Woolwich West (UK Parliament constituency)

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

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.

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.

Woolwich West in the Parliamentary County of London from 1918 to 1949.

Woolwich West in the Parliamentary County of London from 1950 to 1974.

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

1979 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bottomley	21,222	47.3	-1.5
	Labour	D Page	18,613	41.5	-0.6
	Liberal	J Churchill	4,363	9.7	+4.4
	National Front	M Skeggs	630	1.4	-1.0
Majority			2,609	5.8	-2.7
Turnout				79.6	+5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.5

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

1974 (Oct) General Election
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				73.9	-8.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.6

1974 (Feb) General Election
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	+17.2
Majority			2,436	5.3	+3.8
Turnout				81.9	+10.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.9

1970 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	21,036	50.8	-2.9
	Conservative	MP Gaffney	20,418	49.3	+5.0
Majority			618	1.5	-7.9
Turnout				71.9	-9.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.9

Elections in the 1960s

1966 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	23,344	53.7	+2.9
	Conservative	MP Gaffney	19,256	44.3	-2.4
	Fellowship	R Mallone	906	2.1	-0.4
Majority			4,088	9.4	+5.4
Turnout				81.4	+0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	2.6

1964 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Hamling	22,420	50.8	+6.1
	Conservative	Colin Turner	20,639	46.7	-6.0
	Fellowship	R Mallone	1,112	2.5	-0.1
Majority			1,781	4.0
Turnout				81.3	-3.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	6.1

Elections in the 1950s

1959 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Turner	24,373	52.7	+0.7
	Labour	William Hamling	20,678	44.7	-3.3
	Fellowship	R Mallone	1,189	2.6	+2.6
Majority			3,695	8.0	+3.9
Turnout				84.8	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.0

1955 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Steward	23,981	52.0	+2.7
	Labour	William Hamling	22,101	48.0	+1.6
Majority			1,880	4.1	+1.3
Turnout				83.3	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.5

1951 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Steward	23,385	49.3	+2.7
	Labour	John Silkin	22,041	46.4	+0.1
	Liberal	D Phillips	2,040	4.3	-2.9
Majority			1,344	2.8	+2.5
Turnout				82.1	-5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.3

1950 General Election
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	+7.2
Majority			139	0.3
Turnout				87.1	+14.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	11.6

Elections in the 1940s

1945 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Berry	23,655	61.6	+20.3
	Conservative	Francis Beech	14,771	38.4	-20.3
Majority			8,884	23.1
Turnout				72.3	-3.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	20.3

Elections in the 1930s

1935 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Kingsley Wood	24,649	58.7	-5.9
	Labour	G Wansborough	17,373	41.3	+5.9
Majority			7,276	17.3	-11.8
Turnout				75.8	-1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.9

1931 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Kingsley Wood	26,441	64.6
	Labour	J Reeves	14,520	35.4
Majority			11,921	29.1
Turnout				77.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

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

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

Historic constituencies in London

1918	Balham and Tooting Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey West Bethnal Green North East Bethnal Green South West Bow and Bromley Brixton Camberwell North Camberwell North West Clapham Dulwich Chelsea City of London Deptford Finsbury Fulham East Fulham West Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North Hackney South Hammersmith North Hammersmith South Hampstead Holborn Islington East Islington North Islington South Islington West Kennington Kensington North Kensington South Lambeth North Lewisham East Lewisham West Limehouse Mile End Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar South Putney Rotherhithe St Marylebone St Pancras North St Pancras South East St Pancras South West Shoreditch Southwark Central Southwark North Southwark South East Stoke Newington Streatham Wandsworth Central Westminster Abbey Westminster St George's Whitechapel and St George's Woolwich East Woolwich West

1950	Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey Bethnal Green Brixton Chelsea Cities of London and Westminster Clapham Deptford Dulwich Fulham East Fulham West Greenwich Hackney South Hammersmith North Hammersmith South Hampstead Holborn and St Pancras South Islington East Islington North Islington South West Kensington North Kensington South Lewisham North Lewisham South Lewisham West Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar Putney St Marylebone St Pancras North Streatham Shoreditch and Finsbury Southwark Stepney Stoke Newington and Hackney North Vauxhall Wandsworth Central Woolwich East Woolwich West

1955	Barons Court Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey Bethnal Green Brixton Chelsea Cities of London and Westminster Clapham Deptford Dulwich Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hammersmith North Hampstead Holborn and St Pancras South Islington East Islington North Islington South West Kensington North Kensington South Lewisham North Lewisham South Lewisham West Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar Putney St Marylebone St Pancras North Shoreditch and Finsbury Southwark Stepney Stoke Newington and Hackney North Streatham Vauxhall Wandsworth Central Woolwich East Woolwich West

1974	Acton Barking Battersea North Battersea South Beckenham Bermondsey Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing North Edmonton Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith North Hampstead Harrow Central Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras South Hornchurch Hornsey Ilford North Ilford South Islington Central Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lambeth Central Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Orpington Paddington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond Romford Ruislip-Northwood St Marylebone St Pancras North Sidcup Southall Stepney and Poplar Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Wimbledon Wood Green Woolwich East Woolwich West