Croydon South (constituency)

Croydon South was first created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 when the existing Parliamentary Borough of Croydon was split between North and South divisions. Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, which came into effect for the 1950 general election, the seat was abolished as the County Borough of Croydon was split between Croydon East and Croydon West. The seat was then re-established for the 1955 general election when Croydon was split into three parliamentary seats - North East, North West and South.

In 1965, the County Borough was combined with the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District to form the London Borough of Croydon. However, this local government reorganisation was not reflected in the parliamentary boundaries until the February 1974 election. Under the Second Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the existing Croydon South constituency was effectively replaced by Croydon Central. A reconfigured Croydon South constituency was formed, primarily comprising the area which constituted the former Urban District of Coulsden and Purley, which had previously formed the majority of the East Surrey constituency.

The seat has continued in existence since 1974 with relatively minor boundary changes.

A seat called "Croydon South" was first created for the 1918 general election when the County Borough of Croydon had grown so the Croydon seat was split into two seats. The first MP was Ian Malcolm, who had been the MP for all of Croydon. H.T. Muggeridge, father of Malcolm Muggeridge, fought the seat for Labour four times from 1918, later becoming MP for Romford. The seat saw a by-election in 1932, won by Herbert Williams.

From 1950 until 1955 the seat was divided into east and west, represented by Conservatives Herbert Williams and Richard Thompson respectively.

Croydon South had twice seen Croydon's only Labour MPs before the 1990s. David Rees-Williams held the seat from the 1945 Labour landslide until unfavourable boundary changes in 1950. David Winnick won the seat in 1966 before losing in 1970. Otherwise the seat, and indeed the rest of Croydon, had always been firm Conservative territory.

In 1974 a fresh seat of Croydon South was created to the south predominantly from the northwestern part of East Surrey, covering Purley and Coulsdon, which had become parts of Greater London in 1965, rather than from the historic Croydon South. The pre-1974 Croydon South was renamed to Croydon Central.

Since 1974, the constituency has been represented by three Conservative MPs. Sir William Clark, who had represented East Surrey since 1970, won the new seat in February 1974, and held it until his retirement in 1992. His successor, Sir Richard Ottaway, then held the seat until 2015, when he stood down and was succeeded by Chris Philp.^[2][3] The 2015 result made the seat the 145th safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.^[4] At the 2015 general election, it was one of the Conservatives' safest seats in Greater London.^[5]

The 2023 review of parliamentary constituencies in England made a number of changes to the boundaries of the constituency. An area largely corresponding to the electoral ward of Waddon (Ward) was removed from the constituency and an area corresponding to the electoral ward of Park Hill and Whitgift (Ward) was added to it. In addition, Selsdon and surroundings were removed from the constituency.^[6]

Philp held the seat at the 2024 general election on a substantially reduced majority of just over 2,000, the lowest majority since the seat was created.

Croydon South is largely suburban in character, including the settlements of Purley, Coulsdon, Sanderstead and Kenley, home to the Kenley Aerodrome. There are substantial green spaces to the south, such as Farthing Downs, Happy Valley and Riddlesdown Common. The southern part of the constituency forms part of the North Downs National Character Area.^[7]

Croydon South is a relatively affluent English parliamentary constituency, ranking at position 454 for deprivation (where 1 is the most deprived constituency and 543 is the least deprived constituency).^[8] For constituencies within Greater London, Croydon South ranks at position 67 (where 1 is the most deprived constituency and 75 is the least deprived constituency).^[9]

Rail links are good with stations such as South Croydon, Purley and Coulsdon South being situated on the Brighton Main Line and served by frequent trains to destinations such as Gatwick Airport and Brighton, as well as London Victoria and London Bridge.

Boundary changes before the 2024 election removed both Selsdon and Waddon from the seat and added the Park Hill & Whitgift ward, close to Croydon Town centre.

At the southern end of the constituency, Coulsdon has much in common with the county of Surrey of which it was historically a part until its inclusion in Greater London in 1965.

In 1966, 2.5% of the constituency was born in the New Commonwealth.^[10]

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London