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Surrey Heath (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°19′N 0°41′W / 51.32°N 0.68°W / 51.32; -0.68
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Surrey Heath
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Map
Boundaries since 2024
Map of constituency
Boundary of Surrey Heath in South East England
CountySurrey
Electorate70,825 (2023)[1]
BoroughSurrey Heath
Major settlements
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentAl Pinkerton (Liberal Democrats)
Created from

Surrey Heath is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Al Pinkerton, a Liberal Democrat. The Home counties suburban constituency is in the London commuter belt, on the outskirts of Greater London. Surrey Heath is in the north west of Surrey and borders the counties of Berkshire and Hampshire.

History

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The seat was created under the Fourth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies in 1997 from the majority of North West Surrey, a seat that was abolished, and smaller parts of Woking and Guildford, seats that remained.

On its creation, Nick Hawkins was elected to parliament as Surrey Heath's MP, after the North West Surrey MP, Michael Grylls, who had in 1992 achieved a majority of 28,392, retired.[2] One of Hawkins' opponents for selection was future Speaker John Bercow, selected for Buckingham the same day.[3]

In 1999 then-party chairman Michael Ancram intervened to prevent a move to deselect Hawkins following local party disquiet about him leaving his wife of 20 years for a local councillor.[4][5] In 2004, the Conservative constituency association, then the richest in the country, deselected Hawkins for the next election, following accusations of racism, in the hope of obtaining an MP of cabinet calibre.[6][7]

Michael Gove was duly selected and became the MP at the 2005 general election. He went on to serve in various Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Apart from periods as a backbencher from July 2016 to June 2017 and July to October 2022, he served continuously in the Cabinet from 2010 to 2024.

Until the 2019 general election, the constituency was generally considered to be one of the Conservative Party's safest seats. But the 2019 election saw an unexpected 11.1% swing to the Liberal Democrats' candidate Al Pinkerton, who secured the second-highest second place since the constituency's creation, with Labour recording their lowest share of the vote since the seat's creation.

After the 2024 general election was called, Gove announced he would not stand for re-election.[8] The seat consequently fell to Al Pinkerton, standing again for the Liberal Democrats, on a further swing of 20.9%; it was one of six (out of the twelve) Surrey seats to switch from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems in that election

Boundaries

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Map
Map of 1997–2024 boundaries

1997–2024

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Surrey Heath occupies much of the northwest corner of the county. From its inception in 1997 until 2024, it covered the Borough of Surrey Heath and the Guildford wards knows as 'The Ashes':[9]

Current

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Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency is now composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

  • Guildford Borough – Normandy and Pirbright.[10] (The two wards were amalgamated into one two-member ward after the review began, so figure individually in the review and Statutory Instrument.)

The electorate was reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring the three substantial Guildford Borough wards which constitute Ash to a new seat, Godalming and Ash. To partly compensate, the two villages (and one-member Guildford Council wards) of Normandy and Pirbright were transferred into the Surrey Heath seat from the Woking constituency.

Constituency profile

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70% of homes were detached or semi-detached at the 2011 census. The detached percentage (45.2%) was at that time the second highest in the South East, behind the New Forest.[11] The area is well connected to London Heathrow Airport, IT, telecommunications and logistics centres of the M3 and M4 corridors, and to the military towns of Aldershot and Sandhurst. Farnborough, with its civil, private aviation base with certain military uses, is also nearby, as is Blackbushe Airport.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[12]

According to the British Election Study, it was the most right-wing seat in the UK as at 2014.[13]

Constituents voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

YouGov polling by Focaldata suggested that support for Remain rose from its 48% level in the 2016 Referendum to 50.2% in August 2018 (during the Brexit ‘impasse’ in Parliament).[14]

Prior to the 2024 General Election, Surrey Heath was numerically the Liberal Democrats' 58th target seat (before boundary changes),[15] and in the 2023 local elections the Lib Dems had ended 49 years of continuous Conservative administration by taking overall control of Surrey Heath Council[16] and had also helped push the Conservatives to two consecutive poor results on Guildford Borough Council in the local election years of 2019 and 2023.[17]

Members of Parliament

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North West Surrey, Guildford and Woking prior to 1997

Election Member[18] Party
1997 Nick Hawkins Conservative
2005 Michael Gove Conservative
2024 Al Pinkerton Liberal Democrats

Elections

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Elections in the 2020s

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2024 general election: Surrey Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Al Pinkerton[19] 21,387 44.8 +16.8
Conservative Ed McGuinness[20] 15,747 33.0 −24.9
Reform UK Samantha Goggin[21] 6,252 13.1 N/A
Labour Jess Hammersley-Rich[22] 3,148 6.6 −2.8
Green Jon Campbell[23] 1,162 2.4 −1.1
Heritage Elizabeth Wallitt[24] 92 0.2 N/A
Majority 5,640 11.8 N/A
Turnout 47,928 66.6 −7.0
Registered electors 71,934
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing Increase20.9

Elections in the 2010s

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2019 notional result[25]
Party Vote %
Conservative 30,161 57.9
Liberal Democrats 14,609 28.0
Labour 4,888 9.4
Green 1,845 3.5
Others 628 1.2
Turnout 52,131 73.6
Electorate 70,825
2019 general election: Surrey Heath[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Gove 34,358 58.6 –5.6
Liberal Democrats Al Pinkerton 16,009 27.3 +16.5
Labour Brahma Mohanty 5,407 9.2 –11.9
Green Sharon Galliford 2,252 3.8 –0.1
UKIP David Roe 628 1.1 N/A
Majority 18,349 31.3 –11.8
Turnout 58,654 72.1 +0.5
Conservative hold Swing –11.1
2017 general election: Surrey Heath[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Gove 37,118 64.2 +4.3
Labour Laween Atroshi 12,175 21.1 +9.9
Liberal Democrats Ann-Marie Barker 6,271 10.8 +1.7
Green Sharon Galliford 2,258 3.9 –0.5
Majority 24,943 43.1 –2.5
Turnout 57,822 71.6 +3.1
Conservative hold Swing –2.8
2015 general election: Surrey Heath[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Gove 32,582 59.9 +2.3
UKIP Paul Chapman[29] 7,778 14.3 +8.0
Labour Laween Atroshi 6,100 11.2 +1.0
Liberal Democrats Ann-Marie Barker 4,937 9.1 –16.8
Green Kimberley Lawson[30] 2,400 4.4 N/A
Christian Juliana Brimicombe 361 0.7 N/A
Independent Bob and Roberta Smith[31] 273 0.5 N/A
Majority 24,804 45.6 +13.8
Turnout 54,431 68.5 –1.5
Conservative hold Swing
2010 general election: Surrey Heath[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Gove 31,326 57.6 +6.1
Liberal Democrats Alan Hilliar 14,037 25.8 –3.0
Labour Matt Willey 5,552 10.2 –6.5
UKIP Mark Stroud 3,432 6.3 +3.3
Majority 17,289 31.8 +9.1
Turnout 54,347 70.0 +7.1
Conservative hold Swing +4.5

Elections in the 2000s

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2005 general election: Surrey Heath[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Gove 24,642 51.5 +1.8
Liberal Democrats Rosalyn Harper 13,797 28.8 +3.1
Labour Chris Lowe 7,989 16.7 –4.7
UKIP Steve Smith 1,430 3.0 –0.3
Majority 10,845 22.7 –1.3
Turnout 47,858 62.9 +3.4
Conservative hold Swing –0.7
2001 general election: Surrey Heath[34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nick Hawkins 22,401 49.7 –1.9
Liberal Democrats Mark Lelliott 11,582 25.7 +3.9
Labour James Norman 9,640 21.4 +0.4
UKIP Nigel Hunt 1,479 3.3 +2.1
Majority 10,819 24.0 –5.8
Turnout 45,102 59.5 –14.6
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

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1997 general election: Surrey Heath[35]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nick Hawkins 28,231 51.6
Liberal Democrats David Newman 11,944 21.8
Labour Susan Jones 11,511 21.0
Referendum John Gale 2,385 4.4
UKIP Richard Squire 653 1.2
Majority 16,287 29.8
Turnout 54,724 74.1
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

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  1. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  2. ^ "General Election Results, 9 April 1992" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  3. ^ "BBC NEWS - UK - UK Politics - The John Bercow story". news.bbc.co.uk. 24 June 2009. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  4. ^ "Tory MP deselected for 'neglect of voters'". The Independent. 9 April 2004. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  5. ^ Kite, Melissa (3 April 2004). "A Surrey saga of intrigue as Tories in one of Britain's safest seats attempt to deselect their MP". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  6. ^ Melissa Kite (27 June 2004). "Surrey Heath members believe that their money ought to be able to buy a future prime minister". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Senior Tory kicked out by party". 8 April 2004. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Michael Gove steps down in mass exodus of MPs before election". BBC News. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  9. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. 28 June 1995. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  10. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
  11. ^ "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  12. ^ Unemployment claimants by constituency Archived 2 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian
  13. ^ Wheeler, Brian (1 December 2014). "The strange truth about how and why we vote". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  14. ^ Savage, Michael (11 August 2018). "More than 100 seats that backed Brexit now want to remain in EU". The Observer. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  15. ^ "Liberal Democrat Targets Seats 2024 - Election Polling". www.electionpolling.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Michael Gove's local council 'faces bankruptcy within two years', due to Tories' 'horrific financial mismanagement'". LBC. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  17. ^ McKeon, Christopher (5 May 2019). "How Guildford's Tories collapsed under Brexit and Local Plan". getsurrey. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  18. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  19. ^ "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  20. ^ Surrey Heath Conservatives [@SHCA_news] (4 June 2024). "We are delighted to announce the Ed McGuinness has been selected as the Parliamentary candidate for Surrey Heath…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "Surrey Heath Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  22. ^ Surrey Heath Labour [@LabourHeath] (17 May 2024). "Congratulations to the amazing Jess Hammersley-Rich (@JessHammersleyR) on being