# Finchley (UK Parliament constituency)

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 |
| 1918 | John Newman | Unionist |
| 1923 | Atholl Robertson | Liberal |
| 1924 | Edward Cadogan | Unionist |
| 1935 | John Crowder | Conservative |
| 1959 | Margaret Thatcher | Conservative |
| 1992 | Hartley Booth | Conservative |
| 1997 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | John Pretyman Newman | 11,849 | 68.9 | |
| | Labour | John Leslie | 3,140 | 18.2 | |
| | Liberal | Walter Edwin Martin | 2,221 | 12.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,709 | 50.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,210 | 59.7 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 28,848 | | |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | John Pretyman Newman | 11,883 | 53.2 | −15.7 |
| | Liberal | T. Atholl Robertson | 10,440 | 46.8 | +33.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,443 | 6.4 | −44.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,323 | 72.4 | +12.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 30,843 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −24.8 | |
General election 1923: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | T. Atholl Robertson | 13,159 | 54.7 | +7.9 |
| | Unionist | John Pretyman Newman | 10,883 | 45.3 | −7.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,276 | 9.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,042 | 76.0 | +3.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 31,650 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Unionist | Liberal gain from Unionist | Swing | +7.9 | |
General election 1924: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Edward Cadogan | 15,277 | 58.3 | +13.0 |
| | Liberal | T. Atholl Robertson | 10,942 | 41.7 | −13.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,335 | 16.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,219 | 79.5 | +3.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 32,984 | | |
| | Unionist gain from Liberal | Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +13.0 | |
General election 1929: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Edward Cadogan | 18,920 | 48.8 | −9.5 |
| | Liberal | T. Atholl Robertson | 14,065 | 36.2 | −5.5 |
| | Labour | J. George Stone | 5,824 | 15.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,855 | 12.6 | −4.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,809 | 77.2 | −2.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 50,243 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −2.0 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Edward Cadogan | 34,286 | 84.2 | +35.4 |
| | Labour | J. George Stone | 6,440 | 15.8 | +0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 27,846 | 68.4 | +55.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,726 | 74.3 | −2.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +17.3 | |
Liberal candidate Lady Domini Crosfield withdrew following the formation of the National Government.
General election 1935: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Crowder | 26,960 | 63.6 | −20.6 |
| | Liberal | T. Atholl Robertson | 8,920 | 21.0 | New |
| | Labour | Cyril G Lacey | 6,533 | 15.4 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,040 | 42.6 | −31.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,413 | 70.2 | −4.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative 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

General election 1945: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Crowder | 24,256 | 48.5 | −15.1 |
| | Labour | Cyril G Lacey | 18,611 | 37.2 | +21.8 |
| | Liberal | David Goldblatt | 7,164 | 14.3 | −6.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,645 | 11.28 | −31.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,031 | 74.2 | +4.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +18.4 | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Crowder | 32,262 | 52.9 | +4.4 |
| | Labour | Dorothy Pickles | 19,683 | 32.3 | −5.0 |
| | Liberal | Andrew McFadyean | 9,094 | 14.9 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,579 | 20.6 | +9.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 60,999 | 84.9 | +10.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +4.2 | |
General election 1951: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Crowder | 33,308 | 54.9 | +2.0 |
| | Labour | Jack Ashley | 20,520 | 33.8 | +1.6 |
| | Liberal | Walter John Done | 6,853 | 11.3 | −3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,788 | 21.1 | +0.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 60,411 | 84.0 | −0.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +0.3 | |
General election 1955: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Crowder | 30,233 | 54.5 | −0.4 |
| | Labour | Terence Lancaster | 17,408 | 31.4 | −2.4 |
| | Liberal | Manuela Sykes | 7,775 | 14.0 | +2.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,825 | 23.1 | +2.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,416 | 78.3 | −5.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −1.0 | |
