Tooting 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 1974 in Greater London. It is 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 2016 by Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan, a member of the Labour Party.

Boundaries

1974–1983: The London Borough of Wandsworth wards of Bedford, Furzedown, Graveney, Springfield, and Tooting. 1983–2010: As above plus Earlsfield, and Nightingale 2010–present: As above minus Springfield, plus Wandsworth Common. Tooting is the south-eastern third of 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 ...

. In addition to Tooting, it includes the districts of Earlsfield, Furzedown and Streatham Park and part of Balham. The constituency includes part of

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 ...

, a rectangular open space that lends its name to one of the seven wards. Tooting since 2010 is bordered to the west by

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 ...

and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

; to the other three compass points by

Mitcham and Morden Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. I ...

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

and

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

History

The constituency was created for the February 1974 election from areas which, prior to that election, were within Battersea South,

and Wandsworth Central.

Political history

Held by

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

since its creation, Tooting was a target seat for the

Conservatives 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 ...

at the 2010 general election after the party made gains in local elections. However,

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

was able to retain the seat for Labour. The Conservatives have generally performed best in the northern half of the seat (Bedford, Earlsfield, Nightingale, Wandsworth Common), whereas Labour are strongest in the southern half, which covers Tooting ward itself, Graveney and Furzedown. The 2015 general election result gave the seat the twenty-fourth-most marginal majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. Had the majority obtained by Allin-Khan at her 2016 by-election win been part of the 2015 results, the seat would have been the 136th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. In the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the constituency voted remain by 74.7%. ;Local government indications As in the other two constituencies located in the London Borough of Wandsworth, voters have in part supported the Conservatives at local level; however, the southern area has strong enough Labour support to have consistently returned at least seven Labour councillors since 1992.

Prominent frontbenchers

Sadiq Khan, a solicitor by profession, was the

Minister of State for Transport The Minister of State for Transport is a mid-level ministerial position in the Department for Transport of the Government of the United Kingdom who deputises for the Secretary of State for Transport. There is also a list of Parliamentary Under-S ...

and Minister of State for Communities in the government of Gordon Brown. In opposition after 2010, he became the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. He was the Labour Party's candidate in the

2016 London mayoral election The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election. It was the fifth election to the position of mayor, which was created in 2000 after a referendum in Greate ...

, and was subsequently elected as

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

. Following his election, Khan announced his intention to resign as MP for Tooting, and on 9 May 2016 he was appointed to the ancient office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of The Three Chiltern Hundreds, triggering a by-election.

Constituency profile

The modern Tooting constituency is a simplified name, as it contains much of

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

and

Earlsfield Earlsfield is an area within the London Borough of Wandsworth, London, England. It is a typical London suburb and comprises mostly residential Victorian terraced houses with a high street of shops, bars, and restaurants between Garratt Lane, Al ...

, yet the southernmost parts of the area that self-identifies as

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 ...

are actually in the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a borough in Southwest London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...

and so in the

seat. Transport links 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 ...

are good, and the population has expanded steadily due to the area's popularity with commuters looking for affordable property. Unemployment benefit claimants and registered jobseekers, in November 2012 were lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

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 Gu ...

''.Unemployment claimants by 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

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards)
Labour Party in WandsworthConservative Party in WandsworthLiberal Democrats in WandsworthElection Maps
(Constituency maps) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tooting (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of the London Borough of Wandsworth Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 Tooting