Kensington and Chelsea (UK Parliament constituency)

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Kensington and Chelsea
Borough constituency
Kensington and Chelsea shown within Greater London
Created: 1997
MP: Sir Malcolm Rifkind
Party: Conservative
Type: House of Commons
County: Greater London
EP constituency: London

Kensington and Chelsea is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is one of the safest Conservative seats in the United Kingdom, and since its creation in 1997, has become a prestigious seat, with the notorious MP Alan Clark, the former Defence Secretary Michael Portillo and the former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind all holding the seat for the Conservatives.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency covers the central and southern portions of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, covering the centres of both Kensington and Chelsea.

Following their review into parliamentary boundaries in North London, the Boundary Commission have created two new constituencies based on the existing Kensington & Chelsea.

The northern section (namely Earl's Court, South Kensington, High Street Kensington and Holland Park) will be combined with the southern section of the current Regent's Park & Kensington North constituency (including Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill) to create a new Kensington constituency whilst the southern part (namely Chelsea) will be combined with the southern half of the current Hammersmith & Fulham constituency to create a new Chelsea and Fulham seat.

[edit] History

The seat first came into existence at the 1997 general election. Notional calculations indicated that it would be one of the safest Conservative seats in the country and so the Conservative nomination has been much sought. In the run up to the 1997 election the nomination was initially won by Nicholas Scott, MP for the Chelsea constituency, but following allegations of alcoholism he was deselected. Tabloids reported that he was "found kissing the pavement".

The nomination was subsequently secured by Alan Clark, the former minister and diarist who was seeking to return to the Commons after standing down at the 1992 general election. Clark was elected, but died after only two years. As a safe Conservative seat in London there was much speculation that former Defence Secretary and widely-predicted future Conservative leader Michael Portillo would seek to return to the Commons after losing the Enfield Southgate constituency in the 1997 election. Portillo was elected in a by-election but his subsequent career stalled and he crashed out of the 2001 Conservative Party leadership election and withdrew to the backbenches. In 2003 he announced that he was going to retire from politics and seek a career in the media. Another former Cabinet Minister, Sir Malcolm Rifkind was nominated and elected in the 2005 general election.

In October 2007 former Labour minister Tony Benn announced that he wanted to come out of retirement and return to the Commons, offering himself to the Kensington and Chelsea constituency Labour Party to challenge Rifkind for his seat in the next general election. [1][2] Though it is important to note that Tony Benn has not yet been selected for this seat and the process has attracted other high quality potential candidates.

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] Election results

[edit] Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Kensington and Chelsea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alan Clark 19,887 53.6 -14.6
Labour Robert Atkinson 10,368 27.9 +11.3
Liberal Democrat Robert Woodthorpe Browne 5,668 15.3 +2.1
Teddy Bear Alliance Edward Bear 218 0.6
United Kingdom Pensioners Party Paul Oliver 176 0.5
Natural Law Susan Hamza 122 0.3
Rainbow Dream Ticket Paul Sullivan 65 0.2
Independent Pete Parliament 44 0.1
Majority 9,519 25.7
Turnout 54.7
Conservative hold Swing
1999 by-election: Kensington and Chelsea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Portillo 11,004 56.4 +2.8
Labour Robert Atkinson 4,298 22.0 -5.9
Liberal Democrat Robert Woodthorpe Browne 1,831 9.4 -5.9
Pro-Euro Conservative John Stevens 740 3.8
UK Independence Damian Hockney 450 2.3 +0.9
Green Hugo Charlton 446 2.3
Democratic Party The Earl of Burford 182 0.9
Legalise Cannabis Colin Paisley 141 0.7
Independent Dr. Michael Irwin 97 0.5
UK Pensioners Party Paul Oliver 75 0.4 -0.1
Independent Referendum Party Stephen Scott-Fawcett 57 0.3
Independent Louise Hodges 48 0.3
Natural Law Ged Valente 35 0.2 0.1
ProLife Alliance Lisa Lovebucket 26 0.1
Independent John Davies 24 0.1
Independent Peter May 24 0.1
Monster Raving Loony Alan Hope 20 0.1
Independent Tony Samuelson 15 0.1
Majority 6,706 34.4
Turnout 29.7
Conservative hold Swing

[edit] Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Kensington and Chelsea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Portillo 15,270 54.5 +0.8
Labour Simon Stanley 6,499 23.2 -4.8
Liberal Democrat Kishwer Falkner 4,416 15.8 +0.5
Green Julia Stephenson 1,158 4.1 n/a
UK Independence Damian Hockney 416 1.5 n/a
ProLife Alliance Josephine Quintavalle 179 0.6 n/a
Jam Wrestling Party Ginger Crab 100 0.4 n/a
Majority 8,771 31.3
Turnout 28,038 43.3 -11.4
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 2005: Kensington and Chelsea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 18,144 57.9 +3.5
Liberal Democrat Jennifer Kingsley 5,726 18.3 +2.5
Labour Catherine Atkinson 5,521 17.6 −5.6
Green Julia Stephenson 1,342 4.3 +0.2
UK Independence Mildred Eiloart 395 1.3 −0.2
Independent Alfred Bovill 107 0.3 N/A
Alliance for Green Socialism Eddie Adams 101 0.3 N/A
Majority 12,418 39.6
Turnout 31,336 50.0 +6.7
Conservative hold Swing +0.5
Next United Kingdom general election: Kensington and Chelsea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind
Liberal Democrat n/a
Labour Sam Gurney

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ I want to be an MP again - Benn. BBC News online (2007-10-04). Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
  2. ^ Fred Attewill (2007-10-04). Benn: I want to return to parliament. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
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