Esher and Walton (UK Parliament constituency)
Esher and Walton | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
![]() Interactive map of boundaries from 2024 | |
![]() Boundary of Esher and Walton in South East England | |
County | Surrey |
Electorate | 73,280 (2023)[1] |
Major settlements | |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 |
Member of Parliament | Monica Harding (Liberal Democrats) |
Seats | One |
Created from |
Esher and Walton (/ˌiːʃər ... ˈwɔːltənˌ ˈwɒltən/) is a constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[n 1] Since 2024, it has been represented by Monica Harding of the Liberal Democrats. Prior to this, Dominic Raab of the Conservative Party, who served as deputy prime minister before resigning from that role in April 2023 due to bullying allegations, had served as the MP since 2010.[2]
Constituency profile
[edit]The constituency is in the north of Surrey, in the London commuter belt. The area includes heathland and reservoirs, and the built-up areas of Esher, Walton-on-Thames, Claygate, Molesey, Thames Ditton, and Hinchley Wood, all located within the Borough of Elmbridge. A majority of its housing is on private planned estates.[3] The South West Main Line passes through the middle of the seat, with fast trains to central London. The constituency has low unemployment[4] and has until recently been regarded as one of the Conservative Party's safest seats in the UK. The area of the seat includes the last non-tidal section of the River Thames, wooded Esher Commons, the River Mole and Sandown Park racecourse.[5]
Boundaries
[edit]From the constituency's creation in 1997, until 2024, it consisted of the Borough of Elmbridge wards of Claygate, Cobham and Downside, Cobham Fairmile, Esher, Hersham North, Hersham South, Hinchley Wood, Long Ditton, Molesey East, Molesey North, Molesey South, Oxshott and Stoke D'Abernon, Thames Ditton, Walton Ambleside, Walton Central, Walton North, Walton South, Weston Green.
Following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards:
- The Borough of Elmbridge wards of Claygate, Esher, Hersham Village, Hinchley Wood & Weston Green, Long Ditton, Molesey East, Molesey West, Oatlands & Burwood Park, Thames Ditton, Walton Central, Walton North, and Walton South.[6]
- The electorate fell by bringing it within the permitted range: by losing two southern wards, including Cobham, to Runnymede and Weybridge, and half offset by the addition of the village/small suburb (one ward) of Oatlands.
History
[edit]The last time a component of this area voted for an MP who was not Conservative was in 1906, when a Liberal MP served the four-year term to 1910 for Chertsey, representing the Walton-on-Thames part of the current seat.[7][8]
In the 2019 general election, 60 seats, including this seat, were written into the Remain Alliance, an agreement between the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru not to vie against one another in those seats.[9] These were parties opposed to Britain's departure from the European Union. In consequence, Laura Harmour,[10] who had been lined up to fight the seat for the Green Party, did not stand. Axel Thill,[11] the candidate selected for the Brexit Party, was one of those withdrawn by party leader Nigel Farage before nominations closed,[12] when Farage decided not to field candidates in Conservative-held seats. This was done to avoid the potential for pro-Remain parties winning seats and holding a People's Vote on Brexit.
The seat, long considered safe for the Conservatives, was heavily targeted by the Liberal Democrats, particularly because the incumbent Conservative, Dominic Raab, had campaigned for a Leave vote in the EU referendum. The constituency itself voted in favour of remaining in the EU and is socially similar to the two Greater London seats it borders, namely Twickenham and Kingston & Surbiton, which are both strongholds for the Lib Dems. This resulted in a large swing to the Liberal Democrats of 18.5%, reducing the seat's majority to make it a marginal for the first time since its creation.
Members of Parliament
[edit]Ian Taylor held the seat from 1997 to 2010, having held the previous Esher seat from 1987. Taylor stood down at the 2010 election, and Dominic Raab was elected as the new Conservative MP for this seat. In 2024, the Liberal Democrat candidate Monica Harding won the seat, becoming the first MP from a party other than the Conservatives to represent any part of the modern constituency since 1906.
