List of Parliamentary constituencies in Surrey

The county of Surrey is divided into 11 Parliamentary constituencies (sub-classified into four of borough type and seven of county status affecting the level of expenses permitted and status of returning officer). The county saw the vast bulk of its population and seats removed on the creation of the County of London in 1889 and its wider replacement the county of Greater London in 1965. Reflecting its mainly suburban and rural nature, all seats covering the present definition of Surrey have been held by Conservative MPs at each general election since 1885, with the exception of two Liberals in 1906 and 1 Liberal Democrat in 2001.

Constituencies

  † Conservative   ‡ Labour   ¤ Liberal Democrat

Constituency[nb 1] Electorate[1] Majority[2][nb 2] Member of Parliament[2] Nearest opposition[2] Map
East Surrey 83,148 24,040   Claire Coutinho   Alex Ehmann¤
Epsom and Ewell 81,138 17,873   Chris Grayling   Stephen Gee¤
Esher and Walton 81,184 2,743   Dominic Raab   Monica Harding¤
Guildford 77,729 3,337   Angela Richardson   Zöe Franklin¤
Mole Valley 74,665 12,011   Sir Paul Beresford   Paul Kennedy¤
Reigate 74,242 18,310   Crispin Blunt   Susan Gregory‡
Runnymede and Weybridge 77,196 18,270   Ben Spencer   Robert King‡
South West Surrey 79,096 8,817   Jeremy Hunt Paul Follows¤
Spelthorne 70,929 18,393   Kwasi Kwarteng   Pavitar Mann‡
Surrey Heath 81,349 18,349   Michael Gove   Alasdair Pinkerton¤
Woking 75,424 9,767   Jonathan Lord   Will Forster¤

Historic List of Constituencies in Surrey

Used from 1950 to 1974

Eleven other seats fell within the north-east of Surrey until 1965, forming the metropolitan part closest to London and the majority of the population (shown in the Historical Representation tables below). These were moved into Greater London leaving a predominantly suburban and rural content.

Used from 1974 to 1983

Used from 1983 to 1997

Boundary review (2010)

Initial proposals

The initial proposals at the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which reported prior to 2010 envisaged no changes for the seats of East Surrey, Esher and Walton, Runnymede and Weybridge, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath and Woking seats. Changes for Mole Valley would realign rural ward boundaries with Epsom & Ewell not moving any voters. A disparity of around 11,000 electors exists between Guildford and Reigate seats. These amendments are envisaged, reducing it to 8,000 of patent malapportionment due to population change:

Guildford and South West Surrey, move:

  • Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe ward into South West Surrey, from Guildford
  • Alford, Cranleigh Rural and Ellens Green ward into Guildford, from S.W. Surrey

Reigate and Epsom & Ewell

  • Move Preston (near Tadworth) from Epsom & Ewell into Reigate.

Consultation and final recommendations

The main objections focused upon the moving of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe into South West Surrey and a public review meeting was called which was dominated by this. The objections centred on the argument that the area had stronger links, including transport services, to Guildford than to Farnham and Godalming. Some noted that the previous Boundary Commission rejected a proposal to move Bramley after public objection. However this would have been to Mole Valley and the petitioners, including Bramley Parish Council, had stated that whilst they preferred to stay in Guildford, if they had to move they would prefer to be moved to South West Surrey. Also Bramley was not the entirety of the ward and the Commission was deeply reluctant to divide wards. The review upheld the proposals.

Objections were also made to the names of Guildford, Surrey Heath and Reigate. In general the objections were limited by a desire to avoid name changes unless majority boundary changes were made.

The objection to Guildford was lodged by a non resident who proposed "Guildford and Cranleigh" to take into account the large village in the seat. This was rejected, with the citation that there was no local support.

Reigate was objected to by those who proposed "Reigate and Banstead", the name of the district. Amongst those objecting were both Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and Crispin Blunt, the local MP. However the seat covers only 70% of the district, with Reigate at its centre, whilst Banstead (in the north east corner) has a history of being moved between seats. The present name was retained.

Surrey Heath received objections, in part because of the 20% of the constituency that is outside the Surrey Heath district. Alternative suggested included "North West Surrey" (the pre 1997 name), "Camberley and Ash" and "West Surrey". However this proposal was opposed by many, including the Surrey Heath borough council. The objection was rejection as the identity was clear and the alternatives were divided and even more imprecise.

The proposed changes to Reigate, Epsom & Ewell and Mole Valley did not meet objections.

NameCurrent boundariesProposed revision
  1. East Surrey CC
  2. Epsom and Ewell BC
  3. Esher and Walton BC
  4. Guildford CC
  5. Mole Valley CC
  6. Reigate BC
  7. Runnymede and Weybridge CC
  8. South West Surrey CC
  9. Spelthorne BC
  10. Surrey Heath CC
  11. Woking CC
Parliamentary constituencies in Surrey
Proposed Revision

Proposed boundary changes

The Boundary Commission for England submitted their final proposals in respect of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies (the 2018 review) in September 2018. Although the proposals were immediately laid before Parliament they were not brought forward by the Government for approval. Accordingly, they did not come into effect for the 2019 election which took place on 12 December 2019, and which was contested using the constituency boundaries in place since 2010.

Under the terms of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Sixth Review was based on reducing the total number of MPs from 650 to 600 and a strict electoral parity requirement that the electorate of all constituencies should be within a range of 5% either side of the electoral quota.

On 24 March 2020, the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Chloe Smith, issued a written statement to Parliament setting out the Government's thinking with regard to parliamentary boundaries.[3] Subsequently, the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020[4] was passed into law on 14 December 2020. This formally removed the duty to implement the 2018 review and set out the framework for future boundary reviews. The Act provided that the number of constituencies should remain at the current level of 650, rather than being reduced to 600, while retaining the requirement that the electorate should be no more than +/- 5% from the electoral quota.

The Act specified that the next review should be completed no later than 1 July 2023 and the Boundary Commission formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.[5] See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[6]

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Surrey in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party Votes % Change from 2017 Seats Change from 2017
Conservative 336,561 53.7% 4.9% 11 0
Liberal Democrats 179,581 28.6% 15.3% 0 0
Labour 79,895 12.7% 8.5% 0 0
Greens 17,165 2.7% 0.4% 0 0
Others 13,670 2.3% 2.3% 0 0
Total 626,872 100.0 11

Percentage votes

Note that before 1974 Surrey included a considerable part of what is now London.

Election year 1924 1929 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative 71.8 53.8 69.8 49.9 55.8 61.0 62.4 59.9 51.6 50.1 55.6 50.2 50.5 59.3 59.4 60.6 59.9 46.2 47.6 50.5 55.2 58.1 58.6 53.7
Labour 4.6 20.5 26.3 40.7 34.4 36.8 34.9 29.9 29.9 33.3 30.3 20.1 23.5 20.2 11.0 11.4 13.6 22.3 21.8 16.7 9.8 13.0 21.2 12.7
Liberal Democrat1 23.6 25.7 3.9 9.0 9.8 2.3 2.7 10.3 18.4 16.5 13.8 29.3 25.6 19.8 28.6 27.6 25.5 24.5 27.0 28.4 28.5 9.8 13.3 28.6
Green Party - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * * * * * 0.6 4.6 2.3 2.7
UKIP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * * * 4.8 12.9 2.0 *
Other - - - 0.4 0.03 - - - 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.7 1.1 0.4 1.1 7.0 3.6 4.4 1.1 1.6 2.6 2.2

1pre-1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Accurate vote percentages cannot be obtained for the elections of 1918, 1922, 1923 and 1931 because at least one candidate stood unopposed.

