Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Twickenham is a House of Commons constituency in South-West London, [n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Munira Wilson of the Liberal Democrats.[n 2]

Twickenham
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Twickenham in Greater London
CountyGreater London
Electorate79,172 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsTwickenham, Hampton and Teddington
Current constituency
Created1918
Member of ParliamentMunira Wilson (Liberal Democrat)[2]
Number of membersOne
Created fromBrentford

History

Since 1945, the boundaries of the seat have been similar to those of the abolished Municipal Borough of Twickenham.

From 1931 until 1983, Twickenham was a safe seat of the Conservative Party and from 1983 until 1997 a marginal seat for that party.

Liberal Democrat Vince Cable gained the seat during the 1997 landslide Conservative defeat and held it until 2015. The seat was one of very few in Britain that gave the Liberal Democrats a majority of votes in the 2005 and 2010 elections, being their sixth best performance nationally in 2010.[n 3] Cable was Secretary of State for Business from 2010 to 2015, but unexpectedly lost his seat to the Conservative candidate Tania Mathias in the 2015 general election during the nationwide collapse in the Liberal Democrat vote.

Cable regained the seat in the 2017 snap election by a 14.8% majority and an absolute majority at 52.8% of the vote; this was the highest vote percentage for the Liberal Democrats in any constituency nationally.[3]

The seat has in the 21st century had notably high turnouts. At the 2015 general election, it had the highest turnout in England and the fourth highest in the UK.[4] In 2017, turnout was 79.7%, the highest for any seat in the UK, ahead of Oxford West and Abingdon gained by the same party.[5][6] The seat of Twickenham has also been won by the same party as the neighbouring seat of Kingston and Surbiton in all seven elections they have been in (6 Lib Dem, 1 Conservative).

Boundaries
Hampton Court Palace
Twickenham in Middlesex, 1918–45
Twickenham, 1945–50

1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Heston and Isleworth, and Twickenham.

1945: boundaries substantially changed – losing territory in the north to form Heston and Isleworth, gaining territory from Spelthorne to the south including Hampton, Teddington, Hampton Wick, Hampton Court Park and Bushy Park

1945–1974: The Municipal Borough of Twickenham.

Since 1974 formed from similar wards in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as follows:

1974–1983: Central Twickenham, East Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.

1983–1997: Central Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Nursery, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.

1997–2010: Central Twickenham, East Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Nursery, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.

2010–present: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Fulwell and Hampton Hill, Hampton, Hampton North, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, St Margaret's and North Twickenham, South Twickenham, Teddington, Twickenham Riverside, West Twickenham, and Whitton.

The seat covers the south western half of the London Borough of Richmond, that part of the borough on the north bank of the River Thames.[n 4] It chiefly contains the towns or London districts of Twickenham, Hampton, Teddington and Whitton. Smaller sub-localities by order of commercial activity are Hampton Hill, Hampton Wick, St Margarets, Fulwell, Strawberry Hill and Hampton Court hamlet proper.[n 5] Features includes Hampton Court Palace, Bushy Park (one of the Royal Parks of London), and the Rugby Football Union's national ground, Twickenham Stadium.

History of boundaries
1918–1945

During this period the Hamptons (Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Court and Hampton Wick) and Teddington were excluded from the seat, which instead contained two urban districts to the north of subsequent boundaries, Isleworth and Hounslow, an area at the time with key economic sectors of construction, brewing, warehousing and goods transportation. As such these areas had some support for the Labour Party, who in their best result in the seat, lost the 1929 by-election in the seat by 503 votes (1.6% of the vote).

1945–date

In 1945, the area saw as an unusual corollary to its shift southwards, the swing nationally, of +11.7% (Con-to-Lab) converted in the more strongly middle-class redefined seat to a major cut in the 24% Conservative majority [n 6] swinging −15.3% to a Liberal opponent, George Granville Slack. In February 1974 and from 1979 until seizing victory in 1997, the runner-up party became the Liberal Party or their successor, the Liberal Democrats and the ward boundaries became only slightly adjusted to reflect changes made in the borderlines made at the local level of government.

Constituency profile

As described by the boundaries, the area enjoys substantial parkland and Thameside landscapes, coupled with a variety of commuter train services to Central London including semi-fast services from Twickenham itself to London Waterloo.

