Erith and Thamesmead (UK Parliament constituency)
| Erith and Thamesmead | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency | |
| for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Erith and Thamesmead in Greater London. |
|
| County | Greater London |
| Electorate | 69,718 (December 2010)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of Parliament | Teresa Pearce (Labour) |
| Number of members | One |
| Created from | Woolwich and Erith & Crayford |
| Overlaps | |
| European Parliament constituency | London |
Erith and Thamesmead is a borough 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 constituency covers the areas of Erith and Thamesmead near the border of South East London and Kent. It was created for the 1997 general election from parts of the old Woolwich and Erith & Crayford constituencies.
Contents |
[edit] History
John Austin was the MP for this constituency from its creation for the 1997 general election until he stepped down at the 2010 election. The seat was then held for Labour by a local activist Teresa Pearce, who defeated the Conservatives candidate Colin Bloom, a councillor for Bickley Ward in Bromley.
[edit] 2010 Labour selection controversy
In April 2009, an investigation took place into the tampering of ballot boxes and abuse of the postal vote system used for the selection of the prospective Labour candidate for Erith and Thamesmead. A rerun of the candidate selection ballot resulted in victory for Teresa Pearce.[2]
[edit] Boundaries
The cross-border constituency of Erith and Thamesmead currently stretches from Plumstead, and Abbey Wood in the west, to Lesnes Heath, and Erith in the east.
It is made up of five electoral wards from the London Borough of Bexley:
and three electoral wards from the Royal Borough of Greenwich:
[edit] Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, and as a consequence of changes to ward boundaries, the Boundary Commission for England recommended that parts of Glyndon ward and Colyers ward be transferred from Erith and Thamesmead to the constituencies of Greenwich and Woolwich and Bexleyheath and Crayford respectively; that part of Plumstead ward be transferred to Erith and Thamesmead from Eltham; and that parts of Lesnes Abbey ward, Nothumberland Heath ward and Erith ward be transferred to Erith and Thamesmead from Bexleyheath and Crayford.
[edit] Members of Parliament
| Election | Member [3] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | John Austin | Labour | |
| 2010 | Teresa Pearce | Labour | |
[edit] Election results
[edit] Elections in the 2010s
| General Election 2010: Erith and Thamesmead[4] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Teresa Pearce | 19,068 | 44.9 | -7.7 | |
| Conservative | Colin Bloom | 13,365 | 31.5 | +5.0 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Alex Cunliffe | 5,116 | 12.0 | -0.8 | |
| BNP | Kevin Saunders | 2,184 | 5.1 | +0.9 | |
| UKIP | Pamela Perrin | 1,139 | 2.7 | -1.1 | |
| English Democrats | Laurence Williams | 465 | 1.1 | N/A | |
| Independent | Abbey Akinoshun | 438 | 1.0 | N/A | |
| Christian Peoples | Sidney Cordle | 379 | 0.9 | N/A | |
| Green | Marek Powley | 322 | 0.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,703 | 13.4 | -17.1 | ||
| Turnout | 42,476 | 60.8 | +7.1 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -6.3% | |||
[edit] Elections in the 2000s
| General Election 2005: Erith and Thamesmead | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Austin | 20,483 | 54.4 | -4.9 | |
| Conservative | Chris Bromby | 8,983 | 23.9 | -1.9 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Steven Toole | 5,088 | 13.5 | +2.1 | |
| BNP | Brian Ravenscroft | 1,620 | 4.3 | N/A | |
| UKIP | Barrie Thomas | 1,477 | 3.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 11,500 | 30.5 | -2.0 | ||
| Turnout | 37,651 | 52.3 | +2.1 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -7.7% | |||
| General Election 2001: Erith and Thamesmead | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Austin | 19,769 | 59.3 | -2.8 | |
| Conservative | Mark Brooks | 8,602 | 25.8 | +5.6 | |
| Liberal Democrat | James Kempton | 3,800 | 11.4 | -0.6 | |
| Socialist Labour | Hardev Dhillon | 1,180 | 3.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 11,167 | 33.5% | |||
| Turnout | 33,351 | 50.2 | -15.3 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 1990s
| General Election 1997: Erith and Thamesmead | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Austin | 25,812 | 62.1 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Nadhim Zahawi | 8,388 | 20.2 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrat | Alex Grigg | 5,001 | 12.0 | N/A | |
| Referendum Party | J. Flunder | 1,394 | 3.4 | N/A | |
| BNP | Victor Dooley | 718 | 1.7 | N/A | |
| UKIP | M. Jackson | 274 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Majority | 17,424 | N/A | |||
| Turnout | 66.1 | N/A | |||
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Kite, Melissa (18 April 2009). "Labour ballot box tampering row deepens - Telegraph". London: telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/5179212/Labour-ballot-box-tampering-row-deepens.html. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)[self-published source?][better source needed]
- ^ http://www.bexley.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=6479&p=0
