Croydon Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Croydon Central
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Croydon Central in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	76,980 (December 2010)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of parliament	Gavin Barwell (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Croydon South
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Croydon Central 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. The current MP is Conservative Gavin Barwell.

Constituency profile

Croydon Central covers a wedge of the London Borough of Croydon to the east of central Croydon and is much more marginal than the other two seats within the borough, Croydon South (which is safely Conservative) and Croydon North (Labour). The northern parts are characterised by terraced houses and urban areas, with small council estates. Labour gains much support from in particular Addiscombe, Fieldway, Woodside and Ashburton. The southern area, largely Conservative, consists of suburban semi-detached houses, populated by commuters, surrounded by golf courses and parkland. The wards of Shirley, Heathfield and Fairfield give large Conservative votes. In the south east corner, there is a large former council estate, New Addington, with two electoral wards for the more than 10,000 rather isolated residents. The estate is largely white and there have been strong British National Party showings, although Labour has traditionally won the bulk of the votes on the estate.

Most of the office blocks and shopping centres of Croydon town centre, as well as the mainline railway stations are within this seat.

History

The constituency that preceded Croydon Central in this area, Croydon South (not to be confused with the current Croydon South constituency), had twice seen Croydon's only Labour MPs before the 1990s. David Rees-Williams had held the seat from the 1945 Labour landslide until unfavourable boundary changes in 1950. David Winnick won the seat in 1966 before losing in 1970 (he has been MP for the much safer seat of Walsall North in Staffordshire since 1979). Otherwise the seat had been firm Conservative territory.

Historically, Labour's strength in the area had been on the council estates, particularly New Addington. However, there were important demographic changes across Croydon that saw greater numbers of ethnic minorities and residents of inner London move to Croydon from the 1970s onwards, making the area, especially north west Croydon, more favourable for Labour.

In 1997, Croydon's seats were reduced from four to three and the displaced Conservative Members had to face one another for the right to stand in the new Croydon Central seat (Croydon North by then a Labour-held seat). The MP for Croydon North East, David Congdon, beat off Sir Paul Beresford, the MP for the former Croydon Central seat. However, three years after Labour had taken control of Croydon Council, Labour's Geraint Davies saw off Congdon with a majority of 4,000. He held the seat with a similar majority in 2001 but lost by just 75 votes to Conservative Andrew Pelling in 2005, with the Liberal Democrats and Green Party gaining some 7,000 votes between them.

Boundaries

Central Croydon's main shopping area

The new wards and boundaries of the Croydon Central constituency

1974–1983: The London Borough of Croydon wards of Broad Green, Central, New Addington, Shirley, and Waddon.

1983–1997: The London Borough of Croydon wards of Fairfield, Fieldway, Heathfield, New Addington, Spring Park, and Waddon.

1997–2010: The London Borough of Croydon wards of Addiscombe, Ashburton, Fairfield, Fieldway, Heathfield, Monks Orchard, New Addington, Rylands, Spring Park, and Woodside.

2010–present: The London Borough of Croydon wards of Addiscombe, Ashburton, Fairfield, Fieldway, Heathfield, New Addington, Shirley, and Woodside.

Croydon Central covers the central and eastern parts of the London Borough of Croydon, one of the Borough's three seats. It is bordered by Croydon North and Croydon South, as well as Beckenham to the east.

The seat was redrawn in the 1997 redistribution, taking in territory from most of the pre-1997 Croydon Central constituency (losing Waddon ward to the redrawn Croydon South) and part of the abolished Croydon North East constituency. It covers an area that was Croydon South constituency until 1974 when part of Surrey East was incorporated into a new Croydon South constituency, following the creation of the London Borough of Croydon in 1965.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[2]	Party
February 1974	John Moore	Conservative
1992	Sir Paul Beresford	Conservative
1997	Geraint Davies	Labour
2005	Andrew Pelling	Conservative
2007	Andrew Pelling	Independent
2010	Gavin Barwell	Conservative

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Croydon Central^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gavin Barwell	22,753	43.0	+3.6
	Labour	Sarah Jones	22,588	42.7	+9.1
	UKIP	Peter Staveley	4,810	9.1	+7.1
	Green	Esther Sutton^[5]	1,454	2.7	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	James Fearnley	1,152	2.2	-11.0
	TUSC	April Ashley	127	0.2	N/A
	Progressive Democracy	Martin Camden	57	0.1	N/A
Majority			165	0.3	-5.91
Turnout			52,941	67.7	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.8

