Richmond Park (UK Parliament constituency)

Richmond Park is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Sarah Olney of the Liberal Democrats won the seat at a by-election in 2016 after Zac Goldsmith of the Conservative Party stood down in protest over expansion of Heathrow Airport. Goldsmith stood as an independent at the by-election, but the Conservative whip was restored for the 2017 general election, where he regained the seat with a slim majority. Olney won the seat from Goldsmith a second time at the 2019 general election.

Richmond Park
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Richmond Park in Greater London
CountyGreater London
Electorate77,071[1]
Major settlementsRichmond and part of Kingston
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentSarah Olney (Liberal Democrats)
Number of membersOne
Created fromRichmond and Barnes and Kingston upon Thames

History and profile

Richmond Park constituency was created in 1997 from Richmond and Barnes, previously held by the Conservative Jeremy Hanley, and a northern section of the Kingston upon Thames seat, held by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont. Hanley was selected as the Conservative candidate at the first election for the seat but lost to the Liberal Democrat, Jenny Tonge. The seat was held by the Liberal Democrats until 2010, when it was won by the Conservative candidate, Zac Goldsmith.

In the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, the constituency is estimated to have voted to remain in the European Union by 72%.[2]

On 25 October 2016, Zac Goldsmith announced his resignation as an MP in protest against the Conservative government's decision to allow a third runway to be built at Heathrow Airport. Goldsmith stood as an Independent candidate in the by-election held on 1 December, but was defeated by Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat, after the Conservative Party decided not to nominate its own candidate.[3] It was the first by-election in the constituency since its creation in 1997.

On 22 April 2017, Goldsmith won the Conservative nomination for Richmond Park and stood in the general election on 8 June, in which Olney also stood for re-election.[4] Despite Olney gaining the largest increase in vote share between general elections in the country, and Goldsmith one of the largest falls, he regained the seat for the Conservatives with a majority of just 45 votes.[5] It marked the shortest period of time that a defeated MP had been out of office before regaining a seat. Olney retook the seat in the 2019 general election, with a majority of nearly 8,000.

Boundaries

1997–2010: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Barnes; East Sheen; Ham and Petersham; Kew; Mortlake; Palewell; Richmond Hill; and Richmond Town, and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Cambridge; Canbury; Coombe Hill; and Tudor.

2010–present: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Barnes; East Sheen; Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside; Kew; Mortlake and Barnes Common; North Richmond; and South Richmond, and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Canbury; Coombe Hill; Coombe Vale; and Tudor.

Richmond Park constituency stretches from Barnes in the north to Kingston upon Thames in the south, and includes the whole of East Sheen, Mortlake, Kew, Richmond, Petersham and Ham. The boundaries also include the Royal Park itself.

From Kingston Railway Bridge, the boundary follows the middle of the River Thames north (downstream) to Hammersmith Bridge and then southeast as far as Barn Elms. From here it is bounded by the outside of Putney Common and the houses east of Hallam Road and Dyers Lane. At the south end of Dyers Lane the boundary runs along the Upper Richmond Road westwards as far as the Beverley Brook which it then follows south to the northern wall of Richmond Park itself.[n 1] The boundary then follows the wall of the park as far as the Robin Hood Gate on the A3 road and follows the Beverley Brook south, until it[n 2] turns west after Malden Golf Course. It then cuts across the golf course to Coombe Road, Coombe Vale, New Malden until the South West Main Line just west of New Malden station. Then the boundary curves north to follow the Kingston branch of the railway line as far as the railway bridge over the River Thames. This means that the constituency includes Coombe, Norbiton, and half of Kingston upon Thames.[6]

Fifth 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 wards. This involved moving the entirety of the Beverley ward into Kingston and Surbiton. It had been split between the two constituencies after ward boundaries were changed in 2002. The public consultation on proposed changes across the boroughs of Kingston and Richmond received 11 submissions, of which ten were in support.[1][7] The new boundaries came into effect at the 2010 general election.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1997 Jenny Tonge Liberal Democrats
2005 Susan Kramer Liberal Democrats
2010 Zac Goldsmith Conservative
2016 by-election Sarah Olney Liberal Democrats
2017 Zac Goldsmith Conservative
2019 Sarah Olney Liberal Democrats

