Kingston and Surbiton (UK Parliament constituency)

Kingston and Surbiton (/ˈkɪŋstən ... ˈsɜːrbɪtən/) is a constituency[n 1] created in 1997 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament[n 2] since 2017 by Ed Davey, the incumbent Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Kingston and Surbiton has been considered relative to others a very marginal seat, as well as a swing seat since 2010, as the seat has changed hands twice since that year, and its winner's majority did not exceed 6.6% of the vote since the 13.2% majority won in 2010 prior to 2019, when Davey won a 17.2% majority and a majority of the votes cast.

Kingston and Surbiton
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Kingston and Surbiton in Greater London
Major settlementsKingston (part), Surbiton and Malden
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentEd Davey (Liberal Democrats)
Created fromSurbiton and Kingston (part)

Boundaries

1997–2010: The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Berrylands, Burlington, Chessington North, Chessington South, Grove, Hook, Malden Manor, Norbiton Park, Norbiton, St James, St Mark's, Surbiton Hill, Tolworth East, Tolworth South, and Tolworth West.

2010–present: As above less Burlington plus Beverley — and neighbouring Tolworth and Hook wards having been in local government renamed to become Alexandra, Tolworth and Hook Rise, Chessington North and Hook.

The constituency covers most of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, covering the town of Surbiton, Chessington, New Malden, Tolworth and the south of Kingston itself. The remainder of the borough, a northern part of Kingston, has remained since 1997 in the Richmond Park seat.

2007 boundary review

As part of its Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission[n 3] made minor changes to re-align the constituency boundaries with the boundaries of the local government divisions (wards); moving the entirety of the Beverley ward into Kingston and Surbiton. It had been partly in Richmond Park until 2002 local elections. The associated public consultation received 11 submissions, of which 10 in support.[1][2] The revisions came into effect at the 2010 general election.

History

The constituency was created in 1997, when the number of seats covering the boroughs of Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames was reduced from four to three. It replaced the former Surbiton constituency completely and also covers the south of the former Kingston constituency.

Political history

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont represented Kingston from a by-election in 1972 until the 1997 general election, when he was not selected as the Conservative candidate for either of its replacements. Instead, the incumbent Surbiton MP Richard Tracey was selected, while Lamont unsuccessfully contested Harrogate and Knaresborough in North Yorkshire. In the event, Tracey was defeated by the Liberal Democrat candidate Edward Davey by the very narrow margin of 56 votes.

In the 2011 referendum on whether the UK should adopt the Alternative Vote (AV) system, the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, which covers most of the constituency, voted against the proposal by 60.5%.[3]

Davey held on to the seat until the general election of 2015, when he was defeated by the Conservative James Berry during the national Liberal Democrat vote collapse. The 2015 result gave the seat the 26th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.[4]

In the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, the borough voted to remain in the European Union by 61.6%.[5]

Davey, now knighted, regained the seat for the Liberal Democrats in the 2017 general election with the eighth largest vote share increase for the party nationally.[6]

The local council, which covers most of the constituency, alternates between Liberal Democrat majority control (1994–1998 and 2002–2014) and no overall control (1986–1994 and 1998–2002). However, in 2014, it became a Conservative-majority council; the last Conservative administration was between 1964 and 1986. Traditionally, the southern wards vote for the Liberal Democrats, whereas the north and north-eastern wards vote for the Conservatives, with some Labour representation in the Norbiton ward.[7]

In all seven elections since its establishment, Kingston and Surbiton has voted for a candidate from the same party as the neighbouring constituency of Twickenham, which was established at the same time. Both seats have seen one Conservative win and six Liberal Democrat wins.

Profile

The seat is a majority middle-class suburbia, much like its neighbouring constituencies of Wimbledon, Richmond Park and Twickenham. The area has a long-established large urban kernel in Kingston town centre, where waves of public initiatives and spending have overhauled much of the area's cohort of ex-council housing and social housing. This is similar to the proportion of such housing stock in the London Boroughs of Merton and Sutton adjoining. The highly commercial town with ancient-founded markets and a public riverside by the River Thames has enjoyed continued economic diversity and prosperity and saw in 2007 a total retail spend of £23.71 billion, placing it 12th among UK towns and cities.[8]

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[9] Party
1997 Ed Davey Liberal Democrats
2015 James Berry Conservative
2017 Ed Davey Liberal Democrats

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Kingston and Surbiton[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 31,103 51.1 6.4
Conservative Aphra Brandreth 20,614 33.9 4.2
Labour Leanne Werner 6,528 10.7 4.1
Green Sharron Sumner 1,038 1.7 0.8
Brexit Party Scott Holman 788 1.3 N/A
Independent James Giles 458 0.8 N/A
Monster Raving Loony Chinners Chinnery 193 0.3 0.0
UKIP Roger Glencross 124 0.2 0.9
Majority 10,489 17.2 10.6
Turnout 60,846 74.2 2.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing 5.3
Results of UK House of Commons seat Kingston and Surbiton
General election 2017: Kingston and Surbiton[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 27,810 44.7 +10.3
Conservative James Berry 23,686 38.1 -1.1
Labour Laurie South 9,203 14.8 +0.3
UKIP Graham Matthews 675 1.1 -6.2
Green Chris Walker 536 0.9 -3.0
Monster Raving Loony Chinners 168 0.3 +0.3
Independent Michael Basman 100 0.2 +0.2
Majority 4,124 6.6 N/A
Turnout 62,178 76.2 +3.3
Registered electors 81,588
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing +5.7
General election 2015: Kingston and Surbiton[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative James Berry 23,249 39.2 +2.7
Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 20,415 34.5 -15.3
Labour Lee Godfrey 8,574 14.5 +5.1
UKIP Ben Roberts 4,321 7.3 +4.8
Green Clare Keogh 2,322 3.9 +2.9
Christian Peoples Alliance Daniel Gill 198 0.3 -0.1
TUSC Laurel Fogarty 174 0.3 N/A
Majority 2,834 4.7 N/A
Turnout 59,253 72.9 +2.5
Registered electors 81,238
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing +9.0
General election 2010: Kingston and Surbiton[15][16][17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 28,428 49.8 −1.3
Conservative Helen Whately 20,868 36.5 +3.5
Labour Max Freedman 5,337 9.3 −3.8
UKIP Jonathan Greensted 1,450 2.5 +1.2
Green Chris Walker 555 1.0 N/A
Monster Raving Loony Monkey The Drummer 247 0.4 N/A
Christian Peoples Alliance Tony May 226 0.4 N/A
Majority 7,560 13.2 -4.8
Turnout 57,111 70.4 +2.7
Registered electors 81,115
Liberal Democrats hold Swing −2.4

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Kingston and Surbiton
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 25,397 51.0 −9.2
Conservative Kevin Davis 16,431 33.0 +4.8
Labour Nick Parrott 6,553 13.2 +4.4
UKIP Barry Thornton 657 1.3 +0.4
Socialist Labour John Hayball 366 0.7 +0.1
Veritas David Henson 200 0.4 N/A
Rainbow Dream Ticket George Weiss 146 0.3 N/A
Majority 8,966 18.0 -14.0
Turnout 49,750 68.5 +1.0
Registered electors 72,658
Liberal Democrats hold Swing −7.0
General election 2001: Kingston and Surbiton
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 29,542 60.2 +23.5
Conservative David Shaw 13,866 28.2 −8.3
Labour Philip Woodford 4,302 8.8 −14.3
Green Christopher Spruce 572 1.2 N/A
UKIP Patricia Burns 438 0.9 +0.1
Socialist Labour John Hayball 319 0.6 N/A
Unrepresented People's Party Jeremy Middleton 54 0.1 N/A
Majority 15,676 32.0 +31.9
Turnout 49,093 67.5 -7.8
Registered electors 72,687
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +15.9

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Kingston and Surbiton
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 20,411 36.7 +10.7
Conservative Richard Tracey 20,355 36.6 -16.5
Labour Sheila Griffin 12,811 23.0 +3.4
Referendum Gail Tchiprout 1,470 2.6 N/A
UKIP Amy Burns 418 0.8 N/A
Natural Law Mark Leighton 100 0.2 N/A
Rainbow Dream Ticket Clifford Port 100 0.2 N/A
Majority 56 0.1 N/A
Turnout 55,665 75.3 N/A
Registered electors 73,836
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
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See also
  • List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Notes and references
Notes
  1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years
  3. For the subregion used see South London
References
  1. "South London Boroughs – Proposals for Parliamentary Constituencies" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. 19 April 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2010.
  2. Fifth periodical report (PDF) (Report). Volume 3 Mapping for the London Boroughs and the Metropolitan Counties. Boundary Commission for England. 5 February 2007. ISBN 0-10-170322-8.
  3. "AV referendum results, district by district". The Guardian. 6 May 2011. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  4. List of Conservative MPs elected in 2015 by % majority UK Political.info. Retrieved 2017-01-29
  5. "EU Referendum Results". BBC News. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  6. "GE2017 - Constituency results". Britain Elects (Google Docs). Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  7. "Kingston Council Local Elections Results, 2014". Kingston Council. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. "Kingston upon Thames" Retail Week, 23 November 2007
  9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
  10. "Kingston and Surbiton Parliamentary constituency".
  11. "Kingston & Surbiton parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  12. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7979/CBP-7979.pdf
  13. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. "Election results for Kingston and Surbiton, 7 May 2015". 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015.
  15. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. Statement of Persons Nominated Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, 20 April 2010
  17. Election results for Kingston and Surbiton – Parliamentary General Election – Thursday 6 May 2010 Archived 10 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
  18. Election 2010 – Kingston & Surbiton BBC News, 7 May 2010
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