Election | Member[13] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Ian Taylor | Conservative | |
2010 | Dominic Raab | Conservative | |
2024 | Monica Harding | Liberal Democrats |
Elections
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Esher_and_Walton_Election_Graph.png)
Elections in the 2020s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Monica Harding | 28,315 | 52.6 | +8.4 | |
Conservative | John Cope | 16,312 | 30.3 | –19.2 | |
Reform UK | Alastair Gray | 4,777 | 8.9 | N/A | |
Labour | Yoel Gordon | 2,846 | 5.3 | +0.5 | |
Green | Maciej Pawlik | 1,396 | 2.6 | +2.4 | |
SDP | Richard Bateson | 234 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 12,003 | 22.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 53,880 | 72.8 | –3.9 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +13.8 |
Elections in the 2010s
[edit]2019 notional result[15] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Vote | % | |
Conservative | 27,819 | 49.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | 24,804 | 44.2 | |
Labour | 2,698 | 4.8 | |
Others | 725 | 1.3 | |
Green | 132 | 0.2 | |
Turnout | 56,178 | 76.7 | |
Electorate | 73,280 |
In 2019, Esher and Walton was one[16] of five English seats (the others being Cheltenham, East Devon, Westmorland and Lonsdale, and Winchester) where the Labour candidate failed to get over 5% votes cast so lost the deposit.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 31,132 | 49.4 | –9.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Monica Harding | 28,389 | 45.0 | +27.7 | |
Labour | Peter Ashurst | 2,838 | 4.5 | –15.2 | |
Independent | Kylie Keens | 347 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Baron Badger | 326 | 0.5 | ![]() | |
Advance | Kyle Taylor | 52 | 0.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 2,743 | 4.4 | –34.5 | ||
Turnout | 63,084 | 77.7 | +3.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | –18.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 35,071 | 58.6 | –4.3 | |
Labour | Lana Hylands | 11,773 | 19.7 | +7.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Andrew Davis | 10,374 | 17.3 | +7.9 | |
Green | Olivia Palmer | 1,074 | 1.8 | –2.3 | |
UKIP | David Ions | 1,034 | 1.7 | –8.0 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Baron Badger | 318 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Independent | Della Reynolds | 198 | 0.3 | –0.1 | |
Majority | 23,298 | 38.9 | –11.3 | ||
Turnout | 59,842 | 73.9 | +2.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | –5.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 35,845 | 62.9 | +4.0 | |
Labour | Francis Eldergill | 7,229 | 12.7 | +2.0 | |
UKIP | Nicholas Wood | 5,551 | 9.7 | +6.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Andrew Davis | 5,372 | 9.4 | −15.4 | |
Green | Olivia Palmer | 2,355 | 4.1 | N/A | |
CISTA | Matthew Heenan | 396 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Independent | Della Reynolds | 228 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 28,616 | 50.2 | +16.1 | ||
Turnout | 56,976 | 71.3 | −0.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 32,134 | 58.9 | +13.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Lionel Blackman | 13,541 | 24.8 | −4.8 | |
Labour | Francis Eldergill | 5,829 | 10.7 | −8.7 | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 1,783 | 3.3 | 0.0 | |
Independent | Tony Popham | 378 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Chinners Chinnery | 341 | 0.6 | −0.7 | |
English Democrat | Mike Kearsley | 307 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Best of a Bad Bunch | Andy Lear | 230 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 18,593 | 34.1 | +18.0 | ||
Turnout | 54,543 | 72.0 | +9.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +9.0 |
Elections in the 2000s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Taylor | 21,882 | 45.7 | −3.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark Marsh | 14,155 | 29.6 | +7.1 | |
Labour | Richard C.H. Taylor | 9,309 | 19.4 | −4.2 | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 1,582 | 3.3 | −1.6 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Chinners Chinnery | 608 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Socialist Labour | Richard G. Cutler | 342 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 7,727 | 16.1 | −9.3 | ||
Turnout | 47,878 | 62.2 | +0.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −5.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Taylor | 22,296 | 49.0 | −0.8 | |
Labour | Joe McGowan | 10,758 | 23.6 | +0.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark Marsh | 10,241 | 22.5 | +2.1 | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 2,236 | 4.9 | +3.9 | |
Majority | 11,538 | 25.4 | −1.6 | ||
Turnout | 45,531 | 61.9 | −12.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −0.9 |
Elections in the 1990s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Taylor | 26,747 | 49.8 | −10.9 | |
Labour | Julie A. Reay | 12,219 | 22.8 | +5.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Gary M. Miles | 10,937 | 20.4 | −1.6 | |
Referendum | Andrew A.C. Cruickshank | 2,904 | 5.4 | N/A | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 558 | 1.0 | N/A | |
Rainbow Dream Ticket | Simone Kay | 302 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 14,528 | 27.0 | |||
Turnout | 53,667 | 74.3 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
See also
[edit]- List of parliamentary constituencies in Surrey
- List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)
Notes
[edit]- ^ As with all constituencies, Esher and Walton elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at most every five years.
References
[edit]- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ "Dominic Raab resigns as UK deputy prime minister over bullying claims". Financial Times. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ Latest published Physical Environment: Land Use Statistics by constituency Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
- ^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
- ^ "2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
- ^ Youngs, Frederic A Jr. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.(1979) pp. 764–766
- ^ British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
- ^ "FULL LIST: All the seats being targeted by the cross-party anti-Brexit Unite to Remain group". PoliticsHome.com. 7 November 2019.
- ^ "General Election Candidates 2019 | Green Party". Green Party Members' Website.
- ^ "Home". Axel Thill PPC.
- ^ Ferguson, Emily (11 November 2019). "Election 2019 LIVE: Corbyn INVISIBLE on Labour leaflets -Leader's unpopularity hurts party". Express.co.uk.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
- ^ "Esher and Walton results". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Election results 2019: Greens lose the most deposits". BBC News. 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Esher & Walton Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ "Esher and Walton Candidates". Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
Sources
[edit]- Election result, 2015 (BBC)
- Election result, 2010 (BBC)
- Election result, 2005 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997–2001 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997–2001 (Election Demon)
External links
[edit]- Esher and Walton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Esher and Walton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK