Watford (UK Parliament constituency)
| Watford | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency | |
| for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Watford in Hertfordshire. |
|
 Location of Hertfordshire within England. |
|
| County | Hertfordshire |
| Electorate | 80,939 (December 2010)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1885 |
| Member of Parliament | Richard Harrington (Conservative) |
| Number of members | One |
| Created from | Hertfordshire |
| Overlaps | |
| European Parliament constituency | East of England |
Watford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Prior to the establishment of this constituency in 1885 the area was part of the three seat constituency of Hertfordshire.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
The constituency comprises the whole of the Borough of Watford, together with five wards from Three Rivers District. Two of the Three Rivers wards, Carpenders Park and Oxhey Hall, are to the south of Watford town and include mostly prosperous commuter villages. The remaining three, Abbots Langley, Langleybury and Leavesden, are to the north of Watford and include the large village of Abbots Langley which is more mixed in character. There was a considerable Liberal Democrat advance into second place in 2005, taking many votes off Labour with the Tories not too far behind.[2] By the time of the 2010 general election it was a three-way marginal seat that the Tories, Labour and Liberal Democrats were all aiming to win, but was ultimately secured by Tory candidate Richard Harrington with 34.9% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats narrowly missed out on the seat with 32.4% of the vote, with the defeat for Labour's Claire Ward being highlighted by the fact that she came third in the poll with 26.7% of the vote.[3]
[edit] Members of Parliament
[edit] Elections
[edit] Elections in the 2010s
| General Election 2010: Watford [5][6] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Richard Harrington | 19,291 | 34.9 | +5.3 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Sal Brinton | 17,866 | 32.4 | +1.1 | |
| Labour | Claire Ward | 14,750 | 26.7 | -6.8 | |
| BNP | Andrew Emerson | 1,217 | 2.2 | +2.2 | |
| UKIP | Graham Eardley | 1,199 | 2.2 | -0.4 | |
| Green | Ian Brandon | 885 | 1.6 | -1.4 | |
| Majority | 1,425 | 2.6 | |||
| Turnout | 55,208 | 68.3 | +3.4 | ||
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 2000s
| General Election 2005: Watford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Claire Ward | 16,575 | 33.6 | −11.7 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Sal Brinton | 15,427 | 31.2 | +13.8 | |
| Conservative | Ali Miraj | 14,634 | 29.6 | −3.7 | |
| Green | Steve Rackett | 1,466 | 3.0 | +1.1 | |
| UKIP | Kenneth Wight | 1,292 | 2.6 | +1.4 | |
| Majority | 1,148 | 2.3 | |||
| Turnout | 49,394 | 64.8 | +3.7 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -12.8 | |||
| General Election 2001: Watford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Claire Ward | 20,992 | 45.3 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Michael McManus | 15,437 | 33.3 | -1.5 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Duncan Hames | 8,088 | 17.4 | +0.7 | |
| Green | Denise Kingsley | 900 | 1.9 | N/A | |
| UKIP | Edmund Stewart-Mole | 535 | 1.2 | N/A | |
| Socialist Alliance | Jon Berry | 420 | 0.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,555 | 12.0 | |||
| Turnout | 46,372 | 61.1 | -13.5 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 1990s
| General Election 1997: Watford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Claire Ward | 25,109 | 45.3 | +11.3 | |
| Conservative | R Gordon | 19,227 | 34.8 | -13.3 | |
| Liberal Democrat | A Canning | 9,272 | 16.8 | +0.0 | |
| Referendum Party | P Roe | 1,484 | 2.7 | N/A | |
| Natural Law | L Davis | 234 | 0.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,792 | 10.5 | |||
| Turnout | 55,236 | 74.6 | |||
| General Election 1992: Watford[7] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Tristan Garel-Jones | 29,072 | 48.8 | +0.1 | |
| Labour | MJ Jackson | 19,482 | 32.7 | +4.5 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Mark Oaten | 10,231 | 17.2 | −5.9 | |
| Green | J Hywel-Davies | 566 | 1.0 | N/A | |
| Natural Law | L Davis | 176 | 0.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 9,590 | 16.1 | −4.4 | ||
| Turnout | 59,527 | 82.3 | +4.4 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −2.2 | |||
[edit] Elections in the 1980s
