Croydon Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Croydon Central is a constituency created in 1974 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Labour MP Sarah Jones.^{[n 1][n 2]}

Constituency profile

Croydon Central covers a wedge of the London Borough of Croydon to the east of central Croydon and is much more marginal than the other selected two parliamentary divisions constrained to the borough itself Croydon South (which is safely Conservative) and Croydon North (which is safely Labour).

The northern parts are characterised by terraced houses and urban areas, with small council estates. Labour gains much support from in particular Addiscombe, Fieldway, Woodside and Ashburton. The southern area, largely Conservative, consists of suburban semi-detached houses, populated by commuters, surrounded by golf courses and parkland. The wards of Shirley, Heathfield, Selsdon and Fairfield give large Conservative votes.

In the southeast corner is a large former council estate, New Addington, containing more than 10,000 residents. The estate is largely white and has comprised the whole or vast bulk of one or two wards of the United Kingdom in its history.

The New Addington wards saw one of the highest turnouts of British National Party supporters during the 2002 and 2006 council elections, which the BNP described as their "heyday decade," however it never elected a local councillor from the party – its slate of councillors has been consistently Labour. Except on one occasion in 2010, where a Conservaitve councillor was elected for the first time. Historically, Labour's strength in the area had been on the council estates, particularly New Addington, but in 2014, Labour support was watered down by UKIP, gauging 24% of the overall vote.

The two major-stop railway stations on the national network,^{[n 3]} most office buildings, businesses and shopping centres of Croydon are in the seat. A wide range of flats forms a major part of the housing sector unlike neighbouring seats, from upmarket expensively-built apartments with dedicated gym and restaurant facilities to ex-local authority brutalist architecture tower blocks, most of which had been replaced by the 2010s decade.

Political history

The constituency that preceded Croydon Central, Croydon South (1918-1950) and (1955-1974) had the modern borough area's two periods of brief Labour Party parliamentary representation — David Rees-Williams held the forerunner from the 1945 Labour landslide until unfavourable boundary changes in 1950. David Winnick was MP, 1966-1970.^{[n 4]}. Otherwise the area at parliamentary level has elected, since 1918, Conservative MPs.

In 1997, Croydon's seats were reduced from four to three and the displaced Conservative Members had to face one another for the right to stand in the new Croydon Central seat (Croydon North by then a Labour-held seat). The MP for Croydon North East, David Congdon was chosen over Sir Paul Beresford, the MP for the former Croydon Central seat. However, three years after Labour had taken control of Croydon Council, Labour's Geraint Davies saw off Congdon with a majority of 4,000. He held the seat with a similar majority in 2001 but lost by just 75 votes to Conservative Andrew Pelling in 2005, with the Liberal Democrats and Green Party gaining a local record of 7,000 votes between them.

The 2015 result gave the seat the third-most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.^[2] In 2017, Labour's Sarah Jones gained the seat with a majority of 5,652, the largest in the seat for any party since 1992. Croydon Central is one of four constituencies, the others being Enfield Southgate, Peterborough and Reading East, which elected Labour MPs in 2017 having not done so since 2001.

Boundaries

Central Croydon's main shopping area

Croydon Central Constituency map of constituent parts which are currently entire local government wards

Croydon Central covers the central and eastern parts of the London Borough of Croydon, one of the Borough's three seats. It is bordered by Croydon North and Croydon South, as well as Beckenham to the east.

The seat was redrawn in the 1997 redistribution, taking in territory from most of the pre-1997 Croydon Central constituency (losing Waddon ward to the redrawn Croydon South) and part of the abolished Croydon North East constituency. It covers an area that was Croydon South constituency until 1974 when part of Surrey East was incorporated into a new Croydon South constituency, following the creation of the London Borough of Croydon in 1965.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Results of UK House of Commons seat Croydon Central, created in 1974, since 2001.

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: Croydon Central^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Sarah Jones	29,873	52.3	9.6
	Conservative	Gavin Barwell[5]	24,221	42.4	0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Gill Hickson	1,083	1.9	0.3
	UKIP	Peter Staveley	1,040	1.8	7.3
	Green	Tracey Hague	626	1.1	1.6
	Christian Peoples	John Boadu	177	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Don Locke	71	0.1	N/A
Majority			5,652	9.9	N/A
Turnout			57,091	71.3	3.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	5.1

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Notes and references

References

Notes

London Borough of Croydon
Districts	Addington Addiscombe Ashburton Beddington Broad Green Coombe Coulsdon Croydon Crystal Palace Forestdale Hamsey Green Kenley Monks Orchard New Addington Norbury Norwood New Town Old Coulsdon Pollards Hill Purley Roundshaw Russell Hill Sanderstead Selhurst Selsdon Shirley Shirley Oaks South Croydon South Norwood Spring Park Thornton Heath Upper Norwood Upper Shirley Waddon Woodcote Woodside Whyteleafe
Attractions	Addington Palace Croydon Airport Croydon Clocktower (David Lean Cinema Museum of Croydon Croydon Central Library) Croydon Palace Fairfield Halls (Ashcroft Theatre) RAF Kenley Selhurst Park (football stadium) Shirley Windmill Warehouse Theatre
Street markets	Croydon Farmers Market Surrey Street Market
Parks and open spaces	Addington Hills Addington Park Addington Vale Addiscombe Railway Park Addiscombe Recreation Ground Apsley Road Playground Ashburton Park Ashburton Playing Fields Beaulieu Heights Brickfields Meadow Coombe Wood Cotelands Duppas Hill Grangewood Park Great North Wood Heavers Meadow Kenley Common Mitcham Common Norbury Park Park Hill Pollards Hill Purley Downs Queen's Gardens Roundshaw Selsdon Wood South Norwood Country Park South Norwood Lake and Grounds South Norwood Recreation Ground Streatham Vale Park Woodside Green
Constituencies	Croydon South Croydon Central Croydon North
Rail stations and tram stops	Addington Village  Addiscombe  Ampere Way  Arena  Beddington Lane  Blackhorse Lane  Centrale  Church Street  Coombe Lane  Coulsdon South  Coulsdon Town   East Croydon  Fieldway  George Street  Gravel Hill  Harrington Road  Kenley  King Henry's Drive  Lebanon Road  Lloyd Park  New Addington  Norbury   Norwood Junction  Purley Oaks  Purley  Reedham  Reeves Corner  Riddlesdown  Sanderstead  Sandilands  Selhurst  South Croydon  Therapia Lane (in LB of Sutton)  Thornton Heath  Waddon Marsh  Waddon  Wandle Park  Wellesley Road    West Croydon  Woodmansterne  Woodside
Art and architecture	Croydon Vision 2020 Grade I and II* listed buildings Public art Tallest buildings and structures
Other topics	Coat of arms Council Economy People Schools
Category Commons

Coordinates: 51°22′08″N 0°03′14″W / 51.369°N 0.054°W / 51.369; -0.054