Mitcham and Morden (UK Parliament constituency)

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Mitcham and Morden
Borough constituency
Mitcham and Morden shown within Greater London
Created: 1974
MP: Siobhain McDonagh
Party: Labour
Type: House of Commons
County: Greater London
EP constituency: London

Mitcham and Morden is a borough 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.

The seat was created in the 1974 boundary re-distribution from the former constituencies of Merton and Morden and Mitcham. Between 1974 and 1982 it was represented by Bruce Douglas-Mann who was elected as a Labour MP but defected in 1982 to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). On defecting he resigned his seat and sought re-election as an SDP MP, he was the only defector to have resigned his seat. In the subsequent By-Election held in May 1982 at the time of the Falklands War, the seat elected Angela Rumbold of the Conservative Party, this was the last time that any seat has been gained by a governing party in office. It was also the last time the Conservitive Party would gain a seat at a by-election until 22nd May 2008 when Edward Timpson took Crewe and Nantwich.

At the 1997 General Election the seat reverted to Labour and Siobhain McDonagh was elected as Member of Parliament. At the 2001 General Election and the 2005 General Election, she was re-elected and her majority is 12,560 (31.5%) and the seat was the 87th safest Labour seat at the 2005 General Election. At the election, the constituency had the 3rd lowest swing to the Conservatives of any London constituency and Siobhain McDonagh has a larger percentage majority then when she was first-elected in 1997. The seat has had a swing to Labour of 22% since the 1987 General Election.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

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The constituency consists of the following wards Colliers Wood, Cricket Green, Figges Marsh, Graveney, Lavender Fields, Lower Morden, Longthornton, Pollards Hill, Ravensbury and St Helier.

At the 2006 Local Elections every ward except Lower Morden was won by Labour and they currently hold 27 out of 30 seats in Mitcham and Morden.

The Parliamentary boundary changes which will be implemented at the next election are relatively minor with about 750 electors moving from Mitcham and Morden to Wimbledon and about 500 electors moving from Wimbledon to Mitcham and Morden. This has been caused by wards being aligned with constituency boundaries following the implementation of new ward boundaries for the London Borough of Merton at the 2002 Local Elections.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Year Member Party
1974 Bruce Douglas-Mann Labour, then Independent SDP
1982 Angela Rumbold Conservative
1997 Siobhain McDonagh Labour

[edit] Election results

[edit] Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Mitcham and Morden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Siobhain McDonagh 22,489 56.4 −4.0
Conservative Andrew Shellhorn 9,929 24.9 +0.8
Liberal Democrat Jo Christie-Smith 5,583 14.0 +3.9
Green Tom Walsh 1,395 3.5 +1.1
Veritas Adrian Roberts 286 0.7 N/A
Independent Rathy Alagaratnam 186 0.5 N/A
Majority 12,560 31.5
Turnout 39,868 61.2 +3.4
Labour hold Swing −2.4
General Election 2001: Mitcham and Morden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Siobhain McDonagh 22,936 60.4 +2.1
Conservative Harry Stokes 9,151 24.1 -5.6
Liberal Democrat Nick Harris 3,820 10.1 +2.5
Green Tom Walsh 926 2.4 +1.6
British National Party John Tyndall 642 1.7 +0.6
UK Independence Adrian Roberts 486 1.3 +1.0
Majority 13,785 36.3
Turnout 37,961 57.8 -15.5
Labour hold Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1980s

Merton, Mitcham and Morden by-election, 1982
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Angela Rumbold 13,306 43.4 -0.5
Social Democrat Bruce Douglas-Mann 9,032 29.4 N/A
Labour David Nicholas 7,475 24.4 -20.8
National Front Joseph Pearce 547 1.8 -0.2
Independent Liberal Edward Larkin 123 0.4 N/A
Ethnic Minority Candidate Roy Sawh 84 0.3 N/A
Democratic Monarchist Bill Boaks 66 0.2 N/A
COPS Jitendra Bardwaj 22 0.1 N/A
Computer Democrat Christopher Farnsworth 18 0.0 N/A
Majority 4,274 14.0
Turnout 48.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +10.2

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Constituencies in Greater London by holding party
Labour

Barking · Battersea · Brent North · Brent South · Brentford and Isleworth · Camberwell and Peckham · Croydon North · Dagenham · Dulwich and West Norwood · Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush · Ealing North · Ealing Southall · East Ham · Edmonton · Eltham · Enfield North · Erith and Thamesmead · Feltham and Heston · Finchley and Golders Green · Greenwich and Woolwich · Hackney North and Stoke Newington · Hackney South and Shoreditch · Hampstead and Highgate · Harrow East · Harrow West · Hayes and Harlington · Hendon · Holborn and St. Pancras · Ilford South · Islington North · Islington South and Finsbury · Lewisham Deptford · Lewisham East · Lewisham West · Leyton and Wanstead · Mitcham and Morden · Poplar and Canning Town · Regent's Park and Kensington North · Streatham · Tooting · Tottenham · Vauxhall · Walthamstow · West Ham
Conservative
Liberal Democrat
Respect
Independent
Conservative
London European constituency
Conservatives 3 · Labour 3 · Liberal Democrats 1 · UKIP 1 · Green 1
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