Greenwich and Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency)

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Greenwich and Woolwich
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Greenwich and Woolwich in Greater London.
County Greater London
Electorate 66,982 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Greenwich, Woolwich and Charlton
Current constituency
Created 1997
Member of parliament Matthew Pennycook (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Greenwich, Woolwich
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency London

Greenwich and Woolwich /ˈɡrɪnɪdʒ ənd wuːlɪdʒ/[n 1] is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Matthew Pennycook of the Labour Party.[n 2][n 3]

Constituency profile

The seat while dominated in the south by expansive and panoramic Greenwich Park[2] retains constituent connections to work at the former Royal Docks by and Gas Works in North Greenwich[n 4] and has a considerable social dependency in its Greenwich and Woolwich town centres, including in social housing,[3] heightened by an acute demand for housing, particularly in the western half, SE10 due to architecturally-rich conservation areas and very close proximity to Canary Wharf and City of London.[4] Reflecting this demographic split in the latter 20th century were 5 and 11-year periods when the two predecessor seats were served by the SDP. Including these pre-1997 predecessors, the area has since World War II been a Labour safe seat, or, as indicated in the 1987 result for Greenwich only, in the best result for a Conservative candidate locally during the years since 1955, occasionally a marginal.[n 5]

History

The constituency was created in 1997 by the merger of the whole of the former seat of Greenwich and the western half of the former seat of Woolwich.

The Greenwich seat was a safe Labour seat for much of the twentieth century, though it had been a safe Liberal seat throughout most of the nineteenth century. In 1987 it was unexpectedly won by the Social Democratic Party at a by-election, but was narrowly regained by Labour at the 1992 general election.

The Woolwich seat (and its predecessor Woolwich East) was a similar safe-Liberal-seat-turned-safe-Labour-seat. Its Labour MP Christopher Mayhew defected to the Liberals in 1974 before being defeated, and his Labour successor, John Cartwright, defected to the SDP in 1981. He held the seat at the 1983 and 1987 general elections, but narrowly lost it to Labour in 1992, like the neighbouring Greenwich seat.

Boundaries

The constituency is made up of seven electoral wards from the Royal Borough of Greenwich:

  • Blackheath Westcombe, Charlton, Glyndon, Greenwich West, Peninsula, Woolwich Common, Woolwich Riverside

There are Conservative councillors in the Blackheath Westcombe ward, but the remainder making up the constituency are all Labour, making this a safe seat for them.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, and as a consequence of changes to ward boundaries, the Boundary Commission for England recommended that part of Woolwich Common ward be transferred to Greenwich and Woolwich from the constituency of Eltham; that parts of Glyndon ward be transferred from Eltham and Erith and Thamesmead; and that parts of Kidbrooke with Hornfair ward, Eltham West ward, and Middle Park and Sutcliffe ward be transferred from Greenwich and Woolwich to Eltham.

Members of Parliament

Election Member[5] Party
1997 Nick Raynsford Labour
2015 Matthew Pennycook Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Greenwich and Woolwich[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Matthew Pennycook 24,384 52.2 +3.0
Conservative Matt Hartley 12,438 26.6 +2.1
UKIP Ryan Acty[8] 3,888 8.3 N/A
Green Abbey Akinoshun[9] 2,991 6.4 +3.8
Liberal Democrat Tom Holder[10] 2,645 5.7 -12.5
TUSC Lynne Chamberlain 370 0.8 +0.1
Majority 11,946 25.6 +0.9
Turnout 46,716 63.7 +0.8
Labour hold Swing +0.4
General Election 2010: Greenwich and Woolwich[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 20,262 49.2 -3.3
Conservative Spencer Drury 10,109 24.5 +7.0
Liberal Democrat Joseph Lee 7,498 18.5 -1.5
BNP Lawrence Rustem[12] 1,151 2.8 N/A
Green Andy Hewett 1,054 2.6 -1.9
Christian Edward Adeyele 443 1.1 N/A
English Democrats Raden Wresniwiro 339 0.8 -2.6
TUSC Onay Kasab 267 0.6 N/A
No label Tammy Alingham 61 0.2 N/A
Majority 10,153 24.7
Turnout 41,188 62.9 +9.6
Labour hold Swing +5.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Greenwich and Woolwich[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 17,527 49.2 −11.3
Liberal Democrat Christopher Le Breton 7,381 20.7 +5.1
Conservative Alistair Craig 7,142 20.1 +0.9
Green David Sharman 1,579 4.4 N/A
English Democrats Garry Bushell 1,216 3.4 N/A
UKIP Stan Gain 709 2.0 −0.1
Independent Purvarani Nagalingam 61 0.2 N/A
Majority 10,146 28.5
Turnout 35,615 55.6 +1.5
Labour hold Swing −8.2
General Election 2001: Greenwich and Woolwich[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 19,691 60.5 −2.9
Conservative Richard Forsdyke 6,258 19.2 +0.7
Liberal Democrat Russell Pyne 5,082 15.6 +3.1
UKIP Stan Gain 672 2.1 N/A
Socialist Alliance Kirstie Paton 481 1.5 N/A
Socialist Labour Margaret Sharkey 352 1.1 N/A
Majority 13,433 41.3
Turnout 32,536 54.1 −11.7
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Greenwich and Woolwich[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 25,630 63.4 N/A
Conservative Michael Mitchell 7,502 18.6 N/A
Liberal Democrat Cherry Luxton 5,049 12.5 N/A
Referendum Douglas Ellison 1,670 4.1 N/A
Fellowship Ronald Mallone 428 1.1 N/A
Constitutionalist D. Martin-Eagle 124 0.3 N/A
Majority 18,128 N/A
Turnout 40,403 65.9 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ While not seen in older pronunciation guides than 2000, /ɡrɛnɪdʒ/ is often preferred among those from outside the area, most Transport for London announcements and generally younger or more recent residents
  2. ↑ MP for Greenwich (UK Parliament constituency) 1992-97
  3. ↑ As with all constituencies, Greenwich and Woolwich elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
  4. ↑ See The O2 Arena
  5. ↑ The winning majority was 5.7% over the Conservative challenger.
References
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Open Street Map
  3. ↑ 2001 Census
  4. ↑ Greenwich SE10 area guide
  5. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)[self-published source][better source needed]
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ http://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/elections2015results
  8. ↑ http://www.ryanacty.org.uk
  9. ↑ http://london.greenparty.org.uk/elections/2015-general-election.html
  10. ↑ http://greenwich-libdems.org.uk/en/
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

See also

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