Lewisham West (UK Parliament constituency)

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Lewisham West Borough constituency
Lewisham West shown within Greater London
Created:	1918
MP:	Jim Dowd
Party:	Labour
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Greater London
EP constituency:	London

Lewisham West 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.

This constituency is to be abolished for the next general election (due no later than 2010), when it will be largely replaced by the new Lewisham West & Penge constituency.

Contents 1 Boundaries 1.1 Boundary review 2 History 3 Members of Parliament 4 Election results 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Boundaries

Lewisham West constituency covers the south-western part of the London Borough of Lewisham, being largely based on the communities of Catford, Sydenham, Forest Hill and Bellingham.

[edit] Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England have created a new constituency of Lewisham West and Penge, which creates a cross-border constituency. Electoral wards from Bromley and Lewisham are used in the creation of this new seat.

[edit] History

From 1966 until 1992, Lewisham West a classic bellwether seat, being won by whichever party won the General Election (with the exception of 1979). However, long-term demographic trends have since turned the seat away from being a Labour-Conservative marginal into a safe Labour seat. Partly this has occurred because of a strong increase in the number of ethnic minority residents. At the same time, the communities of Catford, Sydenham and Forest Hill have become much less leafy and suburban over the past 30 years. The large council estate in Bellingham has always been a Labour stronghold, and the other areas of the seat can also now be regarded as quite safe for Labour, wheareas in the past they were not.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Edward Feetham Coates	Coalition Conservative
	1921	Philip Dawson	Conservative
	1938	Henry Brooke	Conservative
	1945	Arthur Skeffington	Labour
	1950	Henry Price	Conservative
	1964	Patrick McNair-Wilson	Conservative
	1966	James Dickens	Labour
	1970	John Gummer	Conservative
	1974	Christopher Price	Labour
	1983	John Maples	Conservative
	1992	Jim Dowd	Labour

[edit] Election results

General Election 2005: Lewisham West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Dowd	16,611	52.0	−9.1
	Liberal Democrat	Alex Feakes	6,679	20.9	+7.4
	Conservative	Evett McAnuff	6,396	20.0	−2.4
	Green	Nick Long	1,464	4.6	N/A
	UK Independence	Jens Winton	773	2.4	+0.8
Majority			9,932	31.1
Turnout			31,923	54.7	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.2

General Election 2001: Lewisham West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Dowd	18,816	61.1	-0.9%
	Conservative	Gary Johnson	6,896	22.4	-1.5%
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Thomas	4,146	13.5	+3.7%
	UK Independence	Frederick Pearson	485	1.6
	Independent	Nick Long	472	1.5
Majority			11,920	38.7
Turnout			30,815	52.1	-12.0%
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Lewisham West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Dowd	23,273	61.96
	Conservative	C. Whelan	8,956	23.84
	Liberal Democrat	K. McGrath	3,672	9.78
	Referendum Party	A. Leese	1,098	2.92
	Socialist Labour	N. Long	398	1.06
	Liberal	E. Oram	167	0.45
Majority			14,317	38.11
Turnout			37,564	64.04
	Labour hold		Swing	+17.00

General Election 1992: Lewisham West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Dowd	20,378	46.99
	Conservative	John Maples	18,569	42.82
	Liberal Democrat	E. Neale	4,295	9.90
	Anti-Federalist League	P. Coulham	125	0.29
Majority			1,809	4.17
Turnout			43,367	73.11
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1987: Lewisham West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maples	20,995	46.18
	Labour	Jim Dowd	17,223	37.88
	Liberal	S. C. Titley	7,247	15.94
Majority			3,772	8.30
Turnout			45,465	72.25
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Lewisham West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Maples	19,521	44.02
	Labour	C. Price	17,015	38.37
	Liberal	H. Mooney	7,470	16.85
	British National Party	R. F. Hoy	336	0.76
Majority			2,506	5.65
Turnout			44,342	70.34
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1979: Lewisham West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Price	20,932	46.45
	Conservative	N. P. Kemp	19,882	44.12
	Liberal	G. A. Payne	3,350	7.43
	National Front	P. Williams	901	2.00
Majority			1,050	2.33
Turnout			45,065	76.01
	Labour hold		Swing

[edit] See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

[edit] References

• (2003) in Iain Dale: The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X. 
• (1945) The Times House of Commons 1945. The Times. 
• (1950) The Times House of Commons 1950. The Times. 
• (1955) The Times House of Commons 1955. The Times. 
• Craig, F. W. S. [1969] (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, 3rd edition, Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X. 

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