Croydon South (UK Parliament constituency)

For the distinct constituency called Croydon South until 1974, see Croydon South (historic UK Parliament constituency).

Croydon South
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Croydon South in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	81,554 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Richard Ottaway (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Croydon South is a parliamentary 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. The current MP is Conservative Richard Ottaway, who in 1992 replaced Sir William Clark, who had held the seat from its creation in 1974.

Constituency Profile

By far the safest of the three Croydon seats, Croydon South is one of the safest Conservative seats in Greater London, consisting almost entirely of highly affluent suburban areas with well-to-do businesspeople taking advantage of the fast commuter rail connections to the City and Gatwick airport, plus a significant proportion of retirees.

The village-like Selsdon - one of the few places in the seat where transport links are actually poor - has a place on the political map having spawned the phrase 'Selsdon Man', while Purley has become home to large retail estates for out-of-town shopping and leisure.

At the southern end of the seat, Coulsdon has much in common with the county of Surrey of which it was historically a part.

History

Until 1974, most of the area was in the East Surrey constituency, with a constituency also called Croydon South covering the completely distinct area now occupied by Croydon Central constituency.

Boundaries

The new wards of the Croydon South Constituency

Croydon South covers the south west of the London Borough of Croydon. It is made up of eight electoral wards from the borough:

• Coulsdon East, Coulsdon West, Croham, Kenley, Purley, Sanderstead, Selsdon and Ballards, Waddon

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the constituency. Parts of Croham ward, Selsdon and Ballards ward, and Waddon ward were transferred to Croydon South from Croydon Central constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	February 1974	Sir William Clark	Conservative
	1992	Richard Ottaway	Conservative

Election results

Elections in 2010s

General Election 2010: Croydon South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Ottaway	28,684	50.9	-1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Rix	12,866	22.8	+2.4
	Labour	Jane Avis	11,287	20.0	-4.0
	UKIP	Jeffrey Bolter	2,504	4.4	+2.3
	Green	Gordon Ross	981	1.7	+1.7
Majority			15,818	28.1
Turnout			56,322	69.3	+5.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in 2000s

General Election 2005: Croydon South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Ottaway	25,320	51.8	+2.6
	Labour	Paul Smith	11,792	24.1	–5.8
	Liberal Democrat	Sandra Lawman	10,049	20.6	+2.3
	UKIP	James Feisenberger	1,054	2.2	0.0
	Veritas	Graham Dare	497	1.0	+1.0
	The People's Choice! Exclusively For All	Mark Samuel	185	0.4	+0.4
Majority			13,528	27.7
Turnout			48,897	63.6	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.2

General Election 2001: Croydon South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Ottaway	22,169	49.2	+1.9
	Labour	Gerry Ryan	13,472	29.9	+4.6
	Liberal Democrat	Anna-Nicolett Gallop	8,226	18.3	–2.9
	UKIP	Kathleen Garner	998	2.2	+1.6
	People's Choice	Mark Samuel	195	0.4	N/A
Majority			8,697	19.3
Turnout			45,060	61.4	–12.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	–1.3

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)
• Statement of Persons Nominated London Borough of Croydon