General election 1959: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 29,697 | 53.2 | −1.3 |
| | Labour | Eric Deakins | 13,437 | 24.1 | −7.3 |
| | Liberal | Henry Ivan Spence | 12,701 | 22.7 | +8.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,260 | 29.1 | +6.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,835 | 80.8 | +2.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +3.0 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 24,591 | 46.6 | −6.6 |
| | Liberal | John Pardoe | 15,789 | 29.9 | +7.2 |
| | Labour | Albert Edward Tomlinson | 12,408 | 23.5 | −0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,802 | 16.7 | −12.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,788 | 78.2 | −2.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1966: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 23,968 | 46.5 | −0.1 |
| | Labour | Yvonne Sieve | 14,504 | 28.1 | +4.6 |
| | Liberal | Frank Davis | 13,070 | 25.4 | −4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,464 | 18.4 | +1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,542 | 75.3 | −2.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −2.4 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 25,480 | 53.8 | +7.3 |
| | Labour | Michael Freeman | 14,295 | 30.2 | +2.1 |
| | Liberal | Graham Mitchell | 7,614 | 16.1 | −9.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,185 | 23.6 | +5.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,389 | 65.6 | −9.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +2.6 | |
General election February 1974: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 18,180 | 43.7 | −8.6 |
| | Labour | Martin O'Connor | 12,202 | 29.3 | −2.3 |
| | Liberal | Laurence Brass | 11,221 | 27.0 | +10.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,978 | 14.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,603 | 78.0 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −3.1 | |
General election October 1974: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 16,498 | 44.0 | +0.3 |
| | Labour | Martin O'Connor | 12,587 | 33.6 | +4.3 |
| | Liberal | Laurence Brass | 7,384 | 19.7 | −7.3 |
| | National Front | Janet Godfrey | 993 | 2.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,911 | 10.4 | −4.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,462 | 69.5 | −8.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −2.0 | |
General election 1979: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 20,918 | 52.5 | +8.5 |
| | Labour | Richard May | 13,040 | 32.7 | −0.9 |
| | Liberal | Anthony Paterson | 5,254 | 13.2 | −6.5 |
| | National Front | William Verity | 534 | 1.3 | −1.4 |
| | Independent Democrat | Elizabeth Lloyd | 86 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,878 | 19.8 | +9.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,832 | 72.5 | +3.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +4.7 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 19,616 | 51.1 | −1.4 |
| | Labour | Laurence Spigel | 10,302 | 26.8 | −5.9 |
| | Liberal | Margaret Joachim | 7,763 | 20.2 | +7.0 |
| | Ecology | Simone Wilkinson | 279 | 0.7 | New |
| | Monster Raving Loony | Screaming Lord Sutch | 235 | 0.6 | New |
| | Ban Every Licensing Law Society | Anthony Noonan | 75 | 0.2 | New |
| | Rail Not Motorway | Helen Anscomb | 42 | 0.1 | New |
| | Law and Order in Gotham City | Anthony Whitehead | 37 | 0.1 | New |
| | Anti-Censorship | David Webb | 28 | 0.1 | New |
| | Party of Associates with Licensees | Brian Wareham | 27 | 0.1 | New |
| | Belgrano Blood-Hunger | Benjamin Wedmore | 13 | 0.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,314 | 24.3 | +4.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,417 | 69.0 | −3.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +2.2 | |
General election 1987: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 21,603 | 53.9 | +2.8 |
| | Labour | John Davies | 12,690 | 31.7 | +4.9 |
| | Liberal | David Howarth | 5,580 | 13.9 | −7.3 |
| | Gremloid Party | Lord Buckethead | 131 | 0.3 | New |
| | Gold Party | Michaelle St Vincent | 59 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,913 | 22.2 | −2.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,063 | 69.4 | +0.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −1.0 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Finchley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Hartley Booth | 21,039 | 51.2 | −2.7 |
| | Labour | Ann Marjoram | 14,651 | 35.7 | +4.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Hilary Leighter | 4,568 | 11.1 | −2.8 |
| | Green | Ashley Gunstock | 564 | 1.4 | New |
| | Monster Raving Loony | Sally Johnson | 130 | 0.3 | New |
| | Natural Law | James Macrae | 129 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,388 | 15.5 | −6.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,081 | 77.6 | +8.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −3.3 | |