Hornchurch was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP)

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 by the first past the post system of election. At the 2010 general election parts formed the new seats of Hornchurch and Upminster

Hornchurch and Upminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Hornchurch and Upminster is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

; and Dagenham and Rainham

Dagenham and Rainham (UK Parliament constituency)

Dagenham and Rainham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

.

Boundaries

The seat encompassed Hornchurch

Hornchurch

Hornchurch is a large suburban town in England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Hornchurch is in North-East London .It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping...

, Rainham

Rainham, London

Rainham is a suburban town in northeast London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Located east of Charing Cross, it is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan and is surrounded by a residential area, which has grown from the historic village,...

, Elm Park

Elm Park

Elm Park is a place in the London Borough of Havering, in east London, England. It is a suburban development situated east north-east of Charing Cross. Unlike the nearby suburbs of Upminster and Hornchurch, Elm Park was not developed until after the arrival of the electrified District Line in 1935...

 and the village of Wennington

Wennington, London

Wennington is a small village in the London Borough of Havering on the outskirts of east London. It is situated 14.8 miles east of Charing Cross....

. It bordered on the other London constituencies of Romford

Romford (UK Parliament constituency)

Romford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

 and Upminster

Upminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Upminster was a constituency of the House of Commons in east London, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system...

 and like them, was part of the London Borough of Havering

London Borough of Havering

The London Borough of Havering is a London borough in North East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large...

.

History

The south of the constituency has been seen as a site for building large entertainment centres on Rainham

Rainham, London

Rainham is a suburban town in northeast London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Located east of Charing Cross, it is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan and is surrounded by a residential area, which has grown from the historic village,...

's large marshland area, and was viewed as a potential site for the European Disneyland project, although it was considered much less suitable than the current position near Paris. There have been plans to build a casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

 but permission is yet to be granted.

Hornchurch is a predominantly suburban and Conservative-voting area, but the seat is seen as a swing seat due to Rainham and Elm Park's working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 voters and because the wealthiest Emerson Park

Emerson Park

Emerson Park is a suburban development in the London Borough of Havering, east London, England. It is a principally residential district located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Housing:...

 area of Hornchurch does not form part of the constituency, instead forming part of Upminster constituency.

The constituency was abolished for the 2010 election. The areas of the constituency covered by the Elm Park, South Hornchurch, and Rainham and Wennington wards in the London Borough of Havering were merged with Dagenham

Dagenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Dagenham was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 to form a cross-borough Dagenham and Rainham

Dagenham and Rainham (UK Parliament constituency)

Dagenham and Rainham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 constituency. Hacton and St Andrews wards in Hornchurch merged with Upminster to form Hornchurch and Upminster

Hornchurch and Upminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Hornchurch and Upminster is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

. Hylands ward in Hornchurch merged with Romford

Romford (UK Parliament constituency)

Romford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

. Prior to the change in boundaries the new seats were predicted to be marginal Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 and safe Conservative respectively if they followed the voting patterns of the previous Dagenham, Upminster and Romford constituencies.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...	Geoffrey Bing Geoffrey Bing Geoffrey Henry Cecil Bing was a British barrister and politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Hornchurch from 1945 to 1955....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1955 United Kingdom general election, 1955 The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...	Godfrey Lagden Godfrey Lagden Godfrey William Lagden was a British Conservative Party politician. In 1955, he was elected Member of Parliament for the marginal constituency of Hornchurch, winning the seat from Labour. Lagden held Hornchurch until his defeat at the 1966 general election by the Labour candidate Alan Lee...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...	Alan Lee Williams Alan Lee Williams Alan Lee Williams OBE is a former president of the Atlantic Treaty Association, a British Labour Party politician, writer and visiting professor of politics at Queen Mary College, London....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...	John Loveridge John Loveridge Sir John Warren Loveridge was a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament for 13 years, from 1970 to 1983...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Feb 1974 United Kingdom general election, February 1974 The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...	Alan Lee Williams Alan Lee Williams Alan Lee Williams OBE is a former president of the Atlantic Treaty Association, a British Labour Party politician, writer and visiting professor of politics at Queen Mary College, London....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979 The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...	Robin Squire Robin Squire Robin Clifford Squire was a British politician. He was the Conservative MP for Hornchurch from 1979 until 1997 when he lost the seat to John Cryer....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...	John Cryer John Cryer John Robert Cryer is an English Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Leyton and Wanstead since the general election in May 2010...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....	James Brokenshire James Brokenshire James Peter Brokenshire is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Old Bexley and Sidcup and Minister for Security at the Home Office that grants him a seat on the National Security Council.-Early life:He was educated at Davenant Foundation Grammar School, the...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	2010	constituency abolished: see Hornchurch and Upminster Hornchurch and Upminster (UK Parliament constituency) Hornchurch and Upminster is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election... , Dagenham and Rainham Dagenham and Rainham (UK Parliament constituency) Dagenham and Rainham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...  & Romford Romford (UK Parliament constituency) Romford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s