Eltham ( ) is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

created in 1983 and represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since 1997 by

Clive Efford Clive Stanley Efford (born 10 July 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Eltham since 1997. Early life Efford was born in London and educated at Walworth School and Southwark College. He w ...

of the Labour Party. The seat approximately covers the southern half of the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in London.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Avery Hill, Coldharbour, Deansfield, Eltham Park, Herbert, Middle Park, New Eltham, Nightingale, Palace, Sherard, Sutcliffe, Tarn, and Well Hall. 1997–2010: As above less Nightingale, plus Plumstead Common, Shrewsbury, and Slade. 2010–present: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Coldharbour and New Eltham, Eltham North, Eltham South, Eltham West, Kidbrooke with Hornfair, Middle Park and Sutcliffe, and Shooters Hill. The constituency is in the

south-east London Greater London is divided into five sub-regions for the purposes of the London Plan. The boundaries of these areas were amended in 2008 and 2011 and their role in the implementation of the London Plan has varied with each iteration. Purpose Sub- ...

. Before 1983, a constituency with similar boundaries was called Woolwich West. The seat is bordered by the constituencies of: *

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Constituency profile

The constituency is centred on Eltham which has a typical High Street shopping area, surrounded by 20th century suburbs such as Mottingham and New Eltham. There are two railway lines in the seat and many residents commute to Central London. Residents' health and wealth are around average for the UK. Most central and southern wards have tended in local elections since 1997 to elect Conservative councillors whereas the other wards are inclined to Labour such as West Eltham. The former areas have more owner-occupied houses and are more middle-class. Labour has fared well in the same period in the northern areas of the constituency towards Greenwich, and in areas such as Shooters Hill and Well Hall with the exception of the conservation area parts of

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

adding to one ward.

History

;Summary of results The 2015 result gave the seat the 28th-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. The seat was held by high-profile Tory

Peter Bottomley Sir Peter James Bottomley (born 30 July 1944) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1975 when elected for Woolwich West, serving until it was abolished before the 1983 general election. ...

from its inception in 1983. Bottomley had been the MP for abolished Woolwich West before 1983. Labour's

gained the seat in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, the first Eltham election in which Bottomley did not stand. Bottomley was standing instead for

Worthing West Worthing West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 creation by Sir Peter Bottomley, a Conservative, who is the Father of the House of Commons. Boundaries *Worthing wards: Castle, Central, Dur ...

, where he has remained the MP ever since. After a further absolute majority in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, Efford's majority decreased in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

; he resisted some national swing against the party in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

to hold the seat. ;Opposition since 1997

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest pa ...

candidates won more than 5% of the vote in 2015 therefore kept their deposits. Conservative Drury fell 6.2% short of winning the seat in 2015; in 2017, however, Efford more than doubled his margin to 6,296, Labour's largest majority in the seat since 1997. ;First use of open primaries in London In 2006, the Eltham Conservative Association became the first in London to select a prospective parliamentary candidate by means of an open

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, where any voter on the electoral roll was entitled to attend and vote. David Gold (PPC Brighton Pavilion 2001) defeated Jackie Doyle-Price (PPC Sheffield Hillsborough 2005) and

Eric Ollerenshaw Eric Ollerenshaw OBE (born 26 March 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lancaster and Fleetwood from 2010 to 2015. He was born and grew up in Lancashire and was educated at Hyde County Gr ...

(former London Assembly member), by winning more than 50% of the ballot in the first round at a meeting chaired by Michael Portillo on 31 July 2006 at the Bob Hope Theatre. Approximately 140 people attended the open primary."David Gold selected for Eltham"
Conservative Home (blog) Ironically while Gold was defeated in Eltham at the 2010 General Election, both Doyle-Price and Ollerenshaw won seats elsewhere.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Notes

References

External links

Eltham Labour PartyEltham , Greenwich Conservatives
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{Coord, 51.456, 0.062, type:city_region:GB-GRE, display=title Politics of the Royal Borough of Greenwich Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Eltham