Richmond Park Borough constituency
Richmond Park shown within Greater London
Created:	1997
MP:	Susan Kramer
Party:	Liberal Democrat
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Greater London
EP constituency:	London

Richmond Park is a 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.

History and character

Richmond Park constituency was created in 1997 from the old Richmond & Barnes constituency (held until then by the Conservative Jeremy Hanley) and the northern half of the Kingston upon Thames constituency (held by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont, also Conservative). Hanley was selected as the Conservative candidate to fight for the new seat, but he lost to Jenny Tonge (Liberal Democrat). The seat has been held by the Lib Dems ever since.

The area is almost entirely affluent suburbia with plenty of leafy streets, and desirable late Victorian and Edwardian houses with large gardens. It has many pleasant open green spaces, including Richmond Park itself and the world famous botanic gardens at Kew.

Boundaries

Richmond Park constituency stretches from Barnes in the north to Kingston upon Thames in the south, and includes the whole of East Sheen, Mortlake, Kew, Richmond, Petersham and Ham. The boundaries also include the Royal Park that gives it its name.

From Richmond Bridge, the boundary runs north following middle of the River Thames to Hammersmith Bridge and then south as far as Barn Elms. From here it cuts away from the river to exclude Putney Common and houses east of Hallam Road and Dyers Lane. At the south end of Dyers Lane the boundary runs along the Upper Richmond Road westwards as far as the Beverley Brook which it then follows south to the northern wall of Richmond Park itself. This effectively excludes all of Roehampton, which is part of Putney. The boundary then follows the wall of the park as far as the Robin Hood Gate on the A3 road. Here it crosses the road and picks up the line of the Beverley Brook again south, until it meets the main railway line from London Waterloo to Woking, near New Malden Station. West of the station it turns north to follow the Kingston branch of the railway line, which it follows as far as the railway bridge over the Thames between Kingston and Hampton Wick. From here it runs north down the middle of the river back to Richmond Bridge.

This means that the constituency includes Coombe, Kingston Vale, and all of Kingston upon Thames and New Malden north of the railway.

For a detailed map see the UK government election map web site.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England has made only minor changes to the existing Richmond Park constituency, in line with changes in ward boundaries. The Commission received only eleven representations following the publication of the original proposals, of which ten were in support. (1 pdf file)

The electoral wards used in the constituency are:

• From Kingston upon Thames - Canbury, Coombe Hill, Coombe Vale and Tudor
• From Richmond upon Thames - Barnes, East Sheen, Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside, Kew, Mortlake and Barnes Common, North Richmond, South Richmond.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	2005	Susan Kramer	Liberal Democrats
	2001	Dr Jenny Tonge	Liberal Democrats
	1997

Prospects for the next General Election

In June 2007, Eleanor Tunnicliffe was selected as the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park.

In March 2007 Zac Goldsmith was selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park.

Election results

General Election 2005: Richmond Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	%
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Kramer	24,011	46.7	−1.0
	Conservative Party	Marco Forgione	20,280	39.5	−1.0
	Labour Party	James Butler	4,768	9.3	+1.9
		James Page	1,379	2.7	−2.0
		Peter Dul	458	0.9	+0.2
		Peter Flower	288	0.6	+0.2
	Independent	Margaret Harrison	83	0.2	N/A
		Rainbow George Weiss	63	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Richard Meacock	44	0.1	N/A
Majority			3,731	7.3	N/A
Turnout			51,374	72.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	−1.4

General Election 2001: Richmond Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	%
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Tonge	23,444	47.7	+3.0
	Conservative Party	Tom Harris	18,480	37.6	+3.0
	Labour Party	Barry Langford	5,541	11.3	−1.9
		James Page	1,223	2.5	−1.3
		Peter St John Howe	348	0.7	N/A
	Independent	Raymond Perrin	115	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,964		N/A
Turnout				67.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Richmond Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	%
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Tonge	25,393	44.7	N/A
	Conservative Party	Jeremy Hanley	22,442	39.5	N/A
	Labour Party	Sue Jenkins	7,172	12.6	N/A
		J. Pugh	1,467	2.6	−1.3
		D. Beaupre	348	0.7	N/A
		B. D'Arcy	102	0.2	N/A
		P. Davies	73	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,951		N/A
Turnout				679.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Party		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

•  • [ e] Constituencies in Greater London
Labour	Barking • Battersea • Brent North • Brent South • Brentford and Isleworth • Camberwell and Peckham • Croydon North • Dagenham • Dulwich and West Norwood • Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush • Ealing North • Ealing Southall • East Ham • Edmonton • Eltham • Enfield North • Erith and Thamesmead • Feltham and Heston • Finchley and Golders Green • Greenwich and Woolwich • Hackney North and Stoke Newington • Hackney South and Shoreditch • Hampstead and Highgate • Harrow East • Harrow West • Hayes and Harlington • Hendon • Holborn and St. Pancras • Ilford South • Islington North • Islington South and Finsbury • Lewisham Deptford • Lewisham East • Lewisham West • Leyton and Wanstead • Mitcham and Morden • Poplar and Canning Town • Regent's Park and Kensington North • Streatham • Tooting • Tottenham • Vauxhall • Walthamstow • West Ham
Conservative	Beckenham • Bexleyheath and Crayford • Bromley and Chislehurst • Chingford and Woodford Green • Chipping Barnet • Cities of London and Westminster • Croydon Central • Croydon South • Enfield Southgate • Hammersmith and Fulham • Hornchurch • Ilford North • Kensington and Chelsea • Old Bexley and Sidcup • Orpington • Putney • Romford • Ruislip-Northwood • Upminster • Uxbridge • Wimbledon
Liberal Democrat	Brent East • Carshalton and Wallington • Hornsey and Wood Green • Kingston and Surbiton • Richmond Park • North Southwark and Bermondsey • Sutton and Cheam • Twickenham
Respect	Bethnal Green and Bow
London European constituency: Conservative (3) • Labour (3) • Liberal Democrats (1) • UKIP (1) • Green (1)