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.

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 under the Reform Act 1867, but was revived in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.

[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
1931 — 1950: Gordon Cosmo Touche
1950 — 1970: John Kenyon Vaughan-Morgan, Conservative
1970 — 1974: Geoffrey Howe, Conservative
1974 — 1997: George Gardiner, Conservative until 8 March 1997, then Referendum Party
1997 — present: Crispin Blunt, Conservative

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Elections

General Election 2005: Reigate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crispin Blunt	20,884	49.0	+1.2
	Liberal Democrats	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 Democrats	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 Democrats	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 hold		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 Democrats	Barry Newsome	14,566	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

[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 (Guardian)
Election results, 1951 - 1979 (Keele University)

[edit] See also

List of Parliamentary constituencies in Surrey

Constituencies in South East England
Conservative	Aldershot \| Arundel and South Downs \| Ashford \| Aylesbury \| Banbury \| Basingstoke \| Beaconsfield \| Bexhill and Battle \| Bognor Regis and Littlehampton \| Bracknell \| Buckingham \| Canterbury \| Chesham and Amersham \| Chichester \| East Hampshire \| East Surrey \| East Worthing and Shoreham \| Eastbourne \| Epsom and Ewell \| Esher and Walton \| Fareham \| Faversham and Mid Kent \| Folkestone and Hythe \| Gosport \| Gravesham \| Guildford \| Havant \| Henley \| Horsham \| Isle of Wight \| Maidenhead \| Maidstone and The Weald \| Mid Sussex \| Mole Valley \| New Forest East \| New Forest West \| Newbury \| North East Hampshire \| North East Milton Keynes \| North Thanet \| North West Hampshire \| Reading East \| Reigate \| Runnymede and Weybridge \| Sevenoaks \| South West Surrey \| Spelthorne \| Surrey Heath \| Tonbridge and Malling \| Tunbridge Wells \| Wantage \| Wealden \| Windsor \| Witney \| Woking \| Wokingham \| Worthing West \| Wycombe
Labour	Brighton Kemptown \| Brighton Pavilion \| Chatham and Aylesford \| Crawley \| Dartford \| Dover \| Gillingham \| Hastings and Rye \| Hove \| Medway \| Milton Keynes South West \| Oxford East \| Portsmouth North \| Reading West \| Sittingbourne and Sheppey \| Slough \| Southampton Itchen \| Southampton Test \| South Thanet
Liberal Democrat	Eastleigh \| Lewes \| Oxford West and Abingdon \| Portsmouth South \| Romsey \| Winchester
South East European constituency: Conservative (4) \| UKIP (2) \| Liberal Democrats (2) \| Labour (1) \| Green (1)