Reigate (UK Parliament constituency)

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Reigate Borough constituency
Reigate shown within Surrey, and Surrey shown within England
Created:	1295, 1885
MP:	Crispin Blunt
Party:	Conservative
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Surrey
EP constituency:	South East England

Reigate 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.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 History 3 Members of Parliament 4 Elections 5 Sources 6 See also

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency is located in Surrey, bordering with Greater London. It is centered on the town of Reigate from which it takes its name.

The Boundary Commission has made its final recommendations for boundary changes in Surrey. Reigate has the smallest electorate of any seat in England and it is proposed to bring it closer to the average by adding the ward of Preston in the Reigate and Banstead district which is currently contained in the Epsom and Ewell constituency.

At the public consultation stage of the boundary review there were a number of petitions for the constituency to be renamed Reigate and Banstead to bring it in line with the district, including ones from both the local MP and the borough council. However the review rejected these petitions, feeling that constituencies should only be renamed when they had undergone substantial boundary changes that render the existing name implausible; that the constituency only contains 70% of the district; that the seat is centred on Reigate whilst Banstead is in the extreme north east corner and other towns such as Redhill might have as much if not greater claim to be in the name; and Banstead has a history of being moved between seats (it was in Epsom and Ewell prior to 1997) and may be moved again.

[edit] History

This constituency was first created with the first election of Burgesses to Parliament in 1295, electing two members. It continued to elect two members until 1832 when its representation was reduced to one member by the Great Reform Act.

In 1868 the constituency was disenfranchised for corruption, but was revived in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 when the East Surrey constituency was abolished and broken up.

In 1974, the seat saw major boundary changes which moved much of Eastern Surrey into the radically redesigned East Surrey seat and added the Banstead area to the seat.

[edit] Members of Parliament

• Representation reduced to one (1832)
• Constituency disenfranchised for corruption (1868)
• Constituency revived (1885)
• 1885 — 1892: Sir James John Trevor Lawrence
• 1892 — 1906: Henry Cubitt
• 1906 — 1910: Harry Cunningham Brodie
• 1910 — 1918: Richard Hamilton Rawson, Conservative until 1917, then National Party before rejoining Conservatives.
• 1918 — 1931: Sir George Kynaston Cockerill

Election		Member	Party
	1931	Sir Gordon Touche	Conservative
	1950	John Vaughan-Morgan	Conservative
	1970	Geoffrey Howe	Conservative
	1974 (Feb)	George Gardiner	Conservative
	1997		Referendum
	1997	Crispin Blunt	Conservative

[edit] Elections

General Election 2005: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crispin Blunt	20,884	49.0	+1.2
	Liberal Democrat	Jane Kulka	9,896	23.2	+2.1
	Labour	Samuel Townend	8,896	20.9	-6.6
	UK Independence	Jeremy Wraith	1,921	4.5	+1.8
	English Democrats	Harold Green	600	1.4	N/A
	Independent (politician)	Michael Selby	408	1.0	N/A
Majority			10,988	25.8
Turnout			42,605	64.8	+4.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.5

General Election 2001: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crispin Blunt	18,875	47.8	+4.0
	Labour	Simon Charleton	10,850	27.5	-0.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jane Kulka	8,330	21.1	+1.1
	UK Independence	Stephen Smith	1,062	2.7	+2.1
	Reform UK	Harold Green	357	0.9	N/A
Majority			8,025	20.3
Turnout			39,474	60.2	-14.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

General Election 1997: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crispin Blunt	21,123	43.8	-13.7
	Labour	Andrew Howard	13,382	27.8	+10.3
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Samuel	9,615	20.0	-4.1
	Referendum Party	Sir George Gardiner	3,352	7.0	N/A
	Independent (politician)	Richard Higgs	412	0.9	N/A
	UK Independence	Stephen Smith	290	0.6	N/A
Majority			7,741	16.0
Turnout			48,174	74.4
	Conservative gain from Referendum Party		Swing	-12.0

This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus change in share of vote is based on a notional calculation.

George Gardiner changed party from the Conservative Party to the Referendum following his deselection by the local Conservative association.

General Election 1992: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir George Gardiner	32,220	57.1	-2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Barry Newsome	14,556	25.8
	Labour	Helen Young	9,150	16.2	+1.9
	Social Democrat	M. Bilcliff	513	0.9
Majority			17,664	31.3
Turnout			56,449	78.5	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

General Election 1987: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Gardiner	30,925	59.3	+0.3
	Social Democrat	E. A. Pamplin	12,752	24.4	-2.5
	Labour	R. P. Spencer	7,460	14.3	+2.2
	Green	G. F. Brand	1,026	2.0	0.0
Majority			18,173	34.9
Turnout			52,163	72.5	-0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

General Election 1983: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Gardiner	29,932	59.0
	Social Democrat	E. A. Pamplin	13,625	26.9
	Labour	B. A. Symons	6,114	12.1
	Ecology	D. R. Newell	1,029	2.0
Majority			16,307	32.1
Turnout			50,700	72.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Gardiner	33,767	59.8
	Liberal	J. Speyer	10,257	18.2
	Labour	N. Grant	12,454	22.1
Majority			21,313	37.7
Turnout			56,478	78.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] Sources

• Historical list of MPs
• Election result, 2005 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1983 - 1992 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1992 - 2005 (The Guardian)
• Election results, 1950 - 1979 (Keele University)

[edit] See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Surrey

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