - Free Trade Stephen Done 11 0.03 New
Majority 3,254 9.42 N/A
Turnout 34,542 62.50 -10.02
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing
1979 notional result on 1983-1997 boundaries: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 19,415 46.3
Labour 18,006 42.9
Liberal 4,491 10.7
Other 46 0.1
Majority 1,409 3.4
Turnout 41,958
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Humfrey Malins 16,674 42.3 -4.0
Liberal Bill Pitt 12,582 31.9 +21.2
Labour Ian Smedley 9,561 24.2 -18.7
National Front Nick Griffin 336 0.9 N/A
Ecology Tim A.J. Rowe 286 0.7 N/A
Majority 4,092 10.4 +7.0
Turnout 39,439 67.6 -4.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: Croydon North West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Humfrey Malins 18,665 47.0 +4.7
Labour Malcolm Wicks 14,677 37.0 +12.8
Liberal Leslie Rowe 6,363 16.0 −15.9
Majority 3,988 10.0 -0.4
Turnout 39,705 69.2 +1.6
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Croydon North West[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Malcolm Wicks 19,152 47.3 +10.3
Conservative Humfrey Malins 17,626 43.5 −3.5
Liberal Democrats Linda F. Hawkins 3,728 9.2 −6.8
Majority 1,526 3.8 N/A
Turnout 40,507 70.1 +0.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +6.9

See also

References

  1. ↑ "UK General Election results April 1992". Election 1992. Political Science Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

Sources

51°23′N 0°07′W / 51.39°N 0.11°W / 51.39; -0.11

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