Harrow West (UK Parliament constituency)

Harrow West
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Harrow West in Greater London.
County Greater London
Electorate 69,135 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1945
Member of parliament Gareth Thomas (Labour Co-op)
Number of members One
Created from Harrow and Hendon
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency London
Harrow West in Middlesex 1945–50

Harrow West is a constituency[n 1] created in 1945 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament and which has returned the Labour Co-operative MP Gareth Thomas in the five General Elections from 1997 having previously returned Conservative MPs.[n 2]

Political history

Summary of results

The Labour Party have held the seat since 1997 with the Conservative Party second-placed in each election. The 2015 result makes the seat the 215th safest of the party's 232 seats (by majority percentage) thus 18th most marginal seat.[2] Thomas's majority has not exceeded 13.2% but has been lower, at 2.3%, in 1997.

Other parties

UKIP, Liberal Democrat and Green Party candidates won less than 5% of the vote in 2015 therefore forfeit their deposits.

Boundaries

YearsLocal authorityWards
1945–1950Urban District of HarrowHarrow-on-the-Hill and Greenhill, Headstone, Pinner North, Pinner South, Roxeth, West Harrow; part of Harrow Weald.
1950–1955Urban District of HarrowPinner North and Hatch End, Pinner South, Roxbourne, Roxeth.
1955–1983Municipal Borough of HarrowHeadstone, Pinner North and Hatch End, Pinner South, Roxbourne, Roxeth.
1983–2010London Borough of HarrowHarrow on the Hill, Hatch End, Headstone North, Headstone South, Pinner, Pinner West, Rayners Lane, Ridgeway, Roxbourne, Roxeth.
2010–presentLondon Borough of HarrowGreenhill, Harrow on the Hill, Headstone North, Headstone South, Marlborough, Rayners Lane, Roxbourne, Roxeth, West Harrow.

The constituency was created for the 1945 General Election when the Harrow constituency was split into new seats of Harrow East and Harrow West. It was reduced in size for the 1950 General Election when a third Harrow seat, Harrow Central, was created. The Boundary Commission review before the 1983 General Election saw the London Borough of Harrow contained in two seats, resulting in Harrow West gaining parts of the abolished Harrow Central.

Unlike Harrow East, it had always been won by the Conservative Party until Labour's landslide in 1997 when a swing of 17.5% was the eighth-highest swing in that election, and it was the safest Conservative seat to be lost to Labour.[3] The constituency produced another better than average result for Labour in 2001 with a swing from Conservative to Labour of 5.4% or 5.5%, a pro-Labour swing bettered in four seats and in 2005 a challenge by Mike Freer produced a pro-Conservative swing of 4.5%.[3]

The area has the largely Georgian conservation area on a stand-alone partly park-lined hill which hosts Harrow School and includes more urban Harrow town centre and suburban streets of homes with good-sized gardens and well-kept small parklands. The seat has fast London Underground links to the city centre and rail services, few dual carriageways and few high speed roads. Labour incumbent Tony McNulty lost the neighbouring Harrow East in 2010 to the Conservative Party. Harrow West's Thomas retained his seat in Harrow West with a reduced majority.

Latest boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in North London, the Boundary Commission for England have created a modified Harrow West constituency to reflect parts of Greater London where population has increased more. The western border district, town or neighbourhood of Pinner has been moved to a new constituency, Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, making Harrow West based on 2005 ward voting statistics, and on local elections, a stronger Labour seat at the expense of the Conservatives than in 2005 — both two leading parties won fewer votes in 2010. Harrow West saw a notional swing in favour of the Conservative Party's Rachel Joyce of 5.7% in the election.

After a small 1.1% swing to the Conservatives in 2015, it swung back heavily to Labour in 2017 by almost 11%, with their largest majority since they first gained the seat in 1997 of over 13,000. At 34.4%, the Conservative vote share was the lowest in the seat's history, though they got more actual votes in 2017 than they did in 2001 and 2010.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[4] Party
1945 Norman Bower Conservative
1951 by-election Sir Albert Braithwaite Conservative
1960 by-election Sir John Page Conservative
1987 Robert Hughes Conservative
1997 Gareth Thomas Labour, then Labour Co-operative