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Richmond Park[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Sarah Olney 34,559 53.1 +8.0
Conservative Zac Goldsmith 26,793 41.2 -4.1
Labour Sandra Keen 3,407 5.2 -3.9
Independent Caroline Shah 247 0.4 N/A
Independent John Usher 61 0.1 N/A
Majority 7,766 11.9 N/A
Turnout 65,067 79.0 -0.1
Registered electors 82,699
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing +6.0
General election 2017: Richmond Park[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Zac Goldsmith[10] 28,588 45.1 -13.1
Liberal Democrats Sarah Olney 28,543 45.1 +25.8
Labour Cate Tuitt 5,773 9.1 -3.2
UKIP Peter Jewell 426 0.7 N/A
Majority 45 0.0 -38.9
Turnout 63,330 79.1 +2.6
Registered electors 80,025
Conservative hold Swing -19.4
2016 Richmond Park by-election[11][12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Sarah Olney 20,510 49.6 +30.3
Independent Zac Goldsmith 18,638 45.1 -13.1[n 4]
Labour Christian Wolmar 1,515 3.6 -8.7
Monster Raving Loony Howling Laud Hope 184 0.4 N/A
Independent Fiona Syms 173 0.4 N/A
Christian Peoples Alliance Dominic Stockford 164 0.4 N/A
One Love Maharaja Jammu and Kashmir 67 0.1 N/A
No label David Powell 32 0.0 N/A
Majority 1,872 4.5 N/A
Turnout 41,283 53.6 -21.1
Registered electors 77,243
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing +21.7[n 5]
General election 2015: Richmond Park [14][15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Zac Goldsmith 34,404 58.2 +8.5
Liberal Democrats Robin Meltzer 11,389 19.3 -23.5
Labour Sachin Patel[17] 7,296 12.3 +7.3
Green Andrée Frieze[18] 3,548 6.0 +5.0
UKIP Sam Naz[19] 2,464 4.2 +3.0
Majority 23,015 38.9 +32.0
Turnout 59,101 76.5 -0.4
Registered electors 77,303
Conservative hold Swing +16.0
General election 2010: Richmond Park [20][21][22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Zac Goldsmith 29,461 49.7 +10.1
Liberal Democrats Susan Kramer 25,370 42.8 -3.8
Labour Eleanor Tunnicliffe 2,979 5.0 -4.2
UKIP Peter Dul 669 1.1 +0.2
Green James Page 572 1.0 -1.7
Christian Peoples Alliance Susan May 133 0.2 -0.3
Independent Charles Hill 84 0.1 N/A
Majority 4,091 6.9 N/A
Turnout 59,268 76.9 +3.7
Registered electors 77,751
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing -7.0

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Richmond Park[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Susan Kramer 24,011 46.7 -1.0
Conservative Marco Forgione 20,280 39.5 +1.9
Labour James Butler 4,768 9.3 -2.0
Green James Page 1,379 2.7 +0.2
UKIP Peter Dul 458 0.9 +0.2
Christian Peoples Alliance Peter Flower 288 0.6 N/A
Independent Margaret Harrison 83 0.2 N/A
Rainbow Dream Ticket Rainbow George Weiss 63 0.1 N/A
Independent Richard Meacock 44 0.1 N/A
Majority 3,731 7.2 -2.9
Turnout 51,374 72.8 +4.8
Registered electors 69,992
Liberal Democrats hold Swing -1.4
General election 2001: Richmond Park[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Jenny Tonge 23,444 47.7 +3.0
Conservative Tom Harris 18,480 37.6 -1.9
Labour Barry Langford 5,541 11.3 -1.3
Green James Page 1,223 2.5 N/A
UKIP Peter Howe 348 0.7 N/A
Independent Raymond Perrin 115 0.2 N/A
Majority 4,964 10.1 +4.9
Turnout 49,151 67.6 -11.8
Registered electors 72,251
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +2.4

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Richmond Park[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Jenny Tonge 25,393 44.7 +7.0
Conservative Jeremy Hanley 22,442 39.5 -12.4
Labour Sue Jenkins 7,172 12.6 +3.8
Referendum Jake Pugh 1,467 2.6 N/A
Monster Raving Loony David Beaupre 348 0.7 N/A
Natural Law Bruno D'Arcy 102 0.2 N/A
Rainbow Dream Ticket Peter Davies 73 0.1 N/A
Majority 2,951 5.2 N/A
Turnout 57,201 79.5 N/A
Registered electors 71,951
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
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See also
  • List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Notes
  1. Thus east is Roehampton in the London Borough of Wandsworth and part of Putney seat
  2. Having included the residential section of the A3 at the Beverley Brook Interchange
  3. For the subregion used see South London
  4. Compared to his vote share as a Conservative candidate at the previous election.
  5. Calculated on the basis of the vote share for Zac Goldsmith as a Conservative at the previous election and as an Independent at this election.

References
  1. Fifth periodical report (PDF) (Report). Volume 3 Mapping for the London Boroughs and the Metropolitan Counties. Boundary Commission for England. 5 February 2007. ISBN 0101703228.
  2. "The EU referendum: how did Westminster constituencies vote?". Medium. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  3. "Zac Goldsmith quits as MP over 'doomed' Heathrow expansion decision". The Guardian. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  4. "Zac Goldsmith wins Conservative nomination for Richmond Park". BBC News. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  5. "GE2017 – Constituency results". Britain Elects (Google Docs). Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. For the detailed map see the UK government election map web site
  7. "South London Boroughs – Proposals for Parliamentary Constituencies" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. 19 April 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2010.
  8. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
  9. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7979/CBP-7979.pdf
  10. https://twitter.com/fifisyms/status/1175187661457416193?s=21
  11. Donovan, Tim. "Tactics reduce candidates for Richmond Park by-election". BBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  12. http://www.richmond.gov.uk/notice_of_poll_spn_sops_richmond_park_by_election_2016.pdf
  13. "Election results for Richmond Park, 1 December 2016". 1 December 2016.
  14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. "Election results for Richmond Park UK Parliamentary General Election 2015 – Thursday, 7 May 2015". Cabnet.richmond.gov.uk. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  16. "Richmond Park parliamentary constituency – Election 2015". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  17. "Sachin Patel: Candidate for Richmond Park". Labour Party (UK). Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  18. "London Green Party | 2015 general election". Green Party. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  19. "Richmond Park". UK Polling Report. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  20. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  21. Norton, Gillian (20 April 2010). "Parliamentary Election, Richmond Park Constituency, Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
  22. "Election 2010 –Constituency:Richmond Park". Election 2010. BBC. 6 May 2010.
  23. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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