Old Bexley and Sidcup 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 (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons 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 suprem ...

represented since

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

by Louie French of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

History and profile

The seat was created in 1983 by combining a small part of the abolished seat of

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

, chiefly Old Bexley, with the abolished seat of Sidcup. On 29 January 2008 the

withdrew the whip from the MP Derek Conway following alleged misuse of funds revealed by the MPs expenses controversy, who declined to resign as MP and became an Independent. He retired from national politics in 2010.

Sir Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath ...

(prime minister of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

1970–1974) held this area (also referring to its main predecessor seat, Sidcup) from 1950 until 2001 when he retired at the age of 84, at the time the longest-serving MP in the Commons. ;Political overview The seat has been won at general elections since creation by the

candidate. The 1997 New Labour Landslide saw the party's majority fall to its lowest level of 7% of the vote. Its greatest level has to date been 41.5% of the vote — in 1987. In 2010 the seat was won by the Conservative James Brokenshire, who had transferred to this seat and approved by his local party when his former seat of Hornchurch was abolished in boundary changes. His 2015 result made the seat the 105th safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority. The seat was left vacant following Brokenshire's death on 7 October 2021. until a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

was held on 2 December which resulted in a Conservative hold.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Blackfen, Blendon and Penhill, Cray, Lamorbey, St Mary's, Sidcup East, and Sidcup West. 1997–2010: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Blackfen, Blendon and Penhill, Cray, Danson, East Wickham, Falconwood, Lamorbey, St Mary's, Sidcup East, and Sidcup West. 2010–present: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Blackfen and Lamorbey, Blendon and Penhill, East Wickham, Falconwood and Welling, Longlands, St Mary's, and Sidcup. As its name suggests, the seat covers the Bexley and Sidcup areas; it formerly included Danson Park which owing to more development in the south was moved to the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.

Constituency profile

Old Bexley and Sidcup has average incomes above the national average, a high proportion of semi-detached and detached homes and low unemploymentUnemployment claimants by constituency
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' with a lower than average dependency on

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

. The constituency generally consists of middle-class and lower middle-class outer London suburbia, served by the Dartford Loop and

commuter railway lines to

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. Sidcup has been largely developed to neat garden suburb-inspired building schemes for most homes.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Old_Bexley_and_Sidcup_election_results_line_chart

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

References

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) __FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Bexley And Sidcup (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of the London Borough of Bexley Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Sidcup