Wimbledon (UK Parliament constituency)

Wimbledon
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wimbledon in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	65,936 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Wimbledon and Raynes Park
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Stephen Hammond (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Mid Surrey
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Wimbledon is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Stephen Hammond, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 from the northeastern part of the former Mid Surrey constituency that elected two MPs. The constituency covered a much larger area than it does today and was reduced in 1918 to create the Mitcham constituency and in 1950 to create Merton and Morden^{[n 3]}.

Political history

Since 1885 the seat has elected Conservative MPs, except for 1945-1950 and 1997-2005, when in landslide years for Labour, its candidate won the seat. While the 2005 majority was marginal, the 2010 majority was 24.1% of the vote, which in majority terms only suggests a safe seat.^{[n 4]}

In terms of other parties, in 2010 the second-placed candidate was a Liberal Democrat. If including their two predecessor parties this result was their highest share of the vote since 1987, at 25%.

Apart from the three 'main parties' none others have to date reached the 5% of the vote threshold, which is the current retention of deposit threshold.

Prominent frontbenchers

Henry Chaplin was sworn of the Privy Council in 1885 when he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster until 1886. He became the first President of the Board of Agriculture as part of the Cabinet (1889-1892). In the Conservative cabinet of 1895 to 1900 he was President of the Local Government Board and was responsible for the Agricultural Rates Act 1896.

Sir Michael Havers (not with this title in his first two years) reached the highest judicial and legal position in the country for four months in 1987, Lord Chancellor who so also acted as Lord Speaker, it not being until 2006 that this position was separated. For eight years previous Sir Michael was Attorney General for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, having served as the more junior, Solicitor General in the Heath ministry.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Sessional Division of Croydon except so much as is within a district of the Metropolis, the parishes of Caterham, Chelsham, Farley, Warlingham, Merton, and Wimbledon, so much of the Parliamentary Borough of Deptford as is in Surrey, and the area of the Parliamentary Boroughs of Battersea and Clapham, Camberwell, Lambeth, Newington, Southwark, and Wandsworth.

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Wimbledon, and the Urban District of Merton and Morden.

1950-1955: The Municipal Boroughs of Wimbledon, and Malden and Coombe.

1955-1974: The Municipal Borough of Wimbledon.

1974-1983: The London Borough of Merton wards of Cannon Hill, Priory, West Barnes, Wimbledon East, Wimbledon North, Wimbledon South, and Wimbledon West.

1983-2010: The London Borough of Merton wards of Abbey, Cannon Hill, Dundonald, Durnsford, Hillside, Merton Park, Raynes Park, Trinity, Village, and West Barnes.

2010-present: The London Borough of Merton wards of Abbey, Cannon Hill, Dundonald, Hillside, Merton Park, Raynes Park, Trinity, Village, West Barnes, and Wimbledon Park.

Constituency profile

The seat has a suburban commuter-sustained local economy with many privately owned homes and a range of open green spaces, ranging in value from elevated Wimbledon Village sandwiched between Wimbledon Common and Wimbledon Park^{[n 5]} where a large tranche of homes exceed £1,000,000 to Merton Abbey ruins and South Wimbledon, with more social housing in its wards. The hillside and hilltop village has since 1921 been unpromising territory in local council results for any party other than the Conservatives.

Wimbledon station is the southern terminus of the District line as well as a station on the South West main line, as such similar to Richmond on the other side of Richmond Park/Wimbledon Common.

Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[2]

Members of Parliament

	Member^[3]	Party
1885	Cosmo Bonsor	Conservative
1900	Charles Eric Hambro	Conservative
1907 by-election	Henry Chaplin	Conservative
1916 by-election	Sir Stuart Coats	Conservative
1918	Sir Joseph Hood	Conservative
1924	Sir John Power	Conservative
1945	Arthur Palmer	Labour
1950	Sir Cyril Black	Conservative
1970	Sir Michael Havers	Conservative
1987	Dr. Charles Goodson-Wickes	Conservative
1997	Roger Casale	Labour
2005	Stephen Hammond	Conservative

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Wimbledon ^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Hammond	25,225	52.1	+3.0
	Labour	Andrew Judge	12,606	26.0	+3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Shas Sheehan	6,129	12.7	-12.3
	UKIP	Peter Bucklitsch	2,476	5.1	+3.2
	Green	Charles Barraball	1,986	4.1	+2.9
Majority			12,619	26.1	+2.0
Turnout			48,422	73.5	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.4