| General Election 1987: Watford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Tristan Garel-Jones | 27,912 | 48.7 | ||
| Labour | M Jackson | 16,176 | 28.2 | ||
| Social Democrat | F Beckett | 13,202 | 23.1 | ||
| Majority | 11,736 | 20.5 | |||
| Turnout | 77.9 | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 1970s
| General Election 1979: Watford[8] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Tristan Garel-Jones | 21,320 | 47.64 | ||
| Labour | A Banks | 18,030 | 40.28 | ||
| Liberal | B Bodle | 5,019 | 11.21 | ||
| National Front | Brent Cheetham | 388 | 0.87 | ||
| Majority | 3,290 | 7.35 | |||
| Turnout | 44,757 | 81.26 | |||
| General Election October 1974: Watford [9] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Raphael Tuck | 19,177 | 44.28 | ||
| Conservative | Tristan Garel-Jones | 15,220 | 35.14 | ||
| Liberal | DA Jacobs | 8,243 | 19.03 | ||
| National Front | Jeremy Wotherspoon | 671 | 1.55 | ||
| Majority | 3,957 | 9.14 | |||
| Turnout | 77.3 | ||||
| General Election February 1974: Watford [10] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Raphael Tuck | 18,884 | 40.47 | ||
| Conservative | DW Clarke | 16,089 | 34.48 | ||
| Liberal | A Jacobs | 11,035 | 23.65 | ||
| National Front | Jeremy Wotherspoon | 651 | 1.4 | ||
| Majority | 2,795 | 5.99 | |||
| Turnout | 85 | ||||
[edit] Prospective Candidates for the 2010 Election
In July 2007 former candidate Ali Miraj, who had previously been a candidate for Aberavon in 2001, was dropped from the candidates list by the Conservative party after he complained about David Cameron's leadership style and allegedly after demanding a peerage.[11][12]
His former campaign manager Ian Oakley, who had been a candidate for Newport East in 2001, was selected for Watford in the first Conservative Party "Open Primary" in November 2006. In July 2008, Oakley, stood down after being arrested for conducting a campaign of harassment against the local Liberal Democrats,[13][14] for which he was given an 18 week suspended jail sentence and a 12 month supervision order on 13 October 2008.[15]
In December 2008 the Watford Conservative Association selected their new candidate, Richard Harrington.[16] Harrington is a treasurer of the Conservative Party and chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel.[16]
In August 2008, the Green Party selected their candidate to be Ian Brandon, a member of Hertfordshire County Council representing Callowland/Leggatts.[17][18]
[edit] Prospective Candidates for the next General Election
In November 2010 Sal Brinton, the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2005 and 2010 elections, was appointed to the House of Lords as a working peer.[19]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Deborah McGurran (15 May 2009). "First electoral test for councils". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/8052152.stm. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
- ^ 2010 election result
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)[self-published source?][better source needed]
- ^ Watford, UKPollingReport
- ^ Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll - Parliamentary Election 6 May 2010 : Watford Council
- ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/i21.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- ^ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/i20.htm
- ^ http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74b/i20.htm
- ^ http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74a/i20.htm
- ^ BBC: Cameron critic axed as MP hopeful
- ^ Channel 4 News interview transcript
- ^ Telegraph: Arrested Conservative candidate for Watford stands down
- ^ Police charge Oakley
- ^ Watford Observer - Tory Oakley escapes jail
- ^ a b Harrison, John (2008-12-17). "Tory candidate: 'I'm confident of victory'". Watford Observer. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/search/3985475.Tory_candidate___I_m_confident_of_victory_/. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ "Division Summary for Callowland Leggatts (65)". Hertfordshire County Council. 2009. http://www.hertsdirect.org/actweb/election/div65.htm. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ "Watford". UK Polling Report. http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/watford. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ Bowcott, Owen (19 November 2010). "Party donors and political apparatchiks appointed working peers". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/19/party-donors-working-peers-house-of-lords. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