Twickenham is the only constituency situated entirely within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and, as such, is made up completely of middle-class suburbia, similar to the neighbouring constituencies of Kingston & Surbiton, Richmond Park (both in Greater London) and Esher & Walton in Surrey. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower in Twickenham than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[7]

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember
1918 William Joynson-Hicks Unionist
1929 by-election John Ferguson Unionist
1932 by-election Hylton Murray-Philipson Conservative
1934 by-election Alfred Critchley Conservative
1935 Edward Keeling Conservative
1955 by-election Gresham Cooke Conservative
1970 Toby Jessel Conservative
1997 Vince Cable Liberal Democrats
2015 Tania Mathias Conservative
2017 Vince Cable Liberal Democrats
2019 Munira Wilson Liberal Democrats

Elections
Results of UK House of Commons seat Twickenham since 1945 when substantially redrawn.

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Twickenham[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Munira Wilson 36,166 56.1 +3.3
Conservative Isobel Grant 22,045 34.2 −3.8
Labour Ranjeev Walia 5,476 8.5 −0.7
Brexit Party Stuart Wells 816 1.3 New
Majority 14,121 21.9 +7.1
Turnout 64,503 76.3 –3.2
Registered electors 84,906
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +3.6

This was the second largest Lib Dem majority by percentage, after Bath and the largest by number. It was also their largest vote share at the 2019 general election.[9]

General election 2017: Twickenham[10] [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable 34,969 52.8 +14.8
Conservative Tania Mathias 25,207 38.0 −3.3
Labour Katherine Dunne 6,114 9.2 −2.3
Majority 9,762 14.8 N/A
Turnout 66,290 79.5 +2.2
Registered electors 83,362
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing +9.0
General election 2015: Twickenham[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tania Mathias 25,580 41.3 +7.2
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable 23,563 38.0 −16.4
Labour Nick Grant 7,129 11.5 +3.8
UKIP Barry Edwards 3,069 4.9 +3.4
Green Tanya Williams 2,463 4.0 +2.9
Christian Dominic Stockford 174 0.3 New
Magna Carta David Wedgwood 26 0.0 New
Majority 2,017 3.3 N/A
Turnout 62,004 77.3 +2.5
Registered electors 80,250
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing +11.8
See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Twickenham
General election 2010: Twickenham[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable 32,483 54.4 +2.7
Conservative Deborah Thomas 20,343 34.1 +1.7
Labour Brian Tomlinson 4,583 7.7 −3.7
UKIP Brian Gilbert 868 1.5 0.0
Green Stephen Roest 674 1.1 −1.7
BNP Chris Hurst 654 1.1 New
Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality Harry Cole 76 0.1 New
Magna Carta Paul Armstrong 40 0.0 New
Majority 12,140 20.3 +1.0
Turnout 59,721 74.8 +2.4
Registered electors 80,569
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +0.5

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable 26,696 51.6 +2.9
Conservative Paul Maynard 16,731 32.4 −1.0
Labour Brian Whitington 5,868 11.4 −2.4
Green Henry Leveson-Gower 1,445 2.8 0.0
UKIP Douglas Orchard 766 1.5 +0.3
Independent Brian P. Gibert 117 0.2 New
Rainbow Dream Ticket George Weiss 64 0.1 New
Majority 9,965 19.2 +3.9
Turnout 51,687 71.8 +5.4
Registered electors 71,444
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +2.0
General election 2001: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable 24,344 48.7 +3.6
Conservative Nicholas Longworth 16,689 33.4 −4.4
Labour Dean Rogers 6,903 13.8 −1.8
Green Judith Maciejowska 1,423 2.8 New
UKIP Ray Hollebone 579 1.2 New
Majority 7,655 15.3 +8.0
Turnout 49,938 66.4 −12.9
Registered electors 72,225
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +4.0

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable 26,237 45.1 +5.8
Conservative Toby Jessel 21,956 37.8 −11.8
Labour Eva Tutchell 9,065 15.6 +5.2
Independent English Conservative and Referendum Jane Harrison 589 1.0 New
Rainbow Dream Ticket Terence D. Haggar 155 0.3 New
Natural Law Anthony J.W. Hardy 142 0.2 −0.1
Majority 4,281 7.3 N/A
Turnout 58,144 79.3 -4.9
Registered electors 73,569
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing -8.8
General election 1992: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Jessel 26,804 50.4 −1.5
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable 21,093 39.7 +1.4
Labour Michael D. Gold 4,919 9.3 +0.9
Natural Law Gary P. Gill 152 0.3 New
Democratic Liberal and Conservatives D.W. Griffith 103 0.2 New
Liberal A.J. Miners 85 0.2 New
Majority 5,711 10.7 −2.8
Turnout 53,156 84.2 +2.7
Registered electors 63,072
Conservative hold Swing −1.5

