Bromley and Chislehurst (UK Parliament constituency)

Bromley and Chislehurst
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bromley and Chislehurst in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Population	88,633 (2011 census)
Electorate	65,508 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Bob Neill (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Ravensbourne, Chislehurst
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

The wards and boundaries for the Bromley and Chislehurst Parliament constituency (red) as first used in the 2010 general election, shown within the London Borough of Bromley (yellow)

Bromley and Chislehurst is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2006 by Bob Neill of the Conservative Party.

Constituency profile

Aside from a few ex-council estates which retain significant proportions of social housing in parts of Mottingham and Bromley Common, this constituency is relatively prosperous in terms of income, has low unemployment and is largely suburban with significant parkland and sports areas. The 2011 census shows that the borough is 84.3% White European/British, lower than the national average (86%) and higher than then London average (59%). Until 2006 it was one of the Conservative Party's safest seats but the by-election of that year saw the party's electoral majority fall steeply from over 13,000 (in the 2005 election) to just over 600 votes (see below - "Election results").

History

The Bromley parliamentary constituency was created in 1918. In 1974 Bromley became Ravensbourne.

Before the 1997 election western wards of Chislehurst merged with eastern wards in Ravensbourne to form Bromley and Chislehurst.

Bromley/Ravensbourne/Chislehurst summary

The earlier Bromley, later Ravensbourne, seat was markedly prosperous in regional terms and did not elect Labour Party MPs during its 1918 to 1974 existence. One of the Ravensbourne wards, Plaistow and Sundridge, had a Communist Councillor in the 1940s. Prime Minister (1957-1963) Harold Macmillan was the MP for Bromley from 1945 until his retirement in 1964, when he was succeeded by John Hunt. Hunt, on the left of the Conservative party, held the seat (renamed Ravensbourne in 1974) until 1997.

The Chislehurst seat had a Labour Party MP from 1966 until 1970.

A by-election was held on 29 June 2006, upon the death of the previous MP Eric Forth the month before, which returned London Assembly member Bob Neill as the new Conservative MP with an electoral majority of just over 600 votes - compared to the previous Conservative majority of over 13,000 in the 2005 general election. Turnout was down by a significant margin. In 2010 Bob Neill was re-elected with a Conservative majority greater than that achieved in 2005.

Boundaries

1997-2010: The London Borough of Bromley wards of Bickley, Bromley Common and Keston, Chislehurst, Hayes, Martins Hill and Town, Mottingham, and Plaistow and Sundridge.

2010–present: The London Borough of Bromley wards of Bickley, Bromley Town, Chislehurst, Cray Valley West, Mottingham and Chislehurst North, and Plaistow and Sundridge.

Bromley and Chislehurst constituency covers the northern part of the London Borough of Bromley including the east of Bromley, its town centre, and Chislehurst.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Eric Forth	Conservative
	2006 by-election	Bob Neill	Conservative

Election results

Elections in 2010s

General Election 2015: Bromley and Chislehurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Neill	23,343	53.0	-0.5
	Labour	John Courtneidge	9,779	22.2	+5.6
	UKIP	Emmett Jenner	6,285	14.3	+11.0
	Liberal Democrat	Sam Webber	2,836	6.4	-15.5
	Green	Roisin Robertson	1,823	4.1	+2.8
Majority			13,564	30.8	-0.8
Turnout			44,066	68.4	+1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.0

General Election 2010: Bromley and Chislehurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Neill	23,569	53.5	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Sam Webber	9,669	22.0	+1.7
	Labour	Chris Kirby	7,295	16.6	-5.4
	UKIP	Emmett Jenner	1,451	3.3	+0.1
	BNP	Rowena Savage	1,070	2.4	N/A
	Green	Roisin Robertson	607	1.5	-1.7
	English Democrats	Jon Cheeseman	376	0.9	N/A
Majority			13,900	31.6	+2.7
Turnout			44,037	67.3	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+14.65

Elections in 2000s

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Neill	11,621	40.1	–10.0
	Liberal Democrat	Ben Abbotts	10,988	37.9	+17.6
	UKIP	Nigel Farage	2,307	8.0	+4.8
	Labour	Rachel Reeves	1,925	6.6	–15.6
	Green	Ann Garrett	811	2.8	–0.4
	National Front	Paul Winnett	476	1.6	N/A
	Independent	John Hemming-Clark	442	1.5	N/A
	English Democrats	Steven Uncles	212	0.7	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	John Cartwright	132	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Nick Hadziannis	65	0.2	N/A
	Money Reform	Anne Belsey	33	0.1	N/A
Majority			633	2.2	–26.7
Turnout			29,012	40.2	–24.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	–13.8

General Election 2005: Bromley and Chislehurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Forth	23,583	51.1	+1.6
	Labour	Rachel Reeves	10,241	22.2	–6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Brooks	9,368	20.3	+1.4
	UKIP	David Hooper	1,475	3.2	+0.3
	Green	Ann Garrett	1,470	3.2	N/A
Majority			13,342	28.9
Turnout			46,137	64.8	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.0

General Election 2001: Bromley and Chislehurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Forth	21,412	49.5	+3.2
	Labour	Sue Polydorou	12,375	28.6	+3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Geoff Payne	8,180	18.9	–4.8
	UKIP	Rob Bryant	1,264	2.9	+0.7
Majority			9,037	20.9
Turnout			43,231	64.3	–9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	–0.1

Elections in 1990s

General Election 1997: Bromley and Chislehurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Forth	24,428	46.3	N/A
	Labour	Rob Yeldham	13,310	25.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Booth	12,530	23.8	N/A
	UKIP	Rob Bryant	1,176	2.2	N/A
	Green	Frances Speed	640	1.2	N/A
	National Front	Michael Stoneman	369	0.7	N/A
	Liberal	Gabriel Aitman	285	0.5	N/A
Majority			11,118	21.1	N/A
Turnout			52,738	74.1	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading

• Cook, Chris and Ramsden, John. By-elections in British politics (Routledge, 2003)

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Bromley and Chislehurst — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.