Orpington (UK Parliament constituency)

Orpington
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Orpington in Greater London for the 2010 general election.
County	Greater London
Electorate	68,221 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1945 (1945)
Member of Parliament	Jo Johnson (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Chislehurst and Dartford
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Map showing the wards of the Orpington Parliament Constituency (red) within the London Borough of Bromley (yellow). Cray Valley West (orange) was included in the constituency at the election in 2005 but was transferred to Bromley and Chislehurst in 2010

Orpington 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.

History

Orpington was created in a mini boundary review enacted at the 1945 general election. The seats of Dartford and Chislehurst had both seen their electorate grow enormously since the last review and as an interim measure were divided into four, creating the additional seats of Bexley and Orpington. The seat has changed a little in subsequent boundary reviews since 1945, most recently at the 1997 general election, when the Ravensbourne seat was divided between the three Bromley constituencies, moving Biggin Hill into the existing Orpington seat.

The seat is famous for its 1962 by-election when it was taken in a shock win by the Liberal Party candidate Eric Lubbock.[1].

The current MP is Jo Johnson, first elected in the 2010 general election.

Boundaries

The constituency is located in the London Borough of Bromley, forming the southeastern limits of Greater London and including the urban areas of Orpington, St Mary Cray, most of St Paul's Cray, Farnborough, and Chelsfield and extending through the countryside to Biggin Hill. It is made up of seven electoral wards from the borough:

• Biggin Hill, Chelsfield and Pratts Bottom, Cray Valley East, Darwin, Farnborough and Crofton, Orpington, Petts Wood and Knoll

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the existing constituency of Orpington. Cray Valley West ward was transferred to Bromley and Chislehurst constituency and a small part of Bromley Common and Keston ward was transferred to the revised Beckenham constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1945	Sir Waldron Smithers	Conservative
	1955	Donald Sumner	Conservative
	1962 by-election	Eric Lubbock	Liberal
	1970	Ivor Stanbrook	Conservative
	1992	John Horam	Conservative
	2010	Jo Johnson	Conservative

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Johnson	29,200	59.7	+8.5
	Liberal Democrat	David McBride	12,000	24.5	-15.9
	Labour	Stephen Morgan	4,400	9.0	+3.0
	UKIP	James Greenhough	1,360	2.8	+0.4
	BNP	Tess Culnane	1,241	2.5	N/A
	Green	Tamara Galloway	511	1.0	N/A
	English Democrats	Chris Snape	199	0.4	N/A
Majority			17,200	35.2
Turnout			48,911	72.2	-0.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	26,718	48.8	+4.9
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Maines	21,771	39.8	-3.5
	Labour	Emily Bird	4,914	9.0	-1.8
	UKIP	Mick Greenhough	1,331	2.4	+0.4
Majority			4,947	9.0	+8.4
Turnout			54,734	69.9	+5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.2

General Election 2001: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	22,334	43.9	+3.3
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Maines	22,065	43.3	+7.7
	Labour	Chris A. Purnell	5,517	10.8	-7.0
	UKIP	John B. Youles	996	2.0	+1.1
Majority			269	0.6	-4.3
Turnout			50,912	64.6	-11.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.2

Elections in 1990s

General Election 1997: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	24,417	40.6	-16.6
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Maines	21,465	35.7	+5.5
	Labour	Sue Polydorou	10,753	17.9	+6.4
	Referendum Party	David Clark	2,316	3.8	N/A
	UKIP	J. Carver	526	0.9	N/A
	Liberal	Robin Almond	494	0.8	-0.3
	ProLife Alliance	Nicholas Wilton	191	0.3	N/A
Majority			2,952	4.9	-22.1
Turnout			60,162	76.3	-7.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-11.0

General Election 1992: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	27,421	57.2	-1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Maines	14,486	30.2	-0.8
	Labour	Stephen J. Cowan	5,512	11.5	+0.8
	Liberal	Robin Almond	539	1.1	N/A
Majority			12,935	27.0	-0.2
Turnout			47,958	83.7	+5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.1

Elections in 1980s

General Election 1987: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	27,261	58.2	+0.9
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Liberal)	Jonathan H. Fryer	14,529	31.0	-3.5
	Labour	S.J. Cowan	5,020	10.7	+3.0
Majority			12,732	27.2	+4.5
Turnout			46,810	78.5	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