Seats

Election year 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 11 11 11 11 11
Liberal Democrat1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Total 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

11974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

General Election 2019, 2017, 2015 and 2010 results

The following tables show the results for all Surrey constituencies in the General Elections in 2019, 2017, 2015 and 2010. The results are given as percentages.

2019 Con Lib

Dem

Lab Green UKIP Other
East Surrey 59.7 19.4 13.8 3.9 - 3.2
Epsom and Ewell 53.5 23.5 17.2 3.4 - 2.4
Esher and Walton 49.4 45.0 4.5 - - 1.2
Guildford 44.9 39.2 7.7 - - 8.2
Mole Valley 55.4 34.3 5.2 3.3 0.8 0.9
Reigate 53.9 19.4 19.5 6.0 1.2 -
Runnymede and Weybridge 54.9 17.3 20.6 3.5 0.9 2.8
South West Surrey 53.3 38.7 7.9 - - -
Spelthorne 58.9 15.1 21.7 4.3 - -
Surrey Heath 58.6 27.3 9.2 3.8 1.1 -
Woking 48.9 30.8 16.4 2.8 1.1 -
Average 53.8 28.6 12.7 2.7 0.5 1.7
2017 Con Lab Lib Dem UKIP Green Others
East Surrey59.619.210.53.81.95.0
Epsom and Ewell59.625.012.5-2.9-
Esher and Walton58.619.717.31.71.80.8
Guildford54.619.023.9-2.10.5
Mole Valley61.913.919.32.42.6-
Reigate57.424.710.92.94.1-
Runnymede and Weybridge60.925.97.33.22.6-
South West Surrey55.712.69.91.8-20.0
Spelthorne57.330.55.54.62.2-
Surrey Heath64.221.110.8-3.9-
Woking54.123.917.62.12.00.4
Average58.521.912.82.52.42.4
2015 Con Lab UKIP Lib Dem Green Others
East Surrey57.411.817.09.23.80.6
Epsom and Ewell58.315.512.58.83.71.3
Esher and Walton62.912.79.79.44.11.1
Guildford57.112.18.815.54.71.8
Mole Valley60.68.311.214.55.4--
Reigate56.812.813.310.56.7--
Runnymede and Weybridge59.715.513.96.74.1--
South West Surrey59.99.59.96.35.49.1
Spelthorne49.718.620.96.43.51.0
Surrey Heath59.911.214.39.14.41.2
Woking56.216.111.311.64.10.6
Average58.013.113.09.84.51.5
2010 Con Lib Dem Lab UKIP Others
East Surrey56.725.99.06.91.5
Epsom and Ewell56.226.811.94.60.5
Esher and Walton58.924.810.73.32.3
Guildford53.339.35.11.80.5
Mole Valley57.528.77.05.11.6
Reigate53.426.211.34.25.4
Runnymede and Weybridge55.921.613.46.52.5
South West Surrey58.730.26.02.62.6
Spelthorne47.125.916.58.52.2
Surrey Heath57.625.810.26.3--
Woking50.337.48.03.80.5
Average55.128.49.94.91.8

Maps

Historical representation by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1885 to 1918

  Conservative   Liberal   Liberal Unionist   National Party

Constituency 1885 86 1886 92 1892 95 1895 97 99 1900 03 04 1906 07 09 Jan 1910 Dec 1910 12 16 17
Chertsey Hankey Combe Leigh-Bennett Fyler Bingham Marnham Macmaster
Croydon Grantham Herbert Ritchie Arnold-Forster Hermon-Hodge Malcolm
Epsom Cubitt Bucknill W. Keswick H. Keswick
Guildford Brodrick Cowan Horne
Kingston upon Thames Ellis Temple Skewes-Cox Cave
Reigate Lawrence Cubitt Brodie Rawson
Wimbledon Bonsor Hambro Chaplin Coats

Note the 15 other seats of Surrey created in 1885 which primarily or wholly lay in the 1889-created County of London are not included in this list.

