The Upminster seat was marginal when first created in 1974, but swung strongly to the Conservatives and looked safe for Sir Nicholas Bonsor. Like many Conservative MPs for hitherto safe seats in outer London he was unexpectedly out of a job on 2 May 1997.

Most Londoners have heard of Upminster, but few have been there. It is at the far east end of the District Line and is a familiar sight on destination boards. It is the eastern seat of the outer borough of Havering, which has more to do with Essex than London. Upminster is a variegated collection of suburbs, stretching from Harold Hill in the north (a big council built estate which saw the first large scale sale of council houses in the early 1970s), through the wealthy areas of Cranham and Emerson Park to Upminster itself. Harold Hill produces three safe Labour wards, and Harold Wood has some Labour elements, but the party enjoys little support in the other four wards. The Havering Residents' main strongholds in local politics are in Upminster. In 1998 the Cranham wards were virtual one party (or no party?) states for them. This makes analysis from local elections misleading, as these affluent areas provide much of the Tory vote in general elections. In the 1999 Euro elections the Tories led by 12% and it was the strongest UKIP area in London. The Conservative candidate for a seat that ought to be pretty easy to regain is Angela Watkinson.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 2,770 (6.7%)  Conservative target 50
MP Keith Darvill
1997 (Turnout 72.1%)
Labour	19,085	46.2%
Conservative	16,315	39.5%
Liberal Democrat	3,919	9.5%
Referendum	2,000	4.8%

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For Upminster 2001 Election result - click here.