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Jessel 27,331 51.9 +1.5
Liberal John Waller 20,204 38.3 −2.5
Labour Valerie Vaz 4,415 8.4 +0.9
Green David Batchelor 746 1.4 +0.5
Majority 7,127 13.5 +3.9
Turnout 52,696 81.5 +3.7
Registered electors 64,661
Conservative hold Swing −0.5
General election 1983: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Jessel 25,110 50.4 −1.8
Liberal John Waller 20,318 40.8 +10.9
Labour P.A. Nicholas 3,732 7.5 −9.2
Ecology John J. Clarke 424 0.9 New
National Front T.J. Denville-Faulkner 234 0.5 −0.7
Independent R.W. Kenyon 40 0.1 New
Majority 4,792 9.6 -12.7
Turnout 49,858 77.8 -2.5
Registered electors 64,116
Conservative hold Swing +7.0

Elections in the 1970s
General election 1979: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Jessel 30,017 52.2 +5.7
Liberal John Waller 17,169 29.9 +5.7
Labour David Wetzel 9,591 16.7 −12.1
National Front M. Braithwaite 686 1.2 New
Majority 12,848 22.3 +4.6
Turnout 57,463 80.3 +5.9
Registered electors 71,535
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Jessel 24,959 46.5 +0.2
Labour Mavis Cunningham 15,452 28.8 +2.1
Liberal Stephen Kramer 13,021 24.2 −2.8
Anti EEC W. Burgess 287 0.5 New
Majority 9,507 17.7 -1.6
Turnout 53,719 74.4 -8.7
Registered electors 72,210
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Jessel 27,595 46.3 -8.1
Liberal Stephen Kramer 16,092 27.0 +14.6
Labour Ronald M. Taylor 15,909 26.7 -5.6
Majority 11,503 19.3 -2.8
Turnout 59,596 83.1 +12.2
Registered electors 71,682
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1970: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Jessel 28,571 54.4 +6.7
Labour John H.W. Grant 16,950 32.3 -1.7
Liberal David Kenneth Rebak 6,516 12.4 -5.9
Independent Richard Franklin 462 0.9 New
Majority 11,621 22.1 +8.4
Turnout 52,499 70.9 -7.7
Registered electors 74,038
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s
General election 1966: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gresham Cooke 26,512 47.7 -1.2
Labour David Carlton 18,884 34.0 +6.8
Liberal Simon Goldblatt 10,160 18.3 -3.7
Majority 7,628 13.7 -8.1
Turnout 55,556 78.6 +0.9
Registered electors 70,675
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1964: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gresham Cooke 27,427 48.9 -8.3
Labour W Eric Wolff 15,231 27.2 -1.1
Liberal John Woolfe 12,306 22.0 +7.4
Nuclear Disarmament Michael H. Craft 1,073 1.9 New
Majority 12,196 21.7 -7.2
Turnout 56,037 77.7 -2.1
Registered electors 72,154
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s
General election 1959: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gresham Cooke 33,677 57.2 -1.2
Labour Anne Kerr 16,638 28.3 -1.9
Liberal Kenwyn Arthur Powell 8,589 14.6 +3.1
Majority 17,039 28.9 +0.7
Turnout 58,904 79.8 +2.8
Registered electors 73,852
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gresham Cooke 33,726 58.4 -2.7
Labour Pat O'Gorman 17,450 30.2 -7.7
Liberal Margaret Neilson 6,626 11.5 New
Majority 16,276 28.2 +4.0
Turnout 57,802 77.0 -4.3
Registered electors 75,106
Conservative hold Swing
1955 Twickenham by-election[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gresham Cooke 23,075 64.0 +1.9
Labour R. P. Pitman 12,953 36.0 -1.9
Majority 10,122 28.0 +3.8
Turnout 36,028 47.3 -38.4
Registered electors 76,147
Conservative hold Swing -1.9
General election 1951: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Keeling 39,080 62.1 +6.2
Labour Ethel Chipchase 23,871 37.9 +2.8
Majority 15,209 24.2 +3.4
Turnout 62,951 81.3 -4.4
Registered electors 77,444
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1950: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Keeling 36,757 55.9 +7.9
Labour John Stonehouse 23,088 35.1 -6.8
Liberal Derek Alan Forwood 5,950 9.0 -1.2
Majority 13,669 20.8 +14.7
Turnout 65,795 85.7 +11.7
Registered electors 76,810
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s
General election 1945: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Keeling 26,045 48.0 -15.3
Labour Arthur Irvine 22,736 41.9 +4.2
Liberal Granville Slack 5,509 10.2 New
Majority 3,309 6.1 -18.4
Turnout 54,290 74.0 +7.5
Registered electors 73,336
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1935: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Keeling 37,635 62.3 -11.7
Labour Co-op Percy Holman 22,823 37.7 +11.7
Majority 14,812 24.5 -23.5
Turnout 60,458 66.5 -4.8
Registered electors 90,929
Conservative hold Swing
1934 Twickenham by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alfred Critchley 23,395 56.1 -0.1
Labour Co-op Percy Holman 19,890 43.9 +0.1
Majority 5,505 12.2 -0.2
Turnout 43,285 55.5 +3.6
Registered electors 81,529
Conservative hold Swing -0.1
1932 Twickenham by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hylton Murray-Philipson 21,688 56.2 -17.8
Labour Co-op Percy Holman 16,881 43.8 +17.8
Majority 4,807 12.4 -35.6
Turnout 38,569 51.9 -19.4
Registered electors 74,272
Conservative hold Swing -17.8
General election, 1931: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Ferguson 39,161 74.0 +26.3
Labour Co-op Percy Holman 13,793 26.0 -20.1
Majority 25,398 48.0 +46.4
Turnout 42,954 71.3 +21.8
Registered electors 74,272
Conservative hold Swing +23.2

