# Erith and Crayford (UK Parliament constituency)

Erith and Crayford was a constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK's Parliament.
It was created for the 1955 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election, when it was replaced by the new constituencies of Erith & Thamesmead and Bexleyheath & Crayford.
For its final 32 years it was in the London Borough of Bexley, south-east London but for its first ten years instead in Kent, divided among two council districts, below the higher tier of Kent County Council.

## Boundaries

1955–1974: The Municipal Borough of Erith, and the Urban District of Crayford.
1974–1983: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Belvedere, Bostall, Crayford North, Crayford Town, Crayford West, Erith Town, and Northumberland Heath.
1983–1997: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Belvedere, Bostall, Crayford, Erith, North End, Northumberland Heath, and Thamesmead East.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party | Notes |
| 1955 | Norman Dodds | Labour Co-op | Previously MP for Dartford from 1945. Died 1965 |
| 1965 by-election | James Wellbeloved | Labour |
| 1981 | James Wellbeloved | SDP |
| 1983 | David Evennett | Conservative | Contested and lost Bexleyheath and Crayford in 1997. Subsequently, MP for the seat from 2005 |
| 1997 | constituency abolished: see Erith and Thamesmead & Bexleyheath and Crayford | constituency abolished: see Erith and Thamesmead & Bexleyheath and Crayford |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1955: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | Norman Dodds | 24,957 | 60.43 | |
| | Conservative | Edward Gardner | 16,339 | 39.57 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,618 | 20.86 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,296 | | |
| | Labour Co-op win (new seat) | Labour Co-op win (new seat) | Labour Co-op win (new seat) | Labour Co-op win (new seat) | Labour Co-op win (new seat) |
General election 1959: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour Co-op | Norman Dodds | 24,523 | 56.65 |
| | Conservative | James J Davis | 18,763 | 43.35 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,760 | 13.30 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,286 | |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | Norman Dodds | 22,806 | 53.1 | −3.5 |
| | Conservative | B Black | 13,951 | 32.3 | −11.0 |
| | Liberal | Stanley W Vince | 6,189 | 14.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,855 | 20.8 | +7.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,946 | | |
| | Labour Co-op hold | Labour Co-op hold | Swing | | |
By-election 1965: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Wellbeloved | 21,835 | 55.4 | +2.3 |
| | Conservative | David Madel | 14,763 | 37.5 | +5.2 |
| | Liberal | Stanley W Vince | 2,823 | 7.2 | −7.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,072 | 17.9 | −2.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,421 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1966: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Wellbeloved | 24,243 | 55.53 | |
| | Conservative | David Madel | 15,033 | 34.43 | |
| | Liberal | Stanley W Vince | 3,827 | 8.77 | |
| | Communist | L Smith | 556 | 1.27 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,210 | 21.10 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,659 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Wellbeloved | 23,012 | 55.9 | +0.4 |
| | Conservative | H.J. Jackson | 18,158 | 44.1 | +9.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,854 | 11.8 | −9.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,170 | 71.3 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election February 1974: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Wellbeloved | 22,632 | 46.1 | −9.8 |
| | Conservative | R.I. Raitt | 15,551 | 31.7 | −12.4 |
| | Liberal | Stanley W. Vince | 10,951 | 22.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,081 | 14.4 | +2.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,134 | 81.8 | +10.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Wellbeloved | 22,670 | 51.2 | +5.1 |
| | Conservative | M. MacDonald | 14,203 | 32.1 | +0.4 |
| | Liberal | T. Hibbert | 7,423 | 16.8 | −5.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,467 | 19.1 | +4.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,296 | 73.1 | −8.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1979: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Wellbeloved | 22,450 | 47.3 | −3.9 |
| | Conservative | Simon Blunt | 19,717 | 41.5 | +9.4 |
| | Liberal | Florence Jamieson | 4,512 | 9.5 | −7.3 |
| | National Front | Owen Hawke | 838 | 1.8 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,733 | 5.8 | −13.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,517 | 77.5 | +4.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −6.6 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Evennett | 15,289 | 37.1 | −1.7 |
| | SDP | James Wellbeloved | 14,369 | 34.9 | +25.4 |
| | Labour | Malcolm Smart | 11,260 | 27.3 | −22.7 |
| | BNP | O. Hawke | 272 | 0.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 920 | 2.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,190 | 73.5 | −4.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +10.5 | |
General election 1987: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Evennett | 20,203 | 45.2 | +8.1 |
| | Labour | Colin Hargrave | 13,209 | 29.5 | +2.2 |
| | SDP | James Wellbeloved | 11,300 | 25.3 | −9.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,994 | 15.7 | +13.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,712 | 75.4 | +1.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +2.6 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Erith and Crayford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Evennett | 21,926 | 46.5 | +1.3 |
| | Labour | Nigel Beard | 19,587 | 41.5 | +12.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Florence M. Jamieson | 5,657 | 12.0 | −13.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,339 | 5.0 | −10.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,170 | 79.7 | +4.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −5.3 | |