Lewisham West and Penge (UK Parliament constituency)

Lewisham West and Penge
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Lewisham West and Penge in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	69,399 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	2010 (2010)
Member of Parliament	Jim Dowd (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Lewisham West
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Lewisham West and Penge is a cross-border 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.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England created this new constituency with electoral wards from the London Boroughs of Bromley and Lewisham. It was contested for the first time in the 2010 general election.

Constituency Profile

The new seat comprises the South-Western portion of Lewisham borough (the strongest part of the borough for the Conservatives) with the North-Western tip of Bromley borough (the Tories weakest part of Bromley and Labour's strongest). Fittingly, this seat is therefore the Conservatives best chance of winning anywhere in Lewisham, and Labour's best hope in Bromley, though a strong Liberal Democrat challenge in 2010 edged the Tories into 3rd and ensured that Labour held on comfortably against divided opposition.

The seat includes some of the Crystal Palace area (the famous park and site of the palace itself is on the intersection of five boroughs) and the nearby areas of Penge, Forest Hill and Sydenham - all parts of South London which have progressively become less desirable places to live since the mid-19th century when they were the height of luxurious suburbia.

Boundaries

The electoral wards of Lewisham West and Penge constituency are from two London boroughs:

• From Bromley Borough Council: Clock House; Crystal Palace; Penge and Cator
• From Lewisham Borough Council: Bellingham; Forest Hill; Perry Vale; Sydenham

To create the new constituency the Boundary Commission for England transferred Perry Vale ward, Bellingham ward, Forest Hill ward, and Sydenham ward from the former Lewisham West constituency. Clock House ward, Crystal Palace ward, and Penge and Cator ward were transferred from Beckenham constituency.

Proposed changes

As part of the on-going Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which commenced in 2011, the Boundary Commission for England propose creating a new constituency formed from the College, Village, East Dulwich and Peckham Rye wards from Southwark and Crofton Park, Perry Vale, Forest Hill and Sydenham wards from London Borough of Lewisham. It will be named 'Dulwich and Sydenham'. The electoral wards of Penge, and Cator will be transferred to a reformed Beckenham.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Jim Dowd	Labour

Election results

General Election 2010: Lewisham West and Penge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Dowd*	18,501	41.1	−5.2
	Liberal Democrat	Alex Feakes	12,673	28.1	+1.0
	Conservative	Chris Phillips	11,489	25.5	+3.9
	UKIP	Peter Staveley	1,117	2.5	−0.1
	Green	Romayne Phoenix	931	2.1	−0.3
	Christian Peoples	Stephen Hammond	317	0.7	N/A
Majority			5,828	12.9	−6.2
Turnout			45,028	65.2	+7.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.1

* Served as MP for Lewisham West in the 2005–2010 Parliament

Swing percentages based on notional results following boundary changes

See also

• Lewisham West (UK Parliament constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London