Elections in the 1920s
1929 Twickenham by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Ferguson 14,705 47.7 -0.8
Labour Thomas Jackson Mason 14,202 46.1 +11.3
Liberal Frederick Paterson 1,920 6.2 -10.5
Majority 503 1.6 -12.1
Turnout 30,827 49.5 -20.3
Registered electors 62,264
Unionist hold Swing -6.6
General election 1929: Twickenham[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist William Joynson-Hicks 21,087 48.5 -21.9
Labour Thomas Jackson Mason 15,121 34.8 +5.2
Liberal Frederick Paterson 7,246 16.7 New
Majority 5,966 13.7 -27.1
Turnout 43,454 69.8 -0.2
Registered electors 62,263
Unionist hold Swing -13.6
General election 1924: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist William Joynson-Hicks 18,889 70.4 +15.0
Labour Stanley Simon Sherman 7,945 29.6 +5.9
Majority 10,944 40.8 +9.1
Turnout 26,834 70.0 +8.0
Registered electors 38,353
Unionist hold Swing +4.6
Joynson-Hicks
General election 1923: Twickenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist William Joynson-Hicks 12,903 55.4 N/A
Labour Stanley Simon Sherman 5,509 23.7 New
Liberal Charles Baker 4,858 20.9 New
Majority 7,394 31.7 N/A
Turnout 23,270 62.0 N/A
Registered electors 37,558
Unionist hold Swing N/A
General election 1922 : Twickenham [16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist William Joynson-Hicks Unopposed
Registered electors 37,073
Unionist hold

Elections in the 1910s
General election 1918 Twickenham[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist William Joynson-Hicks 14,015 83.2
Labour Humphrey Chalmers 2,823 16.8
Majority 11,192 66.4
Turnout 16,838 48.2
Registered electors 34,924
Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

Notes and references
Notes
  1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
  3. By share of the vote, behind five seats: Orkney and Shetland, Westmoreland and Lonsdale, Bath, Yeovil, and Norfolk North
  4. However mostly further south as the river is on a north-south axis at this point
  5. An ill-defined but major neighbourhood of East Molesey often self-identifies as and ascribes to itself Hampton Court by virtue of its station and long standing sweep of shops of that name, across historic and actual boundaries, across the Thames in Surrey, this is not part of the Hampton Court hamlet mentioned.
  6. Also known as one-party swing
References
  1. "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.
  2. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/twickenham-constituency-results-general-election-2019-a4307146.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "GE2017 – Constituency results". Britain Elects (Google Docs). Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  4. "Turnout – General Elections Online". geo.digiminster.
  5. Library, House of Commons (23 June 2017). "GE2017: Marginal seats and turnout".
  6. "Results of the 2017 general election". BBC News.
  7. "Unemployment claimants by constituency". The Guardian. 17 November 2010.
  8. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
  9. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf
  10. "Vince Cable is to run for parliament in snap election". The Independent. 18 April 2017.
  11. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7979/CBP-7979.pdf
  12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. "Election results for Twickenham, 7 May 2015". 7 May 2015.
  14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. "1955 By Elections – part 1". 31 August 2009. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009.
  16. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Sources

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