General Election 2010: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Hammond	23,257	49.1	+7.7
	Liberal Democrat	Shas Sheehan	11,849	25.0	+6.8
	Labour	Andrew Judge	10,550	22.3	−13.4
	UKIP	Mark McAleer	914	1.9	+1.0
	Green	Rajeev Thacker	590	1.2	−1.9
	Christian	David Martin	235	0.5	N/A
Majority			11,408	24.1
Turnout			47,395	73.0	+5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Hammond	17,886	41.2	+4.6
	Labour	Roger Casale	15,585	35.9	−9.8
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen M. Gee	7,868	18.1	+5.1
	Green	Giles T.Barrow	1,374	3.2	+0.8
	UKIP	Andrew T. Mills	408	0.9	−0.1
	Independent	Christopher J. Coverdale	211	0.5	N/A
	Tiger's Eye - the Party for Kids	Alastair P. Wilson	50	0.1	N/A
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	George Weiss	22	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,301	5.3
Turnout			43,404	68.1	+3.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	7.2

General Election 2001: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Casale	18,806	45.7	+2.9
	Conservative	Stephen Hammond	15,062	36.6	0.0
	Liberal Democrat	Martin D. Pierce	5,341	13.0	−3.6
	Green	Rajeev K. Thacker	1,007	2.4	+1.4
	Christian Peoples	Roger E. Glencross	479	1.2	N/A
	UKIP	Mrs. Mariana Bell	414	1.0	N/A
Majority			3,744	9.1	+2.9
Turnout			41,109	64.3	−11.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Casale	20,674	42.8	+19.5
	Conservative	Charles Goodson-Wickes	17,684	36.6	−16.4
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs. Alison L. Willott	8,014	16.6	−4.7
	Referendum	Abid Hameed	993	2.1	+2.1
	Green	Rajeev K. Thacker	474	1.0	−0.7
	ProLife Alliance	Mrs. Sophie A.H. Davies	346	0.7	+0.7
	Mongolian Barbeque Great Place to Party	Matthew G. Kirby	112	0.2	+0.2
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Graham L. Stacey	47	0.1	+0.1
Majority			2,990	6.2
Turnout			48,344	75.4	−2.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.9

General Election 1992: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Goodson-Wickes	26,331	53.0
	Labour	Kingsley J. Abrams	11,570	23.3
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs. Alison L. Willott	10,569	21.3
	Green	Vaughan H. Flood	860	1.7
	Natural Law	Hugh R.A. Godfrey	181	0.4
	Independent	Graham W. Hadley	170	0.3
Majority			14,761	29.7
Turnout			61,917	80.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Goodson-Wickes	24,538	50.9
	Liberal	Adrian C. Slade	13,237	27.46
	Labour	Mrs. C.M. Bickerstaff	10,428	21.63
Majority			11,301	23.44
Turnout				76.09
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Robert Michael Oldfield Havers	24,169	52.06
	Liberal	David J. Twigg	12,623	27.19
	Labour	R.B. Tansey	8,806	18.97
	Ecology	A. Jones	717	1.54
	Party of Associates with Licensees	E.J. Weakner	114	0.25
Majority			11,546	24.87
Turnout				72.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Robert Michael Oldfield Havers	27,567	55.10
	Labour	R.B. Tansey	14,252	28.48
	Liberal	David Twigg	7,604	15.20
	National Front	A. Bailey	612	1.22
Majority			13,315	26.61
Turnout				76.42
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Robert Michael Oldfield Havers	23,615	48.53
	Labour	K. Bill	14,909	30.64
	Liberal	K. Searby	10,133	20.83
Majority			8,706	17.89
Turnout				68.80
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Robert Michael Oldfield Havers	26,542	48.62
	Labour	K. Bill	14,329	26.25
	Liberal	K. Searby	13,478	24.69
	Independent	William G. Boaks	240	0.44
Majority			12,213	22.37
Turnout				77.75
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Robert Michael Oldfield Havers	15,285	53.47
	Labour	R.C. Holmes	8,554	29.92
	Liberal	J.R. MacDonald	4,749	16.61
Majority			6,731	23.54
Turnout				66.83
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Cyril Wilson Black	15,191	50.33
	Labour	Thomas Braddock	9,517	31.53
	Liberal	J.R. MacDonald	5,475	18.14
Majority			5,674	18.80
Turnout				74.99
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Cyril Wilson Black	15,952	52.03
	Labour	J.R. Daly	8.891	29.00
	Liberal	George Edwin Scott	5,817	18.97
Majority			7,061	23.02
Turnout				74.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Cyril Wilson Black	21,538	66.86
	Labour	L.M. Kershaw	10,678	33.15
Majority			10,860	33.71
Turnout				78.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Cyril Wilson Black	22,112	65.55
	Labour	Greville Ewan Janner	11,622	34.45
Majority			10,490	31.10
Turnout				78.27
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Cyril Wilson Black	42,218	66.53
	Labour	C.H. Ford	21,242	33.47
Majority			20,976	33.05
Turnout				82.34
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Cyril Wilson Black	40,339	61.33
	Labour	G.L. Deacon	20,296	30.86
	Liberal	Ian Forester Gibson	5,136	7.81
Majority			20,043	30.47
Turnout				85.72
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Montague Frank Palmer	30,188	44.41
	Conservative	Geoffrey Paul Hardy-Roberts^[6]	28,820	42.39
	Liberal	A.D. Kay	6,501	9.56
	Common Wealth	K. Horne	2,472	3.64
Majority			1,368	2.01
Turnout				78.07
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Cecil Power	36,816	67.84
	Labour	Thomas Braddock	17,452	32.16
Majority			19,364	35.68
Turnout				67.60
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Wimbledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Cecil Power	39,643	80.38
	Labour	Thomas Braddock	9,674	19.62
Majority			29,969	60.77
Turnout				70.95
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Wimbledon ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir John Cecil Power	21,902	53.4
	Labour	Thomas Braddock	9,924	24.2
	Liberal	Arthur Peters	9,202	22.4	n/a
Majority			11,978	29.2
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ 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.
↑ Later these merged to form Mitcham and Morden
↑ The other measure is the historic measure which applied also in this instance but only until 1997.
↑ This is where the All-England lawn tennis club and the croquet club where the The Championships are held in June each year.

