General Election 2024 London seats: Who will be my MP in… Romford

Millions of voters across London will go to the polls on July 4 to elect the new Government. The Standard is looking at key battleground and other seats in the capital, and has published an interactive map.

Here we turn the spotlight on:

ROMFORD

Candidates for main parties (in alphabetical order):Andrew Achilleos - Labour

Thomas Clarke - Liberal Democrats

David Hughes - Green

Philip Hyde - Reform UK

Andrew Rosindell - Conservatives

Summary: It was in a Romford snooker hall that future champion Steve Davis met entrepreneurial manager Barry Hearn, the pair going on to forge one of the defining partnerships of the Thatcherite revolution in the 1980s.

The working-class seat on the London-Essex borders has often mirrored the country’s larger political fortunes. It was a marginal one for much of the post-war period, backing Labour in the 1950s and 60s before trending more Tory, then flipping back to Tony Blair’s New Labour in 1997.

It reverted to Tory control in 2001 under Andrew Rosindell, who has remained the MP ever since, and it was a strong backer of Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

In May 2022, Mr Rosindell was arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust, and misconduct in public office.

Scotland Yard said in February this year that, following a “thorough investigation”, the evidence for a criminal prosecution had not been met. A spokesman for the MP said he had been “completely exonerated”.

Wards: Havering-atte-Bower; Hylands and Harrow Lodge; Marshalls and Rise Park; Mawneys; Rush Green and Crowlands; St Alban's; St Edwards; Squirrel's Heath.

I’m not sure if I’m in this constituency: Here’s how you can check

Boundary changes impact: Minimal.

YouGov MRP poll prediction: Conservative hold. But only just: YouGov’s projected vote share is 35% Conservative and 33% Labour.

Evening Standard view: After his troubles with the police, Mr Rosindell could just about survive the coming Labour landslide to leave the Conservatives with one of a handful of seats in London.