Greenwich and Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Greenwich and Woolwich
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Greenwich and Woolwich in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	66,982 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Greenwich, Woolwich and Charlton
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Matthew Pennycook (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Greenwich, Woolwich
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Greenwich and Woolwich /ˈɡrɪnɪdʒ ənd wuːlɪdʒ/^{[n 1]} is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Matthew Pennycook of the Labour Party.^{[n 2][n 3]}

Constituency profile

The seat while dominated in the south by expansive and panoramic Greenwich Park^[2] retains constituent connections to work at the former Royal Docks by and Gas Works in North Greenwich^{[n 4]} and has a considerable social dependency in its Greenwich and Woolwich town centres, including in social housing,^[3] heightened by an acute demand for housing, particularly in the western half, SE10 due to architecturally-rich conservation areas and very close proximity to Canary Wharf and City of London.^[4] Reflecting this demographic split in the latter 20th century were 5 and 11-year periods when the two predecessor seats were served by the SDP. Including these 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 5]}

History

The constituency was created in 1997 by the merger of the whole of the former seat of Greenwich and the western half of the former seat of Woolwich.

The Greenwich seat was a safe Labour 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 unexpectedly won by the Social Democratic Party at a by-election, but was narrowly regained by Labour at the 1992 general election.

The Woolwich seat (and its predecessor Woolwich East) was a similar safe-Liberal-seat-turned-safe-Labour-seat. Its Labour MP Christopher Mayhew defected to the Liberals in 1974 before being defeated, and his Labour successor, John Cartwright, defected to the SDP in 1981. He held the seat at the 1983 and 1987 general elections, but narrowly lost it to Labour in 1992, like the neighbouring Greenwich seat.

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.

There are Conservative councillors in Blackheath Westcombe ward, but the remainder making up the constituency are all Labour, making this a safe seat for them.

Boundary review

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.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1997	Nick Raynsford	Labour
	2015	Matthew Pennycook	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Greenwich and Woolwich[6][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Pennycook	24,384	52.2	+3.0
	Conservative	Matt Hartley	12,438	26.6	+2.1
	UKIP	Ryan Acty[8]	3,888	8.3	N/A
	Green	Abbey Akinoshun[9]	2,991	6.4	+3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Tom Holder[10]	2,645	5.7	-12.5
	TUSC	Lynne Chamberlain	370	0.8	+0.1
Majority			11,946	25.6	+0.9
Turnout			46,716	63.7	+0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.4

General Election 2010: Greenwich and Woolwich[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	20,262	49.2	-3.3
	Conservative	Spencer Drury	10,109	24.5	+7.0
	Liberal Democrat	Joseph Lee	7,498	18.5	-1.5
	BNP	Lawrence Rustem[12]	1,151	2.8	N/A
	Green	Andy Hewett	1,054	2.6	-1.9
	Christian	Edward Adeyele	443	1.1	N/A
	English Democrats	Raden Wresniwiro	339	0.8	-2.6
	TUSC	Onay Kasab	267	0.6	N/A
	No label	Tammy Alingham	61	0.2	N/A
Majority			10,153	24.7
Turnout			41,188	62.9	+9.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Greenwich and Woolwich[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	17,527	49.2	−11.3
	Liberal Democrat	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	N/A
	English Democrats	Garry Bushell	1,216	3.4	N/A
	UKIP	Stan Gain	709	2.0	−0.1
	Independent	Purvarani Nagalingam	61	0.2	N/A
Majority			10,146	28.5
Turnout			35,615	55.6	+1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.2

General Election 2001: Greenwich and Woolwich[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	19,691	60.5	−2.9
	Conservative	Richard Forsdyke	6,258	19.2	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat	Russell Pyne	5,082	15.6	+3.1
	UKIP	Stan Gain	672	2.1	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Kirstie Paton	481	1.5	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Margaret Sharkey	352	1.1	N/A
Majority			13,433	41.3
Turnout			32,536	54.1	−11.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Greenwich and Woolwich[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	25,630	63.4	N/A
	Conservative	Michael Mitchell	7,502	18.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Cherry Luxton	5,049	12.5	N/A
	Referendum	Douglas Ellison	1,670	4.1	N/A
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	428	1.1	N/A
	Constitutionalist	D. Martin-Eagle	124	0.3	N/A
Majority			18,128		N/A
Turnout			40,403	65.9	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Notes and references

Notes

1. While not seen in older pronunciation guides than 2000, /ɡrɛnɪdʒ/ is often preferred among those from outside the area, most Transport for London announcements and generally younger or more recent residents
2. MP for Greenwich (UK Parliament constituency) 1992-97
3. 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.
4. See The O2 Arena
5. The winning majority was 5.7% over the Conservative challenger.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Open Street Map
3. 2001 Census
4. Greenwich SE10 area guide
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
7. http://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/elections2015results
8. http://www.ryanacty.org.uk
9. http://london.greenparty.org.uk/elections/2015-general-election.html
10. http://greenwich-libdems.org.uk/en/
11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "BNP to Fight 32 Parliamentary Seats in London". BNP. 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on April 8, 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
13. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

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