General Election 1983: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	25,569	57.3	-0.7
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Liberal)	J.W. Cook	15,418	34.5	+5.5
	Labour	D.M. Bean	3,439	7.7	-4.2
	BNP	L. T. Taylor	215	0.5	N/A
Majority			10,151	22.7	-6.3
Turnout			44,641	76.0	-5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.2

Elections in 1970s

General Election 1979: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	32,150	58.0	+11.0
	Liberal	J.W. Cook	16,074	29.0	-8.4
	Labour	A.J. Weyman	6,581	11.9	-3.8
	National Front	F. Hitches	516	0.9	N/A
	Homeland Party	I. MacKillian	146	0.3	N/A
Majority			16,076	29.0	+19.3
Turnout			55,467	81.7	+2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.6

General Election October 1974: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	24,394	47.0	-0.2
	Liberal	Lady Avebury	19,384	37.3	-3.4
	Labour	C. Spillane	8,121	15.6	+3.5
Majority			5,010	9.7	+3.1
Turnout			51,899	79.0	-7.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

General Election February 1974: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	26,435	47.2	-0.1
	Liberal	R. Young	22,771	40.7	-4.0
	Labour	D. Grant	6,752	12.1	+4.1
Majority			3,664	6.6	+4.0
Turnout			55,598	86.1	+7.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

General Election 1970: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	24,385	47.3	+4.0
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	23,063	44.7	-2.0
	Labour	D. Grant	4,098	8.0	-2.1
Majority			1,322	2.6
Turnout			51,546	79.1	-7.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.0

Elections in 1960s

General Election 1966: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	22,615	46.7	-1.7
	Conservative	Norris McWhirter	20,993	43.3	+1.5
	Labour	D. Sleigh	4,870	10.1	+0.2
Majority			1,622	3.4	-3.2
Turnout			48,478	87.0	+1.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.6

General Election 1964: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	22,637	48.4	-4.5
	Conservative	Norris McWhirter	19,565	41.8	+7.1
	Labour	P. Merriton	4,609	9.9	-2.5
Majority			3,072	6.6	-11.6
Turnout			46,811	87.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	-5.8

Orpington by-election, 1962
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	22,846	52.9	+30.7
	Conservative	Peter Goldman	14,991	34.7	-21.9
	Labour	Alan Jinkinson	5,350	12.4	-9.8
Majority			7,855	18.2	-16.2
Turnout			43,187
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+26.3

Elections in 1950s

General Election 1959: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Sumner	24,303	56.6	-3.3
	Labour	N. Hart	9,543	22.2	-5.4
	Liberal	Jack Galloway	9,092	21.2	+8.7
Majority			14,760	34.4	+1.1
Turnout			42,938	82.8	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.6

General Election 1955: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Sumner	22,166	59.9	-2.8
	Labour	N. J. Hart	10,230	27.6	-9.8
	Liberal	Alfred B. Howard	4,610	12.5	N/A
Majority			11,936	32.3	+7.0
Turnout			37,006	79.4	-2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5

Orpington by-election, 1955
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Sumner	20,082	65.83
	Labour	R. Vaughan Williams	10,426	34.17
Majority			9,656	31.7
Turnout			30,508	55.39
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3

General Election 1951: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Waldron Smithers	27,244	62.7	+6.0
	Labour	R.D. Vaughan Williams	16,241	37.4	+4.6
Majority			11,003	25.3	+1.4
Turnout			43,485	82.0	-3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

General Election 1950: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Waldron Smithers	24,450	56.7	+8.1
	Labour	George H. C. Vaughan	14,161	32.8	-5.0
	Liberal	Lady Ruth Abrahams	4,523	10.5	-1.8
Majority			10,289	23.9	+13.1
Turnout			43,134	85.1	+12.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in 1940s

General Election 1945: Orpington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Waldron Smithers	20,388	48.6	N/A
	Labour	A.R. Mais	15,846	37.8	N/A
	Liberal	E.R. Goodfellow	5,140	12.3	N/A
	Independent	G.C. Milner	528	1.3	N/A
Majority			4,542	10.8	N/A
Turnout			41,902	72.7	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

References

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)

External links

• UK Constituency Maps
• BBC Vote 2001 Includes 1997 and 2001 results
• BBC Election 2005
• Political Science Resources