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: Harrow West[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Gareth Thomas 30,640 60.8 +13.9
Conservative Hannah David 17,326 34.4 -7.8
Liberal Democrat Christopher Noyce 1,267 2.5 -0.8
Green Rowan Langley 652 1.3 -1.5
UKIP Rathy Alagaratnam 470 0.9 -3.5
Majority 13,314 26.4 +21.7
Turnout 50,355 72.1 +5.2
Registered electors 68,797
Labour hold Swing +10.8
General Election 2015: Harrow West[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Gareth Thomas 21,885 47.0 +3.3
Conservative Hannah David 19,677 42.2 +5.4
UKIP Ali Bhatti 2,047 4.3 +2.2
Liberal Democrat Chris Noyce 1,567 3.3 −12.9
Green Rowan Langley 1,310 2.8 +1.4
Independent Kailash Trivedi 117 0.2 N/A
Majority 2,208 4.7 −2.1
Turnout 46,603 66.9 −0.7
Registered electors 69,644
Labour hold Swing −1.1
General Election 2010: Harrow West[9][10][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Gareth Thomas 20,111 43.6 −5.0
Conservative Rachel Joyce 16,968 36.8 +6.4
Liberal Democrat Christopher Noyce 7,458 16.2 −2.5
UKIP Herbert Crossman 954 2.1 +0.8
Green Rowan Langley 625 1.4 N/A
Majority 3,143 6.8 +2.6
Turnout 46,116 67.6 +3.2
Registered electors 68,554
Labour hold Swing −5.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Harrow West[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Gareth Thomas 20,298 42.5 −7.1
Conservative Mike Freer 18,270 38.3 +1.9
Liberal Democrat Christopher Noyce 8,188 17.1 +4.2
UKIP Janice Cronin 576 1.2 +0.1
Independent Berjis Daver 427 0.9 N/A
Majority 2,028 4.2 -9.0
Turnout 47,759 64.3 +1.3
Registered electors 74,133
Labour Co-op hold Swing −4.5
General Election 2001: Harrow West[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Gareth Thomas 23,142 49.6 +8.1
Conservative Daniel Finkelstein 16,986 36.4 −2.8
Liberal Democrat Chris Noyce 5,995 12.9 −2.6
UKIP Peter Kefford 525 1.1 N/A
Majority 6,156 13.2 +10.9
Turnout 46,648 63.0 −9.8
Registered electors 74,083
Labour hold Swing +5.4

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Harrow West[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gareth Thomas 21,811 41.5 +18.97
Conservative Robert Hughes 20,571 39.2 −16.0
Liberal Democrat Pash Nandhra 8,127 15.5 −4.67
Referendum Herbert Crossman 1997 3.8 N/A
Majority 1,240 2.3 N/A
Turnout 52,506 72.8 -5.89
Registered electors 72,146
Labour gain from Conservative Swing -17.5
General Election 1992: Harrow West[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Robert Hughes 30,240 55.20 -0.04
Labour Claude Moraes 12,343 22.53 -4.70
Liberal Democrat C. Noyce 11,050 20.17 N/A
Liberal G. Aitman 845 1.54 N/A
Natural Law J. Argyle 306 0.56 N/A
Majority 17,897 32.67 +4.66
Turnout 54,784 78.69 +4.23
Registered electors 69,616
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Harrow West[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Robert Hughes 30,456 55.24 +2.21
Social Democratic Stuart Bayliss 15,012 27.23 -4.97
Labour Colin Bastin 9,665 17.53 +3.76
Majority 15,444 28.01 +7.18
Turnout 55,133 74.46 +2.14
Registered electors 74,041
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: Harrow West[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 28,056 53.03 -5.03
Social Democratic Stuart Bayliss 17,035 32.20 N/A
Labour K.A. Toms 7,811 14.77 -9.33
Majority 11,021 20.83 -13.13
Turnout 52,902 72.32 -6.40
Registered electors 73,151
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 26,007 58.06 +6.07
Labour M.T. Catterson 10,794 24.10 -0.43
Liberal R. Dick 7,350 16.41 -7.07
National Front R. Bennett 646 1.44 N/A
Majority 15,213 33.96 +6.49
Turnout 44,797 78.72 +4.27
Registered electors 56,907
Conservative hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 21,924 51.99 +0.44
Labour M.P. Reynolds 10,342 24.53 +2.08
Liberal R.E. Bell 9,903 23.48 -2.52
Majority 11,582 27.47 +1.92
Turnout 42,169 74.45 -8.34
Registered electors 56,641
Conservative hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 23,950 51.55 -7.98
Liberal R.E. Bell 12,081 26.00 +12.98
Labour L. Wagner 10,430 22.45 -4.99
Majority 11,869 25.55 -6.54
Turnout 46,461 82.79 +10.04
Registered electors 56,122
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1970: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 24,867 59.53 +6.40
Labour Timothy P C Daniel 11,462 27.44 -1.43
Liberal Jeffrey F Smith 5,440 13.02 -4.98
Majority 13,405 32.09 +7.83
Turnout 41,769 72.75 -7.40
Registered electors 57,418
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 22,660 53.13 -0.78
Labour Christopher Hubert Beaumont 12,313 28.87 +3.88
Liberal Harry Charles Seigal 7,676 18.00 -3.10
Majority 10,347 24.26 -4.65
Turnout 42,649 80.15 +0.32
Registered electors 53,210
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1964: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 23,132 53.91 -17.01
Labour Kenneth W Childerhouse 10,725 24.99 -4.09
Liberal Arnold E. Bender 9,055 21.10 N/A
Majority 12,407 28.91 -12.93
Turnout 42,912 79.83 +0.59
Registered electors 53,756
Conservative hold Swing
Harrow West by-election, 1960[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 18,526 55.77 -15.15
Liberal John M. Wallbridge 7,100 21.38 N/A
Labour Philip J. Jenkins 6,030 18.15 -10.93
New Conservative John E. Dayton 1,560 4.70 N/A
Majority 11,426 34.39 -7.45
Turnout 33,216 61.60 -17.64
Registered electors 53,756
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Albert Braithwaite 30,512 70.92 +0.29
Labour Philip J. Jenkins 12,512 29.08 -0.29
Majority 18,000 41.84 +0.58
Turnout 43,024 79.24 -1.95
Registered electors 54,295
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1955: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Albert Braithwaite 31,321 70.63 +3.16
Labour Richard Leonard 13,024 29.37 -3.16
Majority 18,297 41.26 +6.33
Turnout 44,345 81.19 -2.57
Registered electors 54,616
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1951: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Albert Braithwaite 26,549 67.47 +8.93
Labour Leslie Littlewood 12,802 32.53 +3.02
Majority 13,747 34.93 +5.90
Turnout 39,351 83.76 -2.94
Registered electors 46,979
Conservative hold Swing
Harrow West by-election, 1951[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Albert Braithwaite 22,826 72.00 +13.46
Labour Leslie Littlewood 8,877 28.00 -13.46
Majority 13,949 44.00 +14.97
Turnout 31,703 68.00 -18.70
Registered electors 46,599
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1950: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Norman Bower 23,744 58.54 +8.69
Labour Leslie Littlewood 11,971 29.51 -3.52
Liberal Philip Montague Syrett 4,846 11.95 -0.88
Majority 11,773 29.03 +12.21
Turnout 40,561 86.70 +8.09
Registered electors 46,781
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Harrow West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Norman Bower 28,617 49.85 N/A
Labour Joan Thompson 18,961 33.03 N/A
Liberal Hubert Winthrop Young 7,364 12.83 N/A
Common Wealth Hugh Lawson 2,462 4.29 N/A
Majority 9,656 16.82 N/A
Turnout 57,404 78.61 N/A
Registered electors 73,024
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ A borough 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. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ↑ List of Labour MPs elected in 2015 by % majority UK Political.info. Retrieved 2017-01-29
  3. 1 2 "Highest constituency swings in each general election since 1951". www.election.demon.co.uk.
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
  5. ↑ "Harrow West parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  6. ↑ http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7979/CBP-7979.pdf
  7. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ↑ webmaster@harrow.gov.uk (1 January 2004). "Election results for Harrow West, 7 May 2015".
  9. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "BBC News – Election 2010 – Constituency – Harrow West". news.bbc.co.uk.
  11. ↑ Changes based upon 2005 notional results
  12. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "1960 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
  19. ↑ "1951 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2015-08-12.

Coordinates: 51°35′06″N 0°21′50″W / 51.585°N 0.364°W / 51.585; -0.364

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