Bermondsey and Old Southwark (UK Parliament constituency)

Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bermondsey and Old Southwark in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Population	126,522 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	77,186 (December 2010)[2]
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of parliament	Neil Coyle (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	North Southwark and Bermondsey
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Contemp. RP) /'bəːməndzi ənd oʊld sʌðək/, (Cons. RP) /ˈbəːməndzɪ ənd əʊld sʌðək/, (Est. Eng.) /bəːməndzi ən oʊw sʌvək/ is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament represented by Neil Coyle of the Labour Party since the 2015 general election.^{[n 2]}

History and boundaries

The seat was created for the 2010 general election, almost identical to the "North Southwark and Bermondsey" which had been the name for the seat held by Simon Hughes since the 1997 General Election, on a review of parliamentary representation in London by the Boundary Commission for England facing very minor boundary changes.

The constituency lies within the London Borough of Southwark, which contains the 'Old Southwark' area of the former Metropolitan Borough of Southwark and the neighbourhoods of Borough, London Bridge and Bankside. Within the constituency are Elephant and Castle, Walworth and Newington which were part of the old Metropolitan Borough. The eastern half of the seat includes Bermondsey and Rotherhithe which were part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey, and which had been a separate constituency also. This seat is based on the 1997–2010 North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency. Following the 2002 redrawing of ward boundaries, parts of Faraday and Livesey wards that were part of North Southwark and Bermondsey transferred to Camberwell and Peckham. This successor seat is made from the following electoral wards within the London Borough of Southwark: Cathedrals, Chaucer, East Walworth, Grange, Newington, Riverside, Rotherhithe, South Bermondsey, Surrey Docks.

Constituency profile

Comprising the northern part of the London Borough of Southwark, the seat lies immediately to the south of the City of London.

The southern halves of the Thames crossings London Bridge and Tower Bridge are in the seat, as is the historic Southwark area, with its cathedral, the Globe Theatre and Borough Market. There is also extensive commercial development that has spilled over the river from the City, notably the Shard London Bridge.

To the east, the seat also includes the Rotherhithe peninsula, where contemporary housing now replaces former industrial areas, particularly around Canada Water and the neighbourhood of Bermondsey.

At its southern end, the seat includes parts of Walworth. Here the seat adjoins Camberwell and Peckham, one of the safest Labour seats in London.

The seat had remained a rare example of an inner London Liberal Democrat seat since Simon Hughes first won it in 1983 until 2015.

Members of Parliament

The former Member of Parliament for Bermondsey and Old Southwark was the Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes who had sat for the various Bermondsey seats since a by-election in 1983, as a Liberal MP until 1988 and as a Liberal Democrat since then. He was defeated in 2015 by Labour's Neil Coyle.

Election		Member[3]	Party
	2010	Simon Hughes	Liberal Democrats
	2015	Neil Coyle	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Bermondsey and Old Southwark[4][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Coyle	22,146	43.1	+13.8
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Hughes	17,657	34.3	-14.0
	Conservative	Jean-Paul (JP) Floru	6,051	11.8	-5.3
	UKIP	Andy Beadle	3,254	6.3	n/a
	Green	William Lavin	2,023	3.9	+2.3
	TUSC	Kingsley Abrams[6][7]	142	0.3	n/a
	Independent	Lucy Hall	72	0.1	n/a
	All People's Party	Donald Cole[8]	59	0.1	n/a
	Republican Socialist Party	Steve Freeman[9]	20	0.0	n/a
Majority			4,489	8.7
Turnout			51,424	61.7	+4.2
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	+13.9

General Election 2010: Bermondsey and Old Southwark[10][11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Hughes	21,590	48.4	+0.7
	Labour Co-op	Val Shawcross	13,060	29.2	−2.4
	Conservative	Loanna Morrison	7,638	17.1	+4.1
	BNP	Stephen Tyler	1,370	3.1	+3.1
	Green	Tom Chance	718	1.6	−1.4
	Independent	Alan Kirkby	155	0.3	+0.3
	(no label)	Steve Freeman	120	0.3	+0.3
Majority			8,530	19.1
Turnout			44,651	57.5	+8.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+1.6

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London
• Southwark local elections

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.

References

1. "Bermondsey and Old Southwark: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
2. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
4. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
5. http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/4186/general_election_-_bermondsey_and_old_southwark 23Jul15 and electorate 83,298
6. "Ex Labour cllr Kingsley Abrams could be TUSC Bermondsey candidate". London SE1. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
7. "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
8. "Southwark Magistrate Donald Cole JP to take on Simon Hughes in May". All Peoples Party. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
9. "The Republican Socialists". republicansocialists.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015.
10. "Statement of Persons Nominated". Southwark Council.
11. "BBC News Election 2010 Constituency Bermondsey & Old Southwark". BBC News. 2010-05-07. Retrieved 2010-05-07.

Coordinates: 51°29′N 0°04′W / 51.49°N 0.07°W