Surbiton was a
borough constituency created for the
1955 general election and abolished for the
1997 general election, in
Surrey until 1965 and thereafter in outer south-west
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. It returned one
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) to 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. T ...
of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
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 suprema ...
by the
first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
system of election.
History
This was in the
safe/marginal seat spectrum irrefutably a safe
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 in ...
seat during its 32-year lifetime. The party positioned in second position was also unchanged until it changed once in the course of the seat's history. The election when this change took place was the
1983 United Kingdom general election. The narrowest majority was the
General Election 1966 at 15.7%.
Boundaries
1955–1974: The Municipal Borough of Surbiton.
1974–1983: The London Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Berrylands, Chessington, Hook and Southborough, St Mark's and Seething Wells, Surbiton Hill, Tolworth East, Tolworth South, and Tolworth West.
1983–1997: The London Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Berrylands, Chessington North, Chessington South, Hook, St Mark's, Surbiton Hill, Tolworth East, Tolworth South, and Tolworth West.
The constituency was made up of the eastern part of the
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...
in south-west
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, centred on the area of
Surbiton. In 1997, it was absorbed into the new and larger
Kingston and Surbiton
Kingston and Surbiton () is a constituency created in 1997 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Kingston and Surbiton has been considered a marginal seat, as wel ...
constituency after the
Boundary Commission for England
The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions:
* Boundary Commission for ...
recommended that a seat be lost in the twinned boroughs of Kingston and
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
.
[C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p. 12 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995).]
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
See also
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in London
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surbiton (Uk Parliament Constituency)
Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic)
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1955
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1997
Politics of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Surbiton