Bromley and Chislehurst (UK Parliament constituency)

Bromley and Chislehurst
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Bromley and Chislehurst in Greater London.
County Greater London
Electorate 65,508 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament Bob Neill (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from Ravensbourne, Chislehurst
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency London

Bromley and Chislehurst is a parliamentary constituency 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, and is currently held for the Conservative Party by Bob Neill.

Contents

Constituency profile

Aside from a few council estates in areas such as Mottingham and Bromley Common, this constituency is relatively prosperous and suburban - the 2001 census also shows that the area is predominantly white.[2] Until 2006 it was one of the Conservative party's safest seats, but the by-election of that year saw the party's electoral majority fall steeply from over 13,000 (in the 2005 election) to just over 600 votes (see below - "Election results").

History

The Bromley parliamentary constituency was created in 1918 (previously the area had been part of the larger Sevenoaks constituency). In 1974 it became Ravensbourne. In 1997, following the abolition of the old Chislehurst constituency, the seats of Ravensbourne and Chislehurst were joined and thus the new parliamentary constituency of Bromley and Chislehurst emerged. Bromley is known as a safe Conservative area,due to its prosperity but one of its wards Plaistow and Sundridge had a Communist Councillor in the 1940s and the previous Chislehurst seat had a Labour MP in 1966. Harold Macmillan was the MP for Bromley from 1945 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 when Eric Forth took over as Conservative MP for the newly-created Bromley and Chislehurst constituency. In May 2006, just after the Local Elections, Forth was taken ill, complaining of severe stomach pains. He was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and died peacefully a few days later.

A by-election was held on 29 June 2006, which returned London Assembly member Bob Neill as the new Conservative MP with an electoral majority of just over 600 votes - compared to the previous Conservative majority of over 13000 in the 2005 general election, however turnout was down by a significant margin. In 2010 Bob Neill was reelected with a Conservative majority greater than that achieved in 2005

Boundaries

Bromley and Chislehurst constituency covers the northern part of the London Borough of Bromley between the towns of Bromley and Chislehurst. It is made up of six electoral wards from the borough:

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England made changes to the existing Bromley and Chislehurst constituency. Parts of Hayes and Coney Hall ward, Shortlands ward, and Bromley Common and Keston ward were transferred to Beckenham constituency. Cray Valley West ward was transferred to Bromley and Chislehurst from Orpington and a tiny part of Bromley Town ward was transferred from Beckenham.

Pollsters had estimated that these changes would slightly reduce the Conservative vote,[2] however in the event this did not prove to be the case.

Members of Parliament

Election Member [3] Party
1997 Eric Forth Conservative
2006 by-election Bob Neill Conservative

Election results

Elections in 2010s

General Election 2010: Bromley and Chislehurst[2][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bob Neill 23,569 53.5 +8.5
Liberal Democrat Sam Webber 9,669 22.0 -1.9
Labour Chris Kirby 7,295 16.6 -7.9
UKIP Emmett Jenner 1,451 3.3 +0.1
BNP Rowena Savage 1,070 2.4 +2.4
Green Roisin Robertson 607 1.5 -2.3
English Democrats Jon Cheeseman 376 0.9 +0.9
Majority 13,900 31.6
Turnout 44,037 67.3 +4.6
Conservative hold Swing +5.1

Elections in 2000s

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bob Neill 11,621 40.1 –10.0
Liberal Democrat 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 N/A
Independent John Hemming-Clark 442 1.5 N/A
English Democrats Steven Uncles 212 0.7 N/A
Monster Raving Loony John Cartwright 132 0.5 N/A
Independent Nick Hadziannis 65 0.2 N/A
Money Reform Anne Belsey 33 0.1 N/A
Majority 633 2.2 –26.7
Turnout 29,012 40.2 –24.7
Conservative hold Swing –13.8
General Election 2005: Bromley and Chislehurst[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Eric Forth 23,583 51.1 +1.6
Labour Rachel Reeves 10,241 22.2 –6.4
Liberal Democrat 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 +4.0
General Election 2001: Bromley and Chislehurst[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Eric Forth 21,412 49.5 +3.2
Labour Sue Polydorou 12,375 28.6 +3.4
Liberal Democrat Geoff Payne 8,180 18.9 –4.8
UKIP Rob Bryant 1,264 2.9 +0.7
Majority 9,037 20.9
Turnout 64,231 64.3 –9.7
Conservative hold Swing –0.1

Elections in 1990s

General Election 1997: Bromley and Chislehurst[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Eric Forth 24,428 46.3 N/A
Labour Rob Yeldham 13,310 25.2 N/A
Liberal Democrat 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

References

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d Bromley and Chislehurst (UK polling report)
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
  4. ^ BNP to Fight 32 Parliamentary Seats in London
  5. ^ 2005 General election results (BBC)
  6. ^ *2001 election results (BBC)
  7. ^ *1997 election results (BBC)

Further reading

See also

Labour (37)
Conservative (28)
Liberal Democrats (7)