Greenwich and Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°28′59″N 0°01′41″E / 51.483°N 0.028°E / 51.483; 0.028
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greenwich and Woolwich
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Greenwich and Woolwich in Greater London
CountyGreater London
Electorate77,190 (June 2017) [1][2]
Major settlementsGreenwich, Woolwich and Charlton
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentMatthew Pennycook (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created fromGreenwich, Woolwich

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

Constituency profile[edit]

The seat is dominated in the south by expansive and panoramic Greenwich Park[3] with an acute demand for housing, particularly in the western half, due to architecturally-rich conservation areas and very close proximity to Canary Wharf and City of London.[4] There remain some industrial areas in the former Royal Docks and around North Greenwich[n 3]. The seat includes considerable social dependency in its Greenwich and Woolwich town centres, including in social housing,[5]

History[edit]

Since 1997

The constituency was created for the 1997 general election by the merger of the former Greenwich constituency, and the western half of the former Woolwich constituency. It has been controlled by the Labour Party since its creation, when they polled 63.4% of the vote and a majority of 44.8%. Thirteen years later, the 2010 general election produced the smallest majority as a share of the vote, 24.7%, with the Labour candidate taking 49.2% of votes cast.

The 2015 general election result was the 105th-safest Labour majority of 232 seats won by Labour at that election.[6]

Greenwich forerunner

Reflecting a demographic split in the latter twentieth century were five and eleven-year periods when the two predecessor seats were represented by candidates from the SDP.

The former Greenwich constituency was a secure Labour Party 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 gained by the Social Democratic Party at a by-election and narrowly regained by Labour five years later at the 1992 general election.

Woolwich forerunner

The former Woolwich constituency (and its predecessor Woolwich East) was a similar safe-Liberal-seat-turned-safe-Labour-seat. Its Labour MP Christopher Mayhew defected to the Liberal Party in 1974 before being defeated, and his Labour successor, John Cartwright, defected to the SDP in 1981. He retained the seat at the 1983 and 1987 general elections, but narrowly lost it to Labour in 1992; in a similar fashion to the neighboring Greenwich seat. In council elections, since the seat's 1997 creation, most wards have tended to elect Labour councillors and few wards other than the Blackheath Westcombe ward have tended to elect Conservative councilors.

1945-1997 combined summary

Including the 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 4]

Boundaries[edit]

Map
Map of current boundaries

1997–2010: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Arsenal, Blackheath, Burrage, Charlton, Ferrier, Hornfair, Kidbrooke, Nightingale, Rectory Field, St Alfege, St Mary's, Trafalgar, Vanbrugh, West, and Woolwich Common.

2010–present: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Blackheath Westcombe, Charlton, Glyndon, Greenwich West, Peninsula, Woolwich Common, and Woolwich Riverside.

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.

Proposed[edit]

Greenwich and Woolwich in 2023

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the Glyndon ward will be transferred to Erith and Thamesmead in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range.[7]

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election Member[8] Party
1997 Nick Raynsford Labour
2015 Matthew Pennycook Labour

Election results[edit]

Elections in the 2020s[edit]

Next general election: Greenwich and Woolwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Chris Annous[9]
Green Stacy Smith[10]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s[edit]

