Finchley (UK Parliament constituency)

File:Finchley1918.png

Finchley within the parliamentary county of Middlesex, boundaries used 1918–1945

File:Finchley1945.png

Finchley within the parliamentary county of Middlesex, boundaries used 1945–1950

File:Final Middlesex constituencies (1955-74).svg

Map that gives each named seat and any constant electoral success for national (Westminster) elections for Middlesex, 1955 to 1974.

Finchley was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by first-past-the-post voting; its longest-serving and best-known MP was Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990.

Although boundary changes meant that she never again attained the large majority by which she won in 1959, her constituents nonetheless returned her by comfortable (9,000) majorities at general elections throughout her premiership.

The seat was abolished in 1997 and split between the Finchley and Golders Green and Chipping Barnet constituencies.

Boundaries

• 1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Finchley and Friern Barnet.
• 1945–1950: The Municipal Borough of Finchley, part of the Municipal Borough of Hornsey, and part of the Urban District of Friern Barnet.
• 1950–1974: The Municipal Borough of Finchley, and the Urban District of Friern Barnet.
• 1974–1997: The London Borough of Barnet wards of East Finchley, Finchley, Friern Barnet, St Paul's, and Woodhouse.

In 1918 the constituency was created as a county division of Middlesex, centred on the town of Finchley, which before 1918 had been located in the Hornsey constituency. In 1934 the Finchley district became a Municipal Borough.

In 1945 there was an interim redistribution of parliamentary constituencies to split those with more than 100,000 electors, prior to the general redistribution of 1950. Middlesex was significantly affected by the interim changes.

In 1950 the seat was re-classified as a borough constituency, with the boundaries reverting to those of 1918.

In 1965 the area of the constituency changed counties from Middlesex to London. Specifically its areas joined with others to form the London Borough of Barnet of Greater London.

Members of Parliament

Event		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1918	John Newman	Unionist
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1923	Atholl Robertson	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1924	Edward Cadogan	Unionist
rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1935	John Crowder	Conservative
1959	Margaret Thatcher
1992	Hartley Booth
	1997	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link coalition 1918Template:Election box end 1918

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1918: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Leslie	3,140	18.2
		Walter Edwin Martin	2,221	12.9
Majority			8,709	50.7
Turnout			17,210	59.7
Registered electors			Template:Ifnumber
	win (new seat)

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1922: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		T. Atholl Robertson	10,440	46.8
Majority			1,443	6.4
Turnout			22,323	72.4
Registered electors			Template:Ifnumber
	hold		Swing	−24.8

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General election 1923: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Pretyman Newman	10,883	45.3
Majority			2,276	9.4
Turnout			24,042	76.0
Registered electors			Template:Ifnumber
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+7.9

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1924: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		T. Atholl Robertson	10,942	41.7
Majority			4,335	16.6
Turnout			26,219	79.5
Registered electors			Template:Ifnumber
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+13.0

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1929: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		T. Atholl Robertson	14,065	36.2
		J. George Stone	5,824	15.0
Majority			4,855	12.6
Turnout			38,809	77.2
Registered electors			Template:Ifnumber
	hold		Swing	−2.0

Elections in the 1930s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1931: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		J. George Stone	6,440	15.8
Majority			27,846	68.4
Turnout			40,726	74.3
	hold		Swing	+17.3

Liberal candidate Lady Domini Crosfield withdrew following the formation of the National Government.

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1935: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		T. Atholl Robertson	8,920	21.0
		Cyril G Lacey	6,533	15.4
Majority			18,040	42.6
Turnout			42,413	70.2
	hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1939–40 Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940, but it was postponed after the outbreak of World War II. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939, and by the end of that year the following candidates had been selected:

• Conservative: John Crowder
• Liberal: Humphrey Razzall
• Labour: Cyril Lacey

Elections in the 1940s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1945: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Cyril G Lacey	18,611	37.2
		David Goldblatt	7,164	14.3
Majority			5,645	11.28
Turnout			50,031	74.2
	hold		Swing	+18.4

Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1950: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Dorothy Pickles	19,683	32.3
		Andrew McFadyean	9,094	14.9
Majority			12,579	20.6
Turnout			60,999	84.9
	hold		Swing	+4.2

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1951: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Jack Ashley	20,520	33.8
		Walter John Done	6,853	11.3
Majority			12,788	21.1
Turnout			60,411	84.0
	hold		Swing	+0.3

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1955: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Terence Lancaster	17,408	31.4
		Manuela Sykes	7,775	14.0
Majority			12,825	23.1
Turnout			55,416	78.3
	hold		Swing	−1.0

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1959: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Eric Deakins	13,437	24.1
		Henry Ivan Spence	12,701	22.7
Majority			16,260	29.1
Turnout			55,835	80.8
	hold		Swing	+3.0

Elections in the 1960s

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General election 1964: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Pardoe	15,789	29.9
		Albert Edward Tomlinson	12,408	23.5
Majority			8,802	16.7
Turnout			52,788	78.2
	hold		Swing

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General election 1966: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Yvonne Sieve	14,504	28.1
		Frank Davis	13,070	25.4
Majority			9,464	18.4
Turnout			51,542	75.3
	hold		Swing	−2.4

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1970: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Michael Freeman	14,295	30.2
		Graham Mitchell	7,614	16.1
Majority			11,185	23.6
Turnout			47,389	65.6
	hold		Swing	+2.6

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election February 1974: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Martin O'Connor	12,202	29.3
		Laurence Brass	11,221	27.0
Majority			5,978	14.4
Turnout			41,603	78.0
	hold		Swing	−3.1

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election October 1974: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Martin O'Connor	12,587	33.6
		Laurence Brass	7,384	19.7
		Janet Godfrey	993	2.7
Majority			3,911	10.4
Turnout			37,462	69.5
	hold		Swing	−2.0

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1979: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Richard May	13,040	32.7
		Anthony Paterson	5,254	13.2
		William Verity	534	1.3
	Independent Democrat	Elizabeth Lloyd	86	0.2
Majority			7,878	19.8
Turnout			39,832	72.5
	hold		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1983: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Laurence Spigel	10,302	26.8
		Margaret Joachim	7,763	20.2
		Simone Wilkinson	279	0.7
		Screaming Lord Sutch	235	0.6
	Ban Every Licensing Law Society	Anthony Noonan	75	0.2
	Rail Not Motorway	Helen Anscomb	42	0.1
	Law and Order in Gotham City	Anthony Whitehead	37	0.1
	Anti-Censorship	David Webb	28	0.1
	Party of Associates with Licensees	Brian Wareham	27	0.1
	Belgrano Blood-Hunger	Benjamin Wedmore	13	0.0
Majority			9,314	24.3
Turnout			38,417	69.0
	hold		Swing	+2.2

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1987: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Davies	12,690	31.7
		David Howarth	5,580	13.9
	Gremloid Party	Lord Buckethead	131	0.3
	Gold Party	Michaelle St Vincent	59	0.2
Majority			8,913	22.2
Turnout			40,063	69.4
	hold		Swing	−1.0

Elections in the 1990s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1992: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ann Marjoram	14,651	35.7
		Hilary Leighter	4,568	11.1
		Ashley Gunstock	564	1.4
		Sally Johnson	130	0.3
		James Macrae	129	0.3
Majority			6,388	15.5
Turnout			41,081	77.6
	hold		Swing	−3.3

Sources

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)