References

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
↑ election result http://democracy.merton.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=47 30Jul15
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/wimbledon/
↑ "Hardy-Roberts, Brig. Sir Geoffrey (Paul)". Liddell Hart Military Archives. King's College London. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Iain Dale, ed. (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X.
The Times House of Commons 1945. The Times. 1945.
The Times House of Commons 1950. The Times. 1950.
The Times House of Commons 1955. The Times. 1955.

Constituencies in London (73)

Labour (45)	Barking Bermondsey and Old Southwark Bethnal Green and Bow Brent Central Brentford and Isleworth Brent North Camberwell and Peckham Croydon North Dagenham and Rainham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing Central and Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hampstead and Kilburn Holborn and St. Pancras Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West and Penge Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden Poplar and Limehouse Streatham Tooting Tottenham Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Westminster North

Conservative (27)	Battersea Beckenham Bexleyheath and Crayford Bromley and Chislehurst Chelsea and Fulham Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon South Enfield Southgate Finchley and Golders Green Harrow East Hendon Hornchurch and Upminster Kensington Kingston and Surbiton Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Putney Richmond Park Romford Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Sutton and Cheam Twickenham Uxbridge and South Ruislip Wimbledon

Liberal Democrats (1)	Carshalton and Wallington

London European constituency: Labour (4) Conservative (2) Green (1) UKIP (1)

Historic constituencies in London

1974	Acton Barking Battersea North Battersea South Beckenham Bermondsey Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing North Edmonton Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith North Hampstead Harrow Central Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras South Hornchurch Hornsey Ilford North Ilford South Islington Central Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lambeth Central Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Orpington Paddington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond Romford Ruislip-Northwood St Marylebone St Pancras North Sidcup Southall Stepney and Poplar Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Wimbledon Wood Green Woolwich East Woolwich West

1983	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Stepney Bexleyheath Bow and Poplar Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton and Wallington Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond and Barnes Romford Ruislip-Northwood Southwark and Bermondsey Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Westminster North Wimbledon Woolwich

1997	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath and Crayford Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Bromley and Chislehurst Camberwell and Peckham Carshalton and Wallington Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon North Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Finchley and Golders Green Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith and Fulham Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington and Chelsea Kingston and Surbiton Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden North Southwark and Bermondsey Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Poplar and Canning Town Putney Regent's Park and Kensington North Richmond Park Romford Ruislip-Northwood Streatham Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Wimbledon

Coordinates: 51°25′01″N 0°13′05″W / 51.417°N 0.218°W / 51.417; -0.218

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