Battersea 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, ...

in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in southwest London; it forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main named areas are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth, Wandsworth ...

. It has been represented since 2017 by

Marsha de Cordova Marsha Chantal de Cordova (born 23 January 1976) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Battersea since 2017. She was Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities from 6 April 2020 until her resig ...

of the Labour Party. The seat has had two periods of existence (1885–1918 and 1983 to date). In the first Parliament after the seat's re-creation it was Labour-represented, bucking the national result, thereafter from 1987 until 2017 the affiliation of the winning candidate was that of the winning party nationally – a 30-year

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. In the 2016 referendum to leave the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the constituency voted remain by an estimated 77%, the highest by a constituency with a Conservative MP at the time.

Boundaries

1885–1918: Wards 2 and 3 of Battersea Parish, and that part of No. 4 Ward bounded on the south by Battersea Rise, and on the east by St John's Road. 1983–2010: The

wards of Balham, Fairfield, Latchmere, Northcote, Queenstown, St John, St Mary's Park and Shaftesbury. St John Ward was abolished for the 2002 Wandsworth elections. St John was thus not in use at the next general election in 2005. For that general election, the seat included a small part of Wandsworth Town (the majority being in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

constituency) and most of Fairfield (a small part being in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

). 2010–present: The London Borough of Wandsworth wards of Balham, Fairfield, Latchmere, Northcote, Queenstown, St Mary's Park and Shaftesbury. The seat covers the north-eastern third of the

. As drawn and redrawn since 1983, it includes central

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

and in the same way as

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on the opposite bank, it adjoins the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

before it flows through central London. It takes in all of the district of Battersea, including its large

Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland recla ...

(which hosts frequent live entertainment events and seasonal festivals), riverside and

London Heliport London Heliport , previously called Battersea Heliport and currently known officially as the Edmiston London Heliport for sponsorship reasons, is London's only licensed heliport. The facility, which was built by W. & C. French and opened on 23 ...

, and stretches eastwards to include Nine Elms. Surrounding Battersea Park, it includes Queenstown, large neighbourhoods of Battersea Town, and, going westwards, it includes most of

town, including the riverside,

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

and East Hill. Battersea also stretches south between

Wandsworth Common Wandsworth Common is a public common in Wandsworth, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south London. It is and is maintained and regulated by Wandsworth Council. It is also a Ward of the London Borough of Wandsworth. The population of the ward ...

and

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...

to include Balham Ward and the eastern end of Balham (the west, for general elections, being placed since 1983 in

Constituency profile

A largely residential and ethnically diverse inner-city district of south London, the seat of Battersea includes half of

, along with parts of Balham and

. The iconic

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...

along with Nine Elms and the Patmore Estate. Battersea Power Station dominates the skyline, while

Clapham Junction Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea. Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances during ...

continues to be the busiest railway interchange in the UK. Thanks to the influx of commuters, the constituency's social and demographic profile has changed considerably over the last quarter of a century. At 57.4%, it has the highest proportion of people with a degree-level qualification or above amongst constituencies in England and Wales, according to Office for National Statistics 2011 Census figures. More than one in five has an associate professional and technical occupation. A former

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seat, Battersea's winner came from the winning party from the 1987 to the 2015 general elections inclusive.

History

Major events

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 ...

provided that the Constituency was to consist of- *"No. 2 Ward of Battersea Parish, *No. 3 Ward of Battersea Parish, and *So much of No. 4 Ward of Battersea Parish as lies to the north of a line drawn along the centre of Battersea Rise, and to the west of a line drawn along the centre of the St. John's Road." Battersea constituency was originally created in 1885. From 1892 to 1918 the seat was held by trade union leader

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

who served as a Minister (of the Crown) in the Liberal Cabinets of Sir

Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1 ...

and

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

from 1905 until 1914. The constituency was split in 1918 into: * Battersea North, which included the cheap housing accompanying

and railway-works focussed Nine Elms; it saw gradual replacement in its lifespan to overcrowded terraces, and had only four years of a Conservative MP (from 1931). * Battersea South had average-middle income and few pockets of

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

. It saw 38 years of a Conservative MP, lastly from 1959 to 1964, without electing one during new latter-day Conservative governments which came to power in 1970 and 1979. The two seats have been rejoined since 1983, such that some areas of Battersea South became part of the adjoining

seat.

Alf Dubs Alfred Dubs, Baron Dubs (born 5 December 1932) is a British Labour politician and former Member of Parliament. Early life and education Born in Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia, Dubs was one of 669 Czech-resident, mainly Jewish, child ...

(Labour), before the election the incumbent for Battersea South, won Battersea in 1983. Conservative

John Bowis John Crocket Bowis OBE (born 2 August 1945 in Brighton, East Sussex) is a former Conservative MP and MEP. Education John Bowis was educated at Tonbridge School and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Eco ...

won in the next elections, 1987 and 1992. Martin Linton, a Labour politician, took it back in 1997 and held the seat until 2010.

Minor events including in the split of this constituency period

In 2001, the candidate T.E Barber used the candidate description "No fruit out of context party", and advocated the end of, amongst other crimes against food, pineapples on pizza. In the book ''Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter'', John O'Farrell describes his experiences of being the secretary of Queenstown Branch of the Battersea Labour party, during which time the branch suffered a net loss at every local election and lost in 1987 their MP,

. Benefiting from an exclusivity arrangement, the old Battersea North was one of two seats in London to have had a Communist MP:

Shapurji Saklatvala Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a communist activist and British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. Saklatvala is notable for being the first person of Indian heritage to become a British Member of Parliamen ...

represented the area from 1922 to 1929. A wealthy aristocratic Indian, he was among the five Communists elected to the national chamber in its history and was the third of the young Socialist Labour/Communist/Labour parties from an ethnic minority background. At first, Saklatvala had local Labour party support and was also a member of that party but then stood as a Communist in 1924 with local Labour party backing. The head office of the less radical Labour party mandated an official Labour candidate stand against him in 1929. The Battersea Labour Club (a drinking club not directly connected with the political party) had a notice on its notice board up until the 1980s banning Communists from admission to the club.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

1979 notional Battersea result (new seat created post-election)

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

Morgan sought re-election after questions arose about a government contract his firm held.

Notes

References

;Further reading * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
Debrett’s Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886

Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901

Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918

External links

(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Battersea (Uk Parliament Constituency) Battersea Parliamentary constituencies in London Politics of the London Borough of Wandsworth Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983