Croydon North West (UK Parliament constituency)

Croydon North West
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	1955–1965: Surrey 1965–1997: Greater London
1955–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Croydon North
Created from	Croydon North and Croydon West

Croydon North West was a borough 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.

Politics and history of the constituency

The Croydon North West constituency was created for the 1955 general election, just five years after a previous re-organisation of the three seats in the County Borough of Croydon.

It took in areas of the former Croydon North and Croydon West constituencies and bordered Croydon North East and Croydon South, as well as, when originally created, the constituencies of Streatham, Norwood, Beckenham and Mitcham.

The constituency was abolished at the 1997 general election and was entirely subsumed within the new Croydon North, with the addition of the Thornton Heath, Upper Norwood and South Norwood wards.

For almost all of its history, Croydon North West had Conservative Members of Parliament. It was the scene of a famous by-election in 1981, following the death of its MP, won by Bill Pitt for the SDP-Liberal Alliance. However, it returned to the Conservatives two years later, remaining so until it was snatched by Malcolm Wicks for the Labour Party at the 1992 general election.

Boundaries

1955-1974: The County Borough of Croydon wards of Bensham Manor, Norbury, Upper Norwood, West Thornton, and Whitehorse Manor.

1974-1983: The London Borough of Croydon wards of Bensham Manor, Norbury, Upper Norwood, West Thornton, and Whitehorse Manor.

1983-1997: The London Borough of Croydon wards of Bensham Manor, Beulah, Broad Green, Norbury, West Thornton, and Whitehorse Manor.

When first created, Croydon North West included the areas of Norbury, Upper Norwood and parts of west Croydon and Thornton Heath. It saw various boundary changes, largely stretching further south and losing its more easterly parts. At the time of its abolition in 1997, Croydon North West covered all of West Croydon, Selhurst, Norbury and parts of Thornton Heath around the Thornton Heath Pond, within the London Borough of Croydon.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1955	Fred Harris	Conservative
	1970	Robert Taylor	Conservative
	1981 by-election	Bill Pitt	Liberal
	1983	Humfrey Malins	Conservative
	1992	Malcolm Wicks	Labour
	1997	Constituency abolished: see Croydon North

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Wicks	19,153	47.3	+10.3
	Conservative	Humfrey Malins	17,626	43.5	-3.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs Linda F. Hawkins	3,728	9.2	-6.8
Majority			1,527	3.8	-6.3
Turnout			40,507	70.1	+0.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.9

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Humfrey Malins	18,665	47.0	4.7
	Labour	Malcolm Wicks	14,677	37.0	12.8
	Liberal	L.A. Rowe	6,363	16.0	-15.9
Majority			3,988	10.0
Turnout			39,705
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Humfrey Malins	16,674	42.3
	Liberal	Bill Pitt	12,582	31.9
	Labour	Ian Smedley	9,561	24.2
	National Front	Nick Griffin	336	0.9
	Ecology	Tim A.J. Rowe	286	0.7
Majority			4,092	10.4
Turnout			39,439
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-election 1981: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Bill Pitt	13,800	40.0	29.5
	Conservative	John Butterfill	10,546	30.5	-18.9
	Labour	Stanley Boden	8,967	26.0	-14.1
	National Front	Nick Griffin	429	1.2
	Independent Pro-Life	Marilyn Gillies Carr	340	1.0
	Ecology	John Foster	155	0.4
	Constitutional Movement	Suzan McKenzie	111	0.3
	Disabled War Pensioners Association	Lawrence Brooks	81	0.2
	Democratic Monarchist, Public Safety, White Resident	Bill Boaks	51	0.1
	Family Law Reform Party	George Major	31	0.1
	London Federation of Self-Employed	Josef Joseph	20	0.1
	Anti-Common Market - Free Trade	Stephen Done	11	0.0
Majority			3,254	9.5
Turnout			34,542	62.5	-10
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert George Taylor	19,928	49.4
	Labour	Stanley John Boden	16,159	40.1
	Liberal	William Henry Pitt	4,239	10.5
Majority			3,769
Turnout			40,326	72.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert George Taylor	16,035	41.97
	Labour	Stanley John Boden	14,556	38.10
	Liberal	William Henry Pitt	6,563	17.18
	National Front	Peter John Holland	1,049	2.75
Majority			1,479	3.87
Turnout				69.24
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert George Taylor	17,887	42.18
	Labour	Stanley John Boden	14,816	34.94
	Liberal	William Henry Pitt	9,707	22.89
Majority			3,071	7.24
Turnout				77.45
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert George Taylor	19,260	49.9
	Labour	Stanley John Boden	14,687	38.04
	Liberal	R.E.J. Banks	4,666	12.08
Majority			4,573	11.84
Turnout				67.66
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederic Walter Harris	18,578	45.39
	Labour	Michael J Stewart	15,882	38.81
	Liberal	Ronald E J Banks	6,466	15.80
Majority			2,696	6.59
Turnout				74.35
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederic Walter Harris	19,577	46.90
	Labour	J.A.P. Palmer	13,967	33.46
	Liberal	Ronald E J Banks	8,201	19.65
Majority			5,610	13.44
Turnout				74.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fred Harris	25,111	54.79
	Labour	David W. Chalkley	14,658	31.98
	Liberal	Miss Ivy E Thurston	6,061	13.22
Majority			10,453	22.81
Turnout				78.78
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Croydon North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fred Harris	26,297	56.9
	Labour	Ronald Huzzard	15,760	34.1
	Liberal	Miss Ivy E Thurston	4,139	9.0
Majority			10,537	22.8
Turnout			46,196
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)