Havering was an electoral division for the purposes of elections to the Greater London Council. The constituency elected three councillors for a three-year term in 1964, 1967 and 1970. Bill Fiske, the first leader of the Greater London Council, was elected from the division.
It was planned to use the same boundaries as the Westminster Parliament constituencies for election of councillors to the Greater London Council (GLC), as had been the practice for elections to the predecessor London County Council, but those that existed in 1965 crossed the Greater London boundary. Until new constituencies could be settled, the 32 London boroughs were used as electoral areas which therefore created a constituency called Havering.[1]
The electoral division was replaced from 1973 by the single-member electoral divisions of Hornchurch, Romford and Upminster.[2]
The Havering constituency was used for the Greater London Council elections in 1964,[3] 1967[4] and 1970.[5] Three councillors were elected at each election using first-past-the-post voting.[6] Bill Fiske, who was successful at the first election, was the first Leader of the Greater London Council.
The first election was held on 9 April 1964, a year before the council came into its powers. The electorate was 162,724 and three Labour Party councillors were elected. With 80,168 people voting, the turnout was 49.3%. The councillors were elected for a three-year term.
The second election was held on 13 April 1967. The electorate was 162,807 and three Conservative Party councillors were elected. With 83,534 people voting, the turnout was 51.3%. The councillors were elected for a three-year term.
A by-election was held on 12 December 1968, following the resignation of David Thornton.[7] The electorate was 166,892 and one Conservative Party councillor was elected. With 7,811 voting, the turnout was 12.2%
The third election was held on 9 April 1970. The electorate was 178,278 and three Conservative Party councillors were elected. With 63,465 people voting, the turnout was 35.6%. The councillors were elected for a three-year term.
To date elections, normally fought on traditional party lines, have been based on the London boroughs, each borough returning two or more councillors; after 1973 there will be single member electoral areas based on parliamentary constituencies.