General Election 2010: Croydon Central^[6]^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gavin Barwell	19,657	39.5	-0.9
	Labour Co-op	Gerry Ryan	16,688	33.5	-7.6
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Lambell	6,553	13.2	+0.4
	Independent	Andrew Pelling	3,239	6.5	N/A
	BNP	Cliff le May	1,448	2.9	N/A
	UKIP	Ralph Atkinson	997	2.0	-0.2
	Green	Bernice Golberg	581	1.2	-1.0
	Christian	James Gitau	264	0.5	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	John Sydney Cartwright	192	0.4	+0.0
	Independent	Michael Castle	138	0.3	N/A
Majority			2,969	5.94
Turnout			49,967	65.45	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Croydon Central^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Pelling	19,974	40.8	+2.3
	Labour	Geraint Davies	19,899	40.6	−6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Jeremy Hargreaves	6,384	13.0	+1.8
	UKIP	Ian Edwards	1,066	2.2	+1.0
	Green	Bernice Golberg	1,036	2.1	N/A
	Veritas	Marianne Bowness	304	0.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	John Sydney Cartwright	193	0.4	–0.5
	The People's Choice! Exclusively For All	Janet Stears	101	0.2	N/A
Majority			75	0.2
Turnout			48,957	60.6	+1.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.4

General Election 2001: Croydon Central^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geraint Davies	21,643	47.2	+1.6
	Conservative	David Congdon	17,659	38.5	–0.1
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Booth	5,156	11.2	+0.4
	UKIP	James Feisenberger	545	1.2	+0.7
	BNP	Linda Miller	449	1.0	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	John Sydney Cartwright	408	0.9	N/A
Majority			3,984	8.7
Turnout			45,860	59.1	–10.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Croydon Central^[11]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geraint Davies	25,432	45.6	+10.1
	Conservative	David Congdon	21,535	38.6	-16.8
	Liberal Democrat	George Schlich	6,061	10.9	-2.4
	Referendum	Charles Cook	1,886	3.3
	Green	Mario-Simon Barnsley	595	1.1
	UKIP	John Woollcott	290	0.5
Majority			3,897	7.0	-8.2
Turnout			55,799	69.6	-1.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.5%

General Election 1992: Croydon Central^[13]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Paul Beresford	22,168	55.4	-1.2
	Labour	Geraint Davies	12,518	31.3	+6.9
	Liberal Democrat	Deborah J. Richardson	5,342	13.3	-5.7
Majority			9,650	24.1	-8.2
Turnout			40,028	71.5	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Croydon Central^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Moore	22,133	56.63
	Labour	Bridget Prentice	9,516	24.35
	Social Democratic	T. Burgess	7,435	19.02
Majority			12,617	32.28
Turnout				70.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Croydon Central^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Moore	20,866	53.81
	Labour	Andrew MacKinlay	9,045	23.33
	Social Democratic	T. Burgess	8,864	22.86
Majority			11,821	30.49
Turnout				68.59
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Croydon Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Moore	26,457	52.47
	Labour	D.F. White	18,499	36.69
	Liberal	J.P. Johnson	5,112	10.14
	Independent Conservative	M.J. Soper	238	0.47
	Workers Revolutionary	P. Gibson	116	0.23
Majority			7,958	15.78
Turnout				75.68
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Croydon Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Moore	20,390	42.08
	Labour	David Winnick	20,226	41.75
	Liberal	Ian Henry Maxwell	7,834	16.17
Majority			164	0.34
Turnout				72.59
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Croydon Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Moore	21,353	40.49
	Labour	R.A. Rosser	20,039	38.00
	Liberal	Ian Henry Maxwell	11,346	21.51
Majority			1,314	2.49
Turnout				79.74
	Conservative hold		Swing

Notes and references

↑ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ https://www.croydon.gov.uk/sites/default/files/articles/downloads/Croydon-Central-election-results_1.pdf 19Aug15
↑ "Croydon Green Party – Croydon Green Party Announces Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". greenparty.org.uk.
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ General Election 2010 – Croydon Central BBC News
↑ Croydon Council
↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Croydon Central (Archive)". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Constituencies in London (73)

Labour (45)	Barking Bermondsey and Old Southwark Bethnal Green and Bow Brent Central Brentford and Isleworth Brent North Camberwell and Peckham Croydon North Dagenham and Rainham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing Central and Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hampstead and Kilburn Holborn and St. Pancras Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West and Penge Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden Poplar and Limehouse Streatham Tooting Tottenham Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Westminster North

Conservative (27)	Battersea Beckenham Bexleyheath and Crayford Bromley and Chislehurst Chelsea and Fulham Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon South Enfield Southgate Finchley and Golders Green Harrow East Hendon Hornchurch and Upminster Kensington Kingston and Surbiton Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Putney Richmond Park Romford Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Sutton and Cheam Twickenham Uxbridge and South Ruislip Wimbledon

Liberal Democrats (1)	Carshalton and Wallington

London European constituency: Labour (4) Conservative (2) Green (1) UKIP (1)

Historic constituencies in London

1974	Acton Barking Battersea North Battersea South Beckenham Bermondsey Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing North Edmonton Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith North Hampstead Harrow Central Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras South Hornchurch Hornsey Ilford North Ilford South Islington Central Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lambeth Central Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Orpington Paddington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond Romford Ruislip-Northwood St Marylebone St Pancras North Sidcup Southall Stepney and Poplar Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Wimbledon Wood Green Woolwich East Woolwich West

1983	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Stepney Bexleyheath Bow and Poplar Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton and Wallington Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond and Barnes Romford Ruislip-Northwood Southwark and Bermondsey Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Westminster North Wimbledon Woolwich

1997	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath and Crayford Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Bromley and Chislehurst Camberwell and Peckham Carshalton and Wallington Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon North Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Finchley and Golders Green Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith and Fulham Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington and Chelsea Kingston and Surbiton Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden North Southwark and Bermondsey Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Poplar and Canning Town Putney Regent's Park and Kensington North Richmond Park Romford Ruislip-Northwood Streatham Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Wimbledon

London Borough of Croydon

Districts	Addington Addiscombe Ashburton Beddington Broad Green Coombe Coulsdon Croydon Crystal Palace Forestdale Hamsey Green Kenley Monks Orchard New Addington Norbury Norwood New Town Old Coulsdon Pollards Hill Purley Roundshaw Russell Hill Sanderstead Selhurst Selsdon Shirley Shirley Oaks South Croydon South Norwood Spring Park Thornton Heath Upper Norwood Upper Shirley Waddon Woodcote Woodside Whyteleafe

Attractions	Addington Palace Croydon Airport Croydon Clocktower (David Lean Cinema Museum of Croydon Croydon Central Library) Croydon Palace Fairfield Halls (Ashcroft Theatre) RAF Kenley Selhurst Park (football stadium) Shirley Windmill Warehouse Theatre

Street markets	Croydon Farmers Market Surrey Street Market

Parks and open spaces	Addington Hills Addington Park Addington Vale Addiscombe Railway Park Addiscombe Recreation Ground Apsley Road Playground Ashburton Park Ashburton Playing Fields Beaulieu Heights Brickfields Meadow Coombe Wood Cotelands Duppas Hill Grangewood Park Great North Wood Heavers Meadow Kenley Common Mitcham Common Norbury Park Park Hill Pollards Hill Purley Downs Queen's Gardens Roundshaw Selsdon Wood South Norwood Country Park South Norwood Lake and Grounds South Norwood Recreation Ground Streatham Vale Park Woodside Green

Constituencies	Croydon South Croydon Central Croydon North

Rail stations and tram stops	Addington Village Addiscombe Ampere Way Arena Beddington Lane Blackhorse Lane Centrale Church Street Coombe Lane Coulsdon South Coulsdon Town East Croydon Fieldway George Street Gravel Hill Harrington Road Kenley King Henry's Drive Lebanon Road Lloyd Park New Addington Norbury Norwood Junction Purley Oaks Purley Reedham Reeves Corner Riddlesdown Sanderstead Sandilands Selhurst South Croydon Therapia Lane (in LB of Sutton) Thornton Heath Waddon Marsh Waddon Wandle Park Wellesley Road West Croydon Woodmansterne Woodside

Art and architecture	Croydon Vision 2020 Grade I and II* listed buildings Public art Tallest buildings and structures

Other topics	Coat of arms Council Economy People Railway stations Schools

Category Commons

Coordinates: 51°22′08″N 0°03′14″W / 51.369°N 0.054°W / 51.369; -0.054

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