Bromley and Chislehurst (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bromley and Chislehurst Borough constituency |
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| Bromley and Chislehurst shown within Greater London | |
| Created: | 1997 |
| MP: | Bob Neill |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | Greater London |
| EP constituency: | London |
Bromley and Chislehurst is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, represented by Bob Neill for the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
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[edit] Boundaries
Bromley and Chislehurst constituency covers the northern part of the London Borough of Bromley between the towns of Bromley and Chislehurst, and the central part of the borough as far south as Hayes and Bromley Common.
[edit] Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England has made changes to the existing Bromley and Chislehurst constituency. The electoral wards used in the formation are:
- Bickley, Bromley Town, Chislehurst, Cray Valley West, Mottingham and Chislehurst North, Plaistow and Sundridge from the London Borough of Bromley
The boundary changes that will come into force before the next General Election will remove the ward of Bromley Common & Keston and that part of the Hayes & Coney Hall ward that currently lies within the constituency, to Beckenham constituency, and the Cray Valley West ward will move into the seat from Orpington constituency.
[edit] History
Except for areas such as the former council estates in Mottingham and Bromley Common, this constituency consists largely of prosperous leafy suburbia and is one of the Conservative's strongest seats. The area is largely white and its character is one of prosperous small businesses, rather than commuting professionals.
Harold Macmillan was the MP for Bromley until his retirement in 1964, when he was succeeded by John Hunt. Hunt, on the left of the Conservative party, held the seat (renamed Ravensbourne in 1974) until 1997. The former Chislehurst constituency also had a tradition of electing centrist Conservative MPs, in the form of Patricia Hornsby-Smith and from 1974 Roger Sims. When the Chislehurst constituency was merged with part of Ravensbourne in 1997 to form Bromley and Chislehurst, both Hunt and Sims retired, and the eccentric libertarian Eric Forth was selected as the Conservative candidate.
In May 2006, just after the Local Elections, Eric Forth was taken ill, complaining of severe stomach pains. He was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and died peacefully a few days later.
The by-election was held on 29 June 2006. The current Greater London Authority member Bob Neill held the seat for the Conservatives with a majority of just over 600 votes separating him from the Liberal Democrat candidate Ben Abbotts. The by-election was an astonishing rebuff to both the governing and main opposition parties. By some measures, this was the worst performance in a by-election by the Conservative opposition since at least 1930. Labour fared no better. It was the first occasion the party had dropped from second place to fourth place in an English by-election.
[edit] Members of Parliament
- 1997 – 2006: Eric Forth, Conservative
- 2006 – Present: Bob Neill, Conservative
[edit] Election results
| Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Bob Neill | 11,621 | 40.1 | -10.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ben Abbotts | 10,988 | 37.9 | +17.6 | |
| UKIP | Nigel Farage | 2,307 | 8.0 | +4.8 | |
| Labour | Rachel Reeves | 1,925 | 6.6 | -15.6 | |
| Green | Ann Garrett | 811 | 2.8 | -0.4 | |
| National Front | Paul Winnett | 476 | 1.6 | * | |
| Independent | John Hemming-Clark | 442 | 1.5 | * | |
| English Democrats | Steven Uncles | 212 | 0.7 | * | |
| Monster Raving Loony | John Cartwright | 132 | 0.5 | * | |
| Independent | Nick Hadziannis | 65 | 0.2 | * | |
| Money Reform | Anne Belsey | 33 | 0.1 | * | |
| Majority | 633 | 2.2 | -26.7 | ||
| Turnout | 29,012 | 40.18 | -24.68 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 2005: Bromley and Chislehurst | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Eric Forth | 23,583 | 51.1 | +1.6 | |
| Labour | Rachel Reeves | 10,241 | 22.2 | -6.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Brookes | 9,368 | 20.3 | +1.4 | |
| UKIP | David Hooper | 1,475 | 3.2 | +0.3 | |
| Green | Ann Garrett | 1,470 | 3.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 13,342 | 28.9 | |||
| Turnout | 46,137 | 64.8 | +0.5 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 2001: Bromley and Chislehurst | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Eric Forth | 21,412 | 49.5 | +3.2 | |
| Labour | Sue Polydorou | 12,375 | 28.6 | +3.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Geoff Payne | 8,180 | 18.9 | -4.8 | |
| UKIP | Rob Bryant | 1,264 | 2.9 | +0.7 | |
| Majority | 9037 | 20.9 | |||
| Turnout | 64,231 | 64.3 | -9.7 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1997: Bromley and Chislehurst | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Eric Forth | 24,428 | 46.3 | N/A | |
| Labour | Rob Yeldham | 13,310 | 25.2 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Paul Booth | 12,530 | 23.8 | N/A | |
| UKIP | R Bryant | 1,176 | 2.2 | N/A | |
| Green | Frances Speed | 640 | 1.2 | N/A | |
| National Front | Michael Stoneman | 369 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Liberal | Gabriel Aitman | 285 | 0.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 11,118 | 21.1 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 52,738 | 74.1 | N/A | ||
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
By-elections in British politics: Chris Cook and John Ramsden (Routledge, 2003)
