Kingston and Surbiton

Kingston and Surbiton is a mostly suburban constituency located in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, around 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the centre of London. The constituency contains the town centre of Kingston upon Thames and the neighbourhoods of Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington. Kingston upon Thames is an ancient market town and was traditionally the site where kings were crowned during the Anglo-Saxon era. Suburban development began during the mid-19th century, and the town is today one of the country's largest retail centres.^[2][3][4] The constituency also contains Chessington World of Adventures, one of the country's most-visited theme parks.^[5] The constituency is generally affluent, particularly so in Surbiton.^[6] House prices are lower than the rest of London but considerably higher than the national average.^[7]

In general, residents of Kingston and Surbiton are young, well-educated and have very high rates of household income.^[7] A high proportion work in retail, education and professional occupations.^[8] White people made up 71% of residents at the 2021 census, a higher rate than the rest of London. Asians were the largest ethnic minority group at 16%;^[9] the constituency has large Indian and Sri Lankan populations as well as the country's largest Korean community concentrated in New Malden.^[10] At the local borough council, all seats in the constituency are represented by Liberal Democrat councillors. Voters strongly supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 61% voted to remain compared to the nationwide figure of 48%.^[7]

The constituency was created in 1997, when the number of seats covering the boroughs of Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames was reduced from four to three. It replaced the former Surbiton constituency completely and also covers the south of the former Kingston constituency.

Political history

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont represented Kingston from a by-election in 1972 until the 1997 general election, when he was not selected as the Conservative candidate for either of its replacements. Instead, the incumbent Surbiton MP Richard Tracey was selected, while Lamont unsuccessfully contested Harrogate and Knaresborough in North Yorkshire. In the event, Tracey was defeated by the Liberal Democrat candidate Ed Davey by the very narrow margin of 56 votes.

In the 2011 referendum on whether the UK should adopt the Alternative Vote (AV) system, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, which covers most of the constituency, voted against the proposal by 60.5%.^[11]

Davey held on to the seat until the general election of 2015, when he was defeated by the Conservative James Berry during the national Liberal Democrat vote collapse. The 2015 result gave the seat the 26th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.^[12]

In the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, the borough voted to remain in the European Union by 61.6%.^[13]

Davey, now knighted, regained the seat for the Liberal Democrats in the 2017 general election with the eighth largest vote share increase for the party nationally.^[14]

The local council, which covers most of the constituency, alternates between Liberal Democrat majority control (1994–1998 and 2002–2014) and no overall control (1986–1994 and 1998–2002). However, in 2014, it became a Conservative-majority council; the last Conservative administration was between 1964 and 1986. Traditionally, the southern wards vote for the Liberal Democrats, whereas the north and north-eastern wards vote for the Conservatives, with some Labour representation in the Norbiton ward.^[15]

In all seven elections since its establishment, Kingston and Surbiton has voted for a candidate from the same party as the neighbouring constituency of Twickenham, which was established at the same time. Both seats have seen one Conservative win and six Liberal Democrat wins.

In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable.^[16]

• parliamentary constituencies in London