General election 2019: Greenwich and Woolwich[11][12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Matthew Pennycook 30,185 56.8 -7.6
Conservative Thomas Turrell 11,721 22.1 -3.3
Liberal Democrats Rhian O'Connor 7,253 13.7 +6.6
Green Victoria Rance 2,363 4.4 +1.4
Brexit Party Kailash Trivedi 1,228 2.3 New
CPA Eunice Odesanmi 245 0.5 New
Independent Shushil Gaikwad 125 0.2 New
Majority 18,464 34.7 -4.3
Turnout 53,120 66.4 -2.4
Registered electors 79,997
Labour hold Swing -2.1
General election 2017: Greenwich and Woolwich[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Matthew Pennycook 34,215 64.4 +12.2
Conservative Caroline Attfield 13,501 25.4 -1.2
Liberal Democrats Chris Adams 3,785 7.1 +1.4
Green Daniel Garrun 1,605 3.0 -3.4
Majority 20,714 39.0 +13.4
Turnout 53,107 68.8 +5.1
Registered electors 77,190
Labour hold Swing +6.7
General election 2015: Greenwich and Woolwich[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Matthew Pennycook 24,384 52.2 +3.0
Conservative Matt Hartley 12,438 26.6 +2.1
UKIP Ryan Acty[18] 3,888 8.3 New
Green Abbey Akinoshun[19] 2,991 6.4 +3.8
Liberal Democrats Tom Holder[20] 2,645 5.7 -12.8
TUSC Lynne Chamberlain 370 0.8 +0.2
Majority 11,946 25.6 +0.9
Turnout 46,716 63.7 +0.8
Registered electors 73,315
Labour hold Swing +0.5
General election 2010: Greenwich and Woolwich[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 20,262 49.2 -3.3
Conservative Spencer Drury 10,109 24.5 +7.0
Liberal Democrats Joseph Lee 7,498 18.5 -1.5
BNP Lawrence Rustem[22] 1,151 2.8 New
Green Andy Hewett 1,054 2.6 -1.9
Christian Edward Adeyele 443 1.1 New
English Democrat Raden Wresniwiro 339 0.8 -2.6
TUSC Onay Kasab 267 0.6 New
No description Tammy Alingham 61 0.2 New
Majority 10,153 24.7 -3.8
Turnout 41,188 62.9 +9.6
Registered electors 65,489
Labour hold Swing -5.1

Elections in the 2000s[edit]

General election 2005: Greenwich and Woolwich[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 17,527 49.2 -11.3
Liberal Democrats 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 New
English Democrat Garry Bushell 1,216 3.4 New
UKIP Stan Gain 709 2.0 -0.1
Independent Purvarani Nagalingam 61 0.2 New
Majority 10,146 28.5 -12.8
Turnout 35,615 55.6 +1.5
Registered electors 63,631
Labour hold Swing -8.2
General election 2001: Greenwich and Woolwich[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 19,691 60.5 -2.9
Conservative Richard Forsdyke 6,258 19.2 +0.6
Liberal Democrats Russell Pyne 5,082 15.6 +3.1
UKIP Stan Gain 672 2.1 New
Socialist Alliance Kirstie Paton 481 1.5 New
Socialist Labour Margaret Sharkey 352 1.1 New
Majority 13,433 41.3 -3.5
Turnout 32,536 54.1 -11.8
Registered electors 60,114
Labour hold Swing -1.8

Elections in the 1990s[edit]

General election 1997: Greenwich and Woolwich[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Raynsford 25,630 63.4
Conservative Michael Mitchell 7,502 18.6
Liberal Democrats Cherry Luxton 5,049 12.5
Referendum Douglas Ellison 1,670 4.1
Fellowship Ronald Mallone 428 1.1
Constitutionalist David Martin-Eagle 124 0.3
Majority 18,128 44.8
Turnout 40,403 65.9
Registered electors 61,352
Labour win (new seat)

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ MP for Greenwich (UK Parliament constituency) 1992–97
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ See The O2 Arena
  4. ^ The winning majority was 5.7% over the Conservative challenger.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Pack, James (8 June 2017). "Election of a Member Of Parliament For The Greenwich And Woolwich Constituency: Declaration of result of poll". Royal Borough of Greenwich. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. ^ "OpenStreetMap". OpenStreetMap.
  4. ^ "Area and Property Guide for se10 - Mouseprice". www.mouseprice.com.
  5. ^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  6. ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
  7. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 3 London region.
  8. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
  9. ^ "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Announcing our Greenwich and Woolwich prospective candidate for the General Election, Stacy Smith". Twitter. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Greenwich & Woolwich Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Greenwich & Woolwich Parliamentary constituency". Greenwich Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Greenwich & Woolwich parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  15. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Results of 2015 elections". Royal Borough of Greenwich. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Ryan Acty for UKIP Greenwich & Woolwich". www.ryanacty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015.
  19. ^ "Your Green candidates for May 2015". London Green Party. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  20. ^ "Our candidates for the 2015 General Election". Greenwich Borough Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  21. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  22. ^ "BNP to Fight 32 Parliamentary Seats in London". BNP. 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  23. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links[edit]

See also[edit]

51°28′59″N 0°01′41″E / 51.483°N 0.028°E / 51.483; 0.028