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)
Current constituency
Created	1997 (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 pron.: /ˈɪərɨθ ənd tɛmzmiːd/ is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the U.K. Parliament and covers the areas of Erith and Thamesmead in the southeast of Outer London by the River Thames near the border of Greater London and Kent. Since 1997 it has been a Labour safe seat.

History

It was created for the 1997 general election from parts of the old Woolwich and Erith & Crayford constituencies.

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.

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.

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:

• Belvedere, Erith, Lesnes Abbey, Northumberland Heath, Thamesmead East

and three electoral wards from the Royal Borough of Greenwich:

• Abbey Wood, Plumstead, Thamesmead Moorings

The Conservative's strongest wards are in the Bexley part of the seat (Lesnes Abbey, Northumberland Heath), whereas the remaining wards from the borough and neighbouring Greenwich are far more inclined towards Labour.

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.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1997	John Austin	Labour
	2010	Teresa Pearce	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Erith and Thamesmead
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

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Erith and Thamesmead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Austin	20,483	54.4	-4.9
	Conservative	Chris R. Bromby	8,983	23.9	-1.9
	Liberal Democrat	Steven T. Toole	5,088	13.5	+2.1
	BNP	Brian Ravenscroft	1,620	4.3	N/A
	UKIP	Barrie R. 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 J. Brooks	8,602	25.8	+5.6
	Liberal Democrat	James Kempton	3,800	11.4	-0.6
	Socialist Labour	Hardev S. Dhillon	1,180	3.5	N/A
Majority			11,167	33.5
Turnout			33,351	50.2	-15.3
	Labour hold		Swing

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 H.C. Grigg	5,001	12.0	N/A
	Referendum Party	John E. Flunder	1,394	3.4	N/A
	BNP	Victor J. Dooley	718	1.7	N/A
	UKIP	M.L. Jackson	274	0.7	N/A
Majority			17,424	41.9	N/A
Turnout			41,587	65.6	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Notes

Notes

References