1918 to 1950 (12, then 14 MPs)

  Conservative   Independent Conservative   Labour

Constituency 1918 19 22 1922 23 1923 1924 28 1929 31 1931 32 1935 37 40 1945 47 48
Carshalton Head
Chertsey Macmaster Richardson Boyd-Carpenter Marsden
Croydon North Borwick Mason Willink Harris
Croydon South Malcolm Smith Mitchell-Thomson Williams Rees-Williams
Epsom Blades Southby McCorquodale
Farnham Samuel Nicholson
Guildford Horne Buckingham Rhys Jarvis
Kingston upon Thames Campbell Penny Royds Boyd-Carpenter
Mitcham Worsfold Chuter Ede Meller Robertson Braddock
Reigate Cockerill Touche
Richmond (Surrey) Edgar Becker Moore Ray Harvie-Watt
Surrey East Coats Galbraith Emmott Astor
Sutton and Cheam Marshall
Wimbledon Hood Power Palmer

† denotes seat which falls wholly or largely within present-day county of Greater London.

1950 to 1974 (19, then 20 MPs)

  Conservative

Constituency 1950 1951 54 1955 1959 60 1964 1966 1970 72
Carshalton Head Elliot
Chertsey Heald Grylls
Croydon East / Croydon NE (from 1955)† Williams Hughes-Hallett Weatherill
Croydon North / Croydon NW (from 1955)† Harris Taylor
Croydon West / Croydon S (from 1955)† Thompson Winnick Thompson
Dorking Touche Sinclair
Epsom McCorquodale Rawlinson
Esher Robson-Brown Mather
Farnham Nicholson Macmillan
Guildford Nugent Howell
Kingston upon Thames Boyd-Carpenter
Merton and Morden Ryder Atkins Fookes
Mitcham Carr
Reigate Vaughan-Morgan Howe
Richmond (Surrey) Harvie-Watt Royle
Surbiton N/A Fisher
Surrey East Astor Doughty Clark
Sutton and Cheam Marshall Sharples Tope
Wimbledon Black Havers
Woking Watkinson Onslow
Constituency 1950 1951 54 1955 1959 60 1964 1966 1970 72

† denotes seat which falls wholly or largely within present-day county of Greater London

1974 to present (11 MPs)

In 1965 half (ten) of Surrey's constituencies were moved to the new county of Greater London, but constituencies based on the old boundaries continued to be used until 1974, when Surrey gained one constituency from the abolished administrative county of Middlesex.

Liberal Democrat MP Sue Doughty, who won Guildford in 2001 with a winning margin of 1.2%, was the first candidate to take a seat from the Conservatives in the area covered by the present county of Surrey in 56 years.

  Conservative   Independent   Liberal Democrats   Referendum Party

Constituency Feb 1974 Oct 1974 78 1979 1983 84 1987 1992 97 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 19 2019
Chertsey & Walton / Runnymede & Weybridge (1997) Pattie Hammond Spencer
Dorking (1974–83) / Mole Valley (1983-) Sinclair Wickenden Baker Beresford
Epsom and Ewell Rawlinson Hamilton Grayling
Esher (1974–97) / Esher and Walton (1997-) Mather Taylor Raab
Farnham (1974–83) / SW Surrey (1983-) Macmillan Bottomley Hunt
Guildford Howell St Aubyn Doughty Milton Richardson
Reigate Gardiner Blunt
Spelthorne Atkins Wilshire Kwarteng
Surrey East Howe Ainsworth Gyimah Coutinho
Surrey NW (1974–97) / Surrey Heath (1997-) Grylls Hawkins Gove
Woking Onslow Malins Lord

See also

Notes

  1. BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.

References

  1. Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  3. "Update: Strengthening Democracy:Written statement - HCWS183". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. "Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020".
  5. "2023 Review launched | Boundary Commission for England". Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  6. Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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