Mitcham and Morden

Mitcham and Morden
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Mitcham and Morden in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	67,074 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Siobhain McDonagh (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Mitcham Merton & Morden
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Mitcham and Morden is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

History

The constituency was created in 1974 from the former seats of Mitcham and Merton & Morden. Between 1974 and 1982 it was represented by Bruce Douglas-Mann who was elected as a Labour MP but defected in 1982 to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). On defecting he resigned his seat and sought re-election as an SDP MP, he was the only defector to have resigned his seat. In the subsequent By-Election held in May 1982 at the time of the Falklands War, the seat elected Angela Rumbold of the Conservative Party, this was the last time that any seat has been gained by a governing party in the UK. It was also the last time the Conservative Party would gain a seat at a by-election until 22 May 2008 when Edward Timpson took Crewe and Nantwich.

At the 1997 General Election the seat was won by Labour and Siobhain McDonagh was elected as Member of Parliament. At the 2001 General Election and the 2010 General Election, she was re-elected and her majority is 13,666 (31.2%).

Boundaries

Based within the London Borough of Merton, the constituency consists of the wards of Colliers Wood, Cricket Green, Figges Marsh, Graveney, Lavender Fields, Lower Morden, Longthornton, Pollards Hill, Ravensbury and St Helier.

The Boundary Commission recommondations, implemented at the 2010 election, were relatively minor with about 750 electors moving from Mitcham and Morden to Wimbledon and about 500 electors moving from Wimbledon to Mitcham and Morden. This has been caused by wards being aligned with constituency boundaries following the implementation of new ward boundaries for the London Borough of Merton at the 2002 Local Elections.

Proposed changes

As part of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which commenced in 2011, the Boundary Commission for England proposes to divide the Mitcham and Morden seat^[2]. A new seat called 'Mitcham' would cover Mitcham, the Streatham South electoral ward, Colliers Wood, Ravensbury and South Wimbledon^[3].

A redrawn version of 'Sutton and Cheam' would cover Sutton, Lower Morden, St Helier and Cheam^[4].

Constituency profile

The seat is broadly suburban, with terraced houses and low-rise estates in Tooting and Streatham at the Northern end of the seat. In the south-west of the constituency is most affluent part - Lower Morden.

In the middle, the former coaching stop of Mitcham with its ancient cricket green retains some village-like characteristics and has poor transport connections with the rest of London. In the 20th century, Mitcham became surrounded by modern council estates and light industry.

Recent years have seen growth in the ethnic minority population and it now makes up approximately one third of the population.^[5]

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

References

1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
2. ^ Comparison table for London Boundary Commission for England
3. ^ Proposed map - Merton Boundary Commission for England
4. ^ Proposed map - Sutton and Cheam Boundary Commission for England
5. ^ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/mitchamandmorden?cp=2
6. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 3)^{[self-published source?][better source needed]}
7. ^ http://www.merton.gov.uk/council/voting/statementpersonsnominated2010m_m.pdf
8. ^ "Politcs Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/059.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-25. 
9. ^ C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.120 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
10. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010. 

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Coordinates: 51°24′04″N 0°10′34″W / 51.401°N 0.176°W / 51.401; -0.176