Post by John Chanin on Apr 3, 2020 14:37:19 GMT
Romford still thinks of itself as an Essex town, and indeed there was no necessity to include it in Greater London in 1964, as it is clearly separate from Chadwell Heath and Dagenham to the west, with open space between them. It is essentially another of the south Essex commuter towns, larger than most, and connected to the city by the east coast mainline, with stations at Romford, Gidea Park, and Harold Wood (which is just outside this seat). However it is also an older town, with much housing dating from the inter-war years, and the core of the town being even older. Romford is a major shopping hub for east London (although negatively affected by the foundation of the Lakeside shopping mall in Thurrock). Socially it is mostly owner-occupied, with very little council housing, and is very similar demographically to Upminster & Hornchurch to the east. There is a slightly larger ethnic minority population, but still low for London, although growing.
The seat is very compact, and there is little internal variation. In 2010 Hylands ward which sits between Romford centre and Hornchurch was added, but this had no political effect. All wards are won locally by the Conservatives. There was however a revolution in 1997 when Labour, to their own surprise, won the seat by 650 votes on an enormous 16% swing. The Conservatives chose Andrew Rosindell to fight the seat in 2001. Famously he campaigned with a union jack wearing bull terrier, and won the seat back with the largest swing in Britain to the Conservatives in a year when their results were very disappointing. The seat has remained very safe for the Conservatives ever since. Rosindell is still the MP, a right-wing backbencher who is more mainstream these days than he used to be.
Although Romford was the right size for a seat, the Boundary Commission had trouble with the rest of Havering borough. Initially they proposed adding Emerson Park ward, edging further into Hornchurch, while returning half of Hylands ward to its west, back to Hornchurch. This did not meet with the approval of pretty much anyone, and the revised proposal simply moves 1500 voters from Emerson Park ward into Romford to get the Hornchurch seat down to size.
Census data: owner-occupied 74% (100/573 in England & Wales), private rented 13% (367th), social rented 12% (421st).
:White 87%, Black 5%, Asian 4%, Mixed 2%, Other 3%
: Managerial & professional 34% (311th), Routine & Semi-routine 24% (432nd)
: Degree 21% (428th), Minimal qualifications 42% (141st)
: Students 3.5% (251st) , Over 65: 16% (322nd)
The seat is very compact, and there is little internal variation. In 2010 Hylands ward which sits between Romford centre and Hornchurch was added, but this had no political effect. All wards are won locally by the Conservatives. There was however a revolution in 1997 when Labour, to their own surprise, won the seat by 650 votes on an enormous 16% swing. The Conservatives chose Andrew Rosindell to fight the seat in 2001. Famously he campaigned with a union jack wearing bull terrier, and won the seat back with the largest swing in Britain to the Conservatives in a year when their results were very disappointing. The seat has remained very safe for the Conservatives ever since. Rosindell is still the MP, a right-wing backbencher who is more mainstream these days than he used to be.
Although Romford was the right size for a seat, the Boundary Commission had trouble with the rest of Havering borough. Initially they proposed adding Emerson Park ward, edging further into Hornchurch, while returning half of Hylands ward to its west, back to Hornchurch. This did not meet with the approval of pretty much anyone, and the revised proposal simply moves 1500 voters from Emerson Park ward into Romford to get the Hornchurch seat down to size.
Census data: owner-occupied 74% (100/573 in England & Wales), private rented 13% (367th), social rented 12% (421st).
:White 87%, Black 5%, Asian 4%, Mixed 2%, Other 3%
: Managerial & professional 34% (311th), Routine & Semi-routine 24% (432nd)
: Degree 21% (428th), Minimal qualifications 42% (141st)
: Students 3.5% (251st) , Over 65: 16% (322nd)
2010 | % | 2015 | % | 2017 | % | 2019 | % | |
Conservative | 26,031 | 56.0% | 25,067 | 51.0% | 29,671 | 59.4% | 30,494 | 64.6% |
Labour | 9,077 | 19.5% | 10,268 | 20.9% | 15,893 | 31.8% | 12,601 | 26.7% |
Liberal Democrat | 5,572 | 12.0% | 1,413 | 2.9% | 1,215 | 2.4% | 2,708 | 5.7% |
UKIP | 2,050 | 4.4% | 11,208 | 22.8% | 2,350 | 4.7% | ||
| BNP | 2,438 | 5.2% | ||||||
Green | 447 | 1.0% | 1,222 | 2.5% | 815 | 1.6% | 1,428 | 3.0% |
Others | 866 | 1.9% | ||||||
Majority | 16,954 | 36.5% | 13,859 | 28.2% | 13,778 | 27.6% | 17,893 | 37.9% |
