Woolwich East (UK Parliament constituency)

Woolwich East was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983. Its seat was Woolwich, now in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London.

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

The constituency was formed for the 1918 general election, when the constituency of Woolwich was divided into Woolwich East and Woolwich West, and abolished in 1983 when it was largely replaced by a new Woolwich constituency. Between 1950 and 1974 it included North Woolwich on the north bank of the River Thames; this was then transferred to Newham South.

Throughout its 65-year existence, the constituency elected Labour MPs with the sole exception of a Conservative elected in a 1921 by-election.

Woolwich East in the County of London 1918-50

Woolwich East in the County of London 1950-74

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Burrage, Central, Glyndon, St Margaret's, and St Nicholas.

1950–1955: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Abbey Wood, Burrage, Central, Dockyard, Glyndon, River, St Margaret's, St Mary's, and St Nicholas.

1955–1974: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Abbey Wood, Burrage, Central, Glyndon, River, St Margaret's, St Mary's, St Nicholas, Slade, and Winn's Common.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Abbey Wood, Eynsham, St Margaret's, St Mary's, St Nicholas, Slade, and Woolwich.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Will Crooks	Labour
	1921 by-election	Robert Gee	Conservative
	1922	Harry Snell	Labour
	1931 by-election	George Hicks	Labour
	1950	Ernest Bevin	Labour
	1951 by-election	Christopher Mayhew	Labour
	1974		Liberal
	Oct 1974	John Cartwright	Labour
	1981		SDP

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Woolwich, East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Will Crooks	Unopposed
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

1921 Woolwich East by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Robert Gee	13,724	51.3	New
	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	13,081	48.7	N/A
Majority			683	2.6	N/A
Turnout			34,099	78.5	N/A
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Woolwich, East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Snell	15,620	57.1	N/A
	Unionist	Robert Gee	11,714	42.9	N/A
Majority			3,906	14.2	N/A
Turnout			33,993	80.4	+1.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1923: Woolwich East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Snell	15,766	61.6	+4.5
	Unionist	Ernest Taylor	9,389	38.4	−4.5
Majority			5,927	23.2	+9.0
Turnout			34,429	74.4	−6.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.5

General election 1924: Woolwich East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Snell	16,660	58.4	−3.2
	Unionist	D.A. Gooch	11,862	41.6	+3.2
Majority			4,798	16.8	−6.4
Turnout			34,935	81.6	+7.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1929: Woolwich East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Snell	20,447	63.2	+4.8
	Unionist	Edward Shrapnell-Smith	11,906	36.8	−4.8
Majority			8,541	26.4	+9.6
Turnout			42,808	75.6	−6.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.8

Elections in the 1930s

1931 Woolwich East by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Hicks	16,200	56.7	−6.5
	Conservative	Edward Shrapnell-Smith	12,357	43.3	+6.5
Majority			3,843	13.4	−13.0
Turnout			42,886	66.6	−9.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1931: Woolwich, East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Hicks	16,658	50.9	−12.3
	Conservative	John Francis Finn	16,050	49.1	+12.3
Majority			608	1.8	−24.6
Turnout			42,857	76.3	+0.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1935: Woolwich, East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Hicks	17,563	58.0	+7.1
	Conservative	John Francis Finn	12,721	42.0	−7.1
Majority			4,842	16.0	+14.2
Turnout			42,450	71.3	−5.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Woolwich, East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Hicks	18,983	70.4	+12.4
	Conservative	Reginald Bennett	7,237	27.0	−15.0
	Independent	Hugh Harold Wright	571	2.1	New
Majority			11,746	43.4	+27.4
Turnout			36,851	72.7	+1.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Woolwich East ^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Bevin	26,604	61.59	−8.8
	Conservative	J.D. Campbell	14,234	32.95	+5.9
	Liberal	Arthur Maxwell Sage	1,504	3.48	New
	Communist	R. Palme Dutt	601	1.39	New
	Independent	F. Hancock	252	0.58	New
Majority			12,370	28.64	−15.3
Turnout			43,195	83.31	+5.6
Registered electors			51,849
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.4

1951 Woolwich East by-election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	20,801	60.73	−0.86
	Conservative	Richard Jon Stanley Harvey	13,449	39.27	+6.32
Majority			7,352	21.46	−7.18
Turnout			34,250
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.59

General election 1951: Woolwich East ^[1][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	26,982	63.63	+2.04
	Conservative	Richard Jon Stanley Harvey	15,420	36.37	+3.42
Majority			11,562	27.26	−1.38
Turnout			42,402	82.05	−1.26
Registered electors			51,679
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.69

General election 1955: Woolwich East ^[1][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	23,275	64.29	+0.66
	Conservative	Henry C Crawford	12,929	35.71	−0.66
Majority			10,346	28.58	+1.31
Turnout			36,204	73.94	−8.11
Registered electors			48,964
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.66

General election 1959: Woolwich East ^[1][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	22,353	63.88	−0.41
	Conservative	Edgar J Porter	12,638	36.12	+0.41
Majority			9,715	27.76	−0.82
Turnout			34,991	75.49	+1.55
Registered electors			46,349
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.41

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Woolwich East ^[1][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	22,158	68.26	+4.38
	Conservative	David W Clarke	10,303	31.74	−4.38
Majority			11,855	36.52	+8.76
Turnout			32,461	68.98	−6.51
Registered electors			47,061
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.38

General election 1966: Woolwich East ^[1][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	22,241	71.66	+3.40
	Conservative	Antony W Andrews	8,798	28.34	−3.40
Majority			13,443	43.32	+6.80
Turnout			31,039	67.02	−1.96
Registered electors			46,310
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.40

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Woolwich, East^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	19,423	65.44
	Conservative	John Cope	10,259	35.56
Majority			9,164	30.88
Turnout			29,682	60.66
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Woolwich, East^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Mayhew	20,967	55.89	−9.55
	Conservative	Barry Horn Watson	8,990	23.96	−11.60
	Liberal	David John Woodhead	6,301	16.80	New
	National Front	Philip Sydney Hanman	1,066	2.84	New
	Industrial Productivity for British Exports Campaign	John Richard Michael Murphy	191	0.51	New
Majority			11,977	31.93	+1.05
Turnout			37,515	74.22	+13.56
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Woolwich, East^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Cartwright	19,812	60.33	+4.44
	Conservative	Barry Horn Watson	7,387	22.50	−1.47
	Liberal	David John Woodhead	4,638	14.12	−2.67
	National Front	Malcolm Eric Leslie Skeggs	1,000	3.05	+0.20
Majority			12,425	37.83	+5.90
Turnout			32,837	64.41	−9.81
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.96

General election 1979: Woolwich, East^[11][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Cartwright	21,700	58.93	−1.40
	Conservative	Patrick Rock	11,240	30.53	+8.03
	Liberal	David John Woodhead	2,998	8.14	−5.98
	National Front	Ian David Steven	884	2.40	−0.65
Majority			10,460	28.40	−9.43
Turnout			36,822	70.11	+5.70
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.72

References

1. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, FWS Craig
2. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
3. "1951 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
4. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
5. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
6. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
7. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
8. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
9. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
10. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
11. "'Woolwich East', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
12. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
13. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1979". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 22 March 2016.

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

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

51.49°N 0.10°E / 51.49; 0.10