Epsom and Ewell 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, ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

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

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 ...

Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 to 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (United King ...

, a

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 ...

Boundaries

1974–1983: The Municipal Borough of Epsom and Ewell, and the Urban District of Leatherhead. 1983–1997: The Borough of Epsom and Ewell, and the Borough of Reigate and Banstead wards of Banstead Village, Nork, Preston, and Tattenhams. 1997–2010: The Borough of Epsom and Ewell, the District of Mole Valley wards of Ashtead Common, Ashtead Park, and Ashtead Village, and the Borough of Reigate and Banstead wards of Nork, Preston, and Tattenhams. 2010–present: The Borough of Epsom and Ewell, the District of Mole Valley wards of Ashtead Common, Ashtead Park, and Ashtead Village, and the Borough of Reigate and Banstead wards of Nork and Tattenhams. ;Historic boundaries Before

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 ...

it excluded Ashtead but instead included

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, south-west of Croydon, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Downs, it is on three of the four main ...

from

Reigate and Banstead Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in east Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Reigate, Redhill, Horley and Banstead. The borough borders the Borough of Crawley (in West Sussex) to the south, the Boroug ...

. As the borough of Epsom and Ewell is small and includes relatively sparsely populated areas such as

Epsom Downs Epsom Downs is an area of chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the racecourse, the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 and are open to users such as ramblers, model ...

, the constituency has consistently also included areas of neighbouring

districts. ;Latest boundary change After the

Boundary Commission A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies. Notable boundary commissions have included: * Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...

's report of 2005, some changes were implemented for the 2010 election. The boundary with

Mole Valley Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking. The other town in the district is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...

moved slightly the uninhabited portions of land by the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

adjoining Ashtead and Leatherhead, in line with local government wards. The Preston

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Reigate & Banstead (in

Tadworth Tadworth is a large suburban village in Surrey, England in the south-east of the Epsom Downs, part of the North Downs. It forms part of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. At the 2011 census, Tadworth (and Walton-on-the-Hill) had a population o ...

) was transferred to

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

to bring that constituency's electorate closer to the county average.

History

The seat has existed since the February 1974 general election, forming the centre of the previous

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

constituency. Epsom had been held by a

since its creation in the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

. In Westminster elections, it is one of the strongest

areas in the country. Locally, however, the majority area council (Epsom and Ewell Borough Council) is controlled by the local Residents' Association. Conservatives regularly run the two slightly included neighbouring councils and until recently the party rarely contested the main borough's elections. One ward in Epsom, Court, is quite strongly Labour, and several Residents Association councillors have sided against Conservative-run Reigate and Banstead council which is also electorally diverse. In 1987, Barbara Follett, later Member of Parliament for

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

, unsuccessfully stood for the Labour Party in the constituency.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Notes

References

Sources

Election result, 2015
(BBC)
Election result, 2010
(BBC)
Election result, 2005
(BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001
(BBC)

(Election Demon)

(Election Demon) {{DEFAULTSORT:Epsom And Ewell (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in South East England Epsom and Ewell Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 Politics of Surrey Mole Valley