Cable regained the seat in the 2017 snap election by a 14.8% majority and an absolute majority at 52.8% of the vote; this was the highest vote percentage for the Liberal Democrats in any constituency nationally.[3]
The seat has in the 21st century had notably high turnouts. At the 2015 general election, it had the highest turnout in England and the fourth highest in the UK.[4] In 2017, turnout was 79.7%, the highest for any seat in the UK, ahead of Oxford West and Abingdon gained by the same party.[5][6] The seat of Twickenham has also been won by the same party as the neighbouring seat of Kingston and Surbiton in all seven elections they have been in (6 Lib Dem, 1 Conservative).
In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable.[7]
Boundaries
Map of current boundaries
Twickenham in Middlesex, 1918–45Twickenham, 1945–50
1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Heston and Isleworth, and Twickenham.
1974–1983: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Central Twickenham, East Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.[8]
1983–1997: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Central Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Nursery, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.[9]
1997–2010: Central Twickenham, East Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Nursery, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.[10]
2010–present: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Fulwell and Hampton Hill, Hampton, Hampton North, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, St Margaret's and North Twickenham, South Twickenham, Teddington, Twickenham Riverside, West Twickenham, and Whitton.[11]
During this period the Hamptons (Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Court and Hampton Wick) and Teddington were excluded from the seat, which instead contained two urban districts to the north of subsequent boundaries, Isleworth and Hounslow, an area at the time with key economic sectors of construction, brewing, warehousing and goods transportation. As such these areas had some support for the Labour Party, who in their best result in the seat, lost the 1929 by-election in the seat by 503 votes (1.6% of the vote).
1945–date
In 1945, the area saw as an unusual corollary to its shift southwards, the swing nationally, of +11.7% (Con-to-Lab) converted in the more strongly middle-class redefined seat to a major cut in the 24% Conservative majority [n 6] swinging −15.3% to a Liberal opponent, George Granville Slack. In February 1974 and from 1979 until seizing victory in 1997, the runner-up party became the Liberal Party or their successor, the Liberal Democrats and the ward boundaries became only slightly adjusted to reflect changes made in the borderlines made at the local level of government.
Constituency profile
As described by the boundaries, the area enjoys substantial parkland and Thameside landscapes, coupled with a variety of commuter train services to Central London including semi-fast services from Twickenham itself to London Waterloo.
Twickenham is the only constituency situated entirely within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and, as such, is made up completely of middle-class suburbia, similar to the neighbouring constituencies of Kingston & Surbiton, Richmond Park (both in Greater London) and Esher & Walton in Surrey. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower in Twickenham than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[13]
Members of Parliament
Map that gives each named seat and any constant electoral success for national (Westminster) elections for Middlesex, 1955 to 1974.
This was the second largest Lib Dem majority by percentage, after Bath and the largest by number. It was also their largest vote share at the 2019 general election.[15]
^By share of the vote, behind five seats: Orkney and Shetland, Westmoreland and Lonsdale, Bath, Yeovil, and Norfolk North
^However mostly further south as the river is on a north-south axis at this point
^An ill-defined but major neighbourhood of East Molesey often self-identifies as and ascribes to itself Hampton Court by virtue of its station and long standing sweep of shops of that name, across historic and actual boundaries, across the Thames in Surrey, this is not part of the Hampton Court hamlet mentioned.
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN0-900178-06-X.
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