Finchley (UK Parliament constituency)

Finchley
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County 1918–1965 Middlesex
1965–1997 Greater London
1950 (1950)–1997 (1997)
Number of members One
Replaced by Finchley & Golders Green, Chipping Barnet
1918 (1918)–1950 (1950)
Number of members One
Type of constituency County constituency
Created from Hornsey

Finchley was a 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; its best-known MP was Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. It was abolished in 1997.

Contents

History

Boundaries

In 1918 the constituency was created as a county division of Middlesex, centred on the town of Finchley, which before 1918 had been located in the Hornsey constituency. The local government areas included in the seat were the Finchley and Friern Barnet Urban Districts. In 1934 the Finchley district became a Municipal Borough.

In 1945 there was an interim redistribution of parliamentary constituencies to split those with more than 100,000 electors, prior to the general redistribution of 1950. Middlesex was significantly affected by the interim changes. This constituency had a minor revision. In the 1945-1950 Parliament it included the Municipal Borough of Finchley, part of the Municipal Borough of Hornsey, and part of the Friern Barnet Urban District.

In the redistribution of 1950, the seat was re-classified as a borough constituency. The boundaries reverted to those of 1945, with the constituency comprising the Municipal Borough of Finchley and the Friern Barnet Urban District.

In 1965 the area of the constituency was joined to other districts to form the London Borough of Barnet in Greater London.

In the 1974 changes to parliamentary boundaries, the constituency was redefined as comprising the wards of East Finchley, Finchley, Friern Barnet, St Paul's, and Woodhouse. The boundaries were left unchanged in the 1983 redistribution.

Members of Parliament

Event Member [1] Party Notes
1918 John Newman Conservative MP for Enfield 1910–1918
1923 Thomas Atholl Robertson Liberal
1924 Sir Edward Cadogan Conservative MP for Reading 1922–1923 and Bolton 1940–1945
1935 John Crowder Conservative
1959 Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher Conservative Later Baroness Thatcher; Leader of the Conservative Party 1975-90; Prime Minister 1979-90
1992 Hartley Booth Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Finchley & Golders Green and Chipping Barnet

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Finchley[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hartley Booth 21,039 51.2 −2.7
Labour Miss AC Marjoram 14,651 35.7 +4.0
Liberal Democrat Miss HF Leighter 4,568 11.1 −2.8
Green A Gunstock 564 1.4 +1.4
Monster Raving Loony Miss SA Johnson 130 0.3 +0.3
Natural Law JD Macrae 129 0.3 +0.3
Majority 6,388 15.5 −6.7
Turnout 41,081 77.6 +8.2
Conservative hold Swing −3.3

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 21,603 53.9 +2.8
Labour John Roderick Mervyn Davies 12,690 31.7 +4.9
Liberal David Howarth 5,580 13.9 −7.3
Gremloid Party Lord Buckethead 131 0.3 N/A
Gold Party M. Jane St Vincent 59 0.2 N/A
Majority 8,913 22.2 −2.0
Turnout 40,063 69.4 +0.4
Conservative hold Swing -1.0
General Election 1983: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 19,616 51.1 −1.4
Labour Lawrence Gregory Spigel 10,302 26.8 −5.9
Liberal Margaret Joachim 7,763 20.2 +7.0
Ecology Simone J. Wilkinson 279 0.7 N/A
Monster Raving Loony Screaming Lord Sutch 235 0.6 N/A
Ban Every Licensing Law Society Antony Joseph Noonan 75 0.2 N/A
Independent Mary Helen Anscomb 42 0.1 N/A
Law and Order in Gotham City Antony Peter Whitehead 37 0.1 N/A
Anti-Censorship David Alec Webb 28 0.1 N/A
Party of Associates with Licensees Brian Clifford Wareham 27 0.1 N/A
Belgrano Blood-Hunger Benjamin C. Wedmore 13 0.0 N/A
Majority 9,314 24.2 +4.4
Turnout 38,417 69.0 −2.8
Conservative hold Swing +2.2

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 20,918 52.5 +8.5
Labour Richard May 13,040 32.7 -0.9
Liberal Anthony Paterson 5,254 13.2 -6.5
National Front William Verity 534 1.3 -1.4
Independent Democrat Elizabeth Lloyd 86 0.2 N/A
Majority 7,878 19.8 +9.4
Turnout 39,832 71.8 +2.3
Conservative hold Swing +4.7
General Election October 1974: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 16,498 44.0 +0.3
Labour Martin John O'Connor 12,587 33.6 +4.3
Liberal Laurence Steven Brass 7,384 19.7 -7.3
National Front Janet Godfrey 993 2.7
Majority 3,911 10.4 -4.0
Turnout 37,462 69.5 -8.5
Conservative hold Swing -2.0
General Election February 1974: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 18,180 43.7
Labour Martin John O'Connor 12,202 29.3
Liberal Laurence Steven Brass 11,221 27.0
Majority 5,978 14.4
Turnout 41,603 78.0
Conservative hold Swing -3.1
General Election 1970: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 25,480 53.77 +7.27
Labour Michael I. Freeman 14,295 30.17 +2.03
Liberal Graham Mitchell 7,614 16.07 -9.29
Majority 11,185 23.6
Turnout 47,389 65.60 -9.73
Conservative hold Swing +2.62

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 23,968 46.50 −0.08
Labour Y. Sieve 14,504 28.14 +4.63
Liberal Fred Davis 13,070 25.36 −4.55
Majority 9,464 -4.72
Turnout 51,542 75.33 -2.85
Conservative hold Swing -2.36
General Election 1964: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 24,591 46.58 −7.03
Liberal John Pardoe 15,789 29.91 +5.65
Labour Alfred E. Tomlinson 12,408 23.51 +1.37
Majority 8,802 16.67 −12.68
Turnout 52,788 78.18 -2.60
Conservative hold Swing -5.44

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Finchley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Margaret Thatcher 29,697 53.61
Labour Eric P. Deakins 13,437 24.26
Liberal H. Ivan Spence 12,701 22.14
Majority 16,260 29.35
Turnout 55,835 80.78
Conservative hold Swing

Notes and references

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"
  2. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010. 

Sources

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency UK Parliament constituency
1918 – 1997		 Succeeded by
Finchley and Golders Green
UK Parliament constituency
1918 – 1997		 Succeeded by
Chipping Barnet
Preceded by
Sidcup		 Constituency represented by the Leader of the Opposition
1975–1979		 Succeeded by
Cardiff South East
Preceded by
Cardiff South East		 Constituency represented by the Prime Minister
1979–1990		 Succeeded by
Huntingdon
Member of Parliament
Ideology
Premiership
Party elections
1975 · 1989 · 1990
General elections
1979 · 1983 · 1987
Family
Cultural depictions
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