Richmond Park (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Richmond Park


Type = Borough
Entity = Greater London
DivisionType = County
Division = Greater London
Year = 1997
MP = Susan Kramer
Party = Liberal Democrat
EP = 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.

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 Liberal Democrats 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.

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 [http://www.election-maps.co.uk the UK government election map web site] .

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. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/South_London_Boroughs/downloads/South_London_Local_Inquiry_Final_Recs.pdf (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.

Members of Parliament

Candidates

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Susan Kramer
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Zac Goldsmith
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Eleanor Tunnicliffe
votes =
percentage =
change =

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Susan Kramer
votes = 24,011
percentage = 46.7
change = −1.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Marco Forgione
votes = 20,280
percentage = 39.5
change = +1.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = James Butler
votes = 4,768
percentage = 9.3
change = −2.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = James Page
votes = 1,379
percentage = 2.7
change = +0.2Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Peter Dul
votes = 458
percentage = 0.9
change = +0.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Christian Peoples Alliance
candidate = Peter Flower
votes = 288
percentage = 0.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Margaret Harrison
votes = 83
percentage = 0.2
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
candidate = Rainbow George Weiss
votes = 63
percentage = 0.1
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Richard Meacock
votes = 44
percentage = 0.1
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 3,731
percentage = 7.3
change =Election box turnout
votes = 51,374
percentage = 72.8
change = +4.8Election box hold with party link
winner = Liberal Democrats (UK)
swing = −1.4

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Jenny Tonge
votes = 23,444
percentage = 47.7
change = +3.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Tom Harris
votes = 18,480
percentage = 37.6
change = −1.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Barry Langford
votes = 5,541
percentage = 11.3
change = −1.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = James Page
votes = 1,223
percentage = 2.5
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Peter St John Howe
votes = 348
percentage = 0.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Raymond Perrin
votes = 115
percentage = 0.2
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 4,964
percentage =
change =Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 67.6
change = −11.8Election box hold with party link
winner = Liberal Democrats (UK)
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Jenny Tonge
votes = 25,393
percentage = 44.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Jeremy Hanley
votes = 22,442
percentage = 39.5
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Sue Jenkins
votes = 7,172
percentage = 12.6
change = −1.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Referendum Party
candidate = J. Pugh
votes = 1,467
percentage = 2.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Official Monster Raving Loony Party
candidate = D. Beaupre
votes = 348
percentage = 0.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = B. D'Arcy
votes = 102
percentage = 0.2
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
candidate = P. Davies
votes = 73
percentage = 0.1
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 2,951
percentage =
change = "N/A"Election box turnout
votes = 57201
percentage = 79.5
change = "N/A"Election box gain with party link
winner = Liberal Democrats (UK)
loser = Conservative Party (UK)
swing = "N/A"

ee also

*List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

References