Richmond Park (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Richmond Park Borough constituency |
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| Richmond Park shown within Greater London | |
| Created: | 1997 |
| MP: | Susan Kramer |
| Party: | Liberal Democrat |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | Greater London |
| EP constituency: | London |
Richmond Park is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
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[edit] History and character
Richmond Park constituency was created in 1997 from the old Richmond & Barnes constituency (held until then by the Conservative Jeremy Hanley) and the northern half of the Kingston upon Thames constituency (held by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont, also Conservative). Hanley was selected as the Conservative candidate to fight for the new seat, but he lost to Jenny Tonge (Liberal Democrat). The seat has been held by the Lib Dems ever since.
The area is almost entirely affluent suburbia with plenty of leafy streets, and desirable late Victorian and Edwardian houses with large gardens. It has many pleasant open green spaces, including Richmond Park itself and the world famous botanic gardens at Kew.
[edit] Boundaries
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 that gives it its name.
From Richmond Bridge, the boundary runs north following middle of the River Thames to Hammersmith Bridge and then south as far as Barn Elms. From here it cuts away from the river to exclude Putney Common and 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. This effectively excludes all of Roehampton, which is part of Putney. The boundary then follows the wall of the park as far as the Robin Hood Gate on the A3 road. Here it crosses the road and picks up the line of the Beverley Brook again south, until it meets the main railway line from London Waterloo to Woking, near New Malden Station. West of the station it turns north to follow the Kingston branch of the railway line, which it follows as far as the railway bridge over the Thames between Kingston and Hampton Wick. From here it runs north down the middle of the river back to Richmond Bridge.
This means that the constituency includes Coombe, Kingston Vale, and all of Kingston upon Thames and New Malden north of the railway.
For a detailed map see the UK government election map web site.
[edit] Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England has made only minor changes to the existing Richmond Park constituency, in line with changes in ward boundaries. The Commission received only eleven representations following the publication of the original proposals, of which ten were in support. (1 pdf file)
The electoral wards used in the constituency are:
- From Kingston upon Thames - Canbury, Coombe Hill, Coombe Vale and Tudor
- From Richmond upon Thames - Barnes, East Sheen, Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside, Kew, Mortlake and Barnes Common, North Richmond, South Richmond.
[edit] Members of Parliament
| Year | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Susan Kramer | Liberal Democrats | |
| 2001 | Dr Jenny Tonge | Liberal Democrats | |
| 1997 | Dr Jenny Tonge | Liberal Democrats | |
[edit] Election results
| General Election 2005: Richmond Park | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 | 7.3 | |||
| Turnout | 51,374 | 72.8 | +4.8 | ||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | −1.4 | |||
| General Election 2001: Richmond Park | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 St John Howe | 348 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Independent | Raymond Perrin | 115 | 0.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,964 | ||||
| Turnout | 67.6 | −11.8 | |||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1997: Richmond Park | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jenny Tonge | 25,393 | 44.7 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Jeremy Hanley | 22,442 | 39.5 | N/A | |
| Labour | Sue Jenkins | 7,172 | 12.6 | −1.3 | |
| Referendum Party | J. Pugh | 1,467 | 2.6 | N/A | |
| Monster Raving Loony | D. Beaupre | 348 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Natural Law | B. D'Arcy | 102 | 0.2 | N/A | |
| Rainbow Dream Ticket | P. Davies | 73 | 0.1 | N/A | |
| Majority | 2,951 | N/A | |||
| Turnout | 679.4 | N/A | |||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | N/A | |||
