Surbiton (UK Parliament constituency)

Surbiton
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Greater London
1955–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Kingston and Surbiton
Created from	Kingston-upon-Thames Esher Epsom

Surbiton was a borough constituency created for the 1955 general election and abolished for the 1997 general election, in Surrey until 1965 and thereafter in outer south-west London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system of election.

History

This was in the safe/marginal seat spectrum irrefutably a safe Conservative seat during its 32-year lifetime. The party positioned in second position was also unchanged until it changed once in the course of the seat's history. The election when this change took place was the United Kingdom general election, 1983. The narrowest majority was the General Election 1966 at 15.7%.

Boundaries

1974-1983: The London Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Berrylands, Chessington, Hook and Southborough, St Mark's and Seething Wells, Surbiton Hill, Tolworth East, Tolworth South, and Tolworth West.

1983-1997: The London Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Berrylands, Chessington North, Chessington South, Hook, St Mark's, Surbiton Hill, Tolworth East, Tolworth South, and Tolworth West.

The constituency was made up of the eastern part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London, centred on the area of Surbiton. In 1997, it was absorbed into the new and larger Kingston and Surbiton constituency after the Boundary Commission for England recommended that a seat be lost in the twinned boroughs of Kingston and Richmond.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1955	Sir Nigel Fisher	Conservative
	1983	Richard Tracey	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Kingston and Surbiton

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Tracey	19,033	54.4	−1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Barbara Janke	9,394	26.9	−1.6
	Labour	Robin T. Hutchinson	6,384	18.3	+3.9
	Natural Law	W Parker	161	0.5
Majority			9,639	27.6	+0.2
Turnout			34,972	82.4	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Tracey	19,861	55.9
	Social Democratic	DT Burke	10,120	28.5
	Labour	A McGowan	5,111	14.4
	Green	J Vidler	465	1.3
Majority			9,741	27.4
Turnout			9,741	27.4

General Election 1983: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Tracey	18,245	54.5
	Social Democratic	C Nowakowski	9,496	28.4
	Labour	ND Waskett	5,173	15.5
	Ecology	J Macellan	551	1.6
Majority			8,749	11.1
Turnout				26.1

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	20,063	56.7
	Labour	CP Moore	9,261	26.1
	Liberal	CJ Tilley	6,093	17.2
Majority			10,802	30.5
Turnout				75.5

General Election Oct 1974: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	15,330	45.7
	Labour	Andrew MacKinlay	9,309	27.7
	Liberal	D Brooke	8,931	26.6
Majority			6,021	17.9
Turnout				72.9

General Election, February 1974: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	17,176	45.60
	Liberal	D Brooke	10,676	28.34
	Labour	Andrew MacKinlay	9,813	26.05
Majority			6,500	17.26
Turnout				82.26

General Election 1970: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	17,359	51.7
	Labour	RD Kerr-Walter	10,469	31.2
	Liberal	CF Green	4,027	12.0
	Independent Powell Conservative	E Scruty	1,706	5.1
Majority			6,890	20.5
Turnout				70.3

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	19,989	57.9
	Labour	DE Heather	14,561	42.1
Majority			5,428	15.7
Turnout				77.0

General Election 1964: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	20,499	60.6
	Labour	DE Heather	13,337	39.4
Majority			7,162	21.2
Turnout				75.4

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	24,058	67.4
	Labour	A Imisson	11,633	32.6
Majority			12,425	34.8
Turnout				79.0

General Election 1955: Surbiton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Fisher	22,863	64.9
	Labour	SG Richards	12,380	35.1
Majority			10,483	29.7
Turnout				79.6

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London