Serving Romford since 1885!
"May I thank the people of the Romford constituency for once again choosing me as their Member of Parliament at the recent General Election. To be elected to represent my home town, where I have lived all my life, now in my seventh term in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, is the greatest privilege of my life.
The Romford constituency was formed in 1885 and originally included large parts of Essex to the East of London, including everything from West and East Ham, Barking, Dagenham, Ilford and Hornchurch. Today the Romford constituency is much smaller, including only traditional Romford and parts of Hornchurch. Since 1885, Romford has been represented by seventeen MPs from Conservative, Labour, Liberal and National Liberal parties, elected in thirty-eight General Elections and one by-election. The by-election of 1894 was caused by the tragic death of James Theobald MP, who fell under a train at Romford Station and is buried in the graveyard of St. John’s Church, Havering-atte-Bower.
Romford has a distinctive political history, spanning over three centuries and no party has ever been able to take our town for granted. Romford has never been a ‘safe’ seat for any candidate. Those elected must work hard to win and serve the people well in order to succeed, demonstrated only two weeks ago, with my re-election by a small majority, in the toughest General Election campaign I can remember!
On Wednesday this week, 17th July, I was immensely proud to have reached an historic landmark in Romford’s political history, becoming the longest serving Member of Parliament since the constituency’s formation in 1885. I have served from 2001 to 2024, representing a total of 8442 days in office, overtaking the distinguished years of service given by my friend and predecessor, the late Sir Michael Neubert, who proudly served as our M.P. from 1974 to 1997.
Since my election as your MP, I have faced many political and personal challenges, but I have never doubted that I made the right decision to dedicate my life to public service and become the standard bearer for our beloved historic Essex town of Romford and to also stand up for our proud English and British traditions in the House of Commons. I have always lived up to the wonderful motto of our town “Serve With Gladness”! This, I will continue to do, for as long as the good people of Romford decide to keep me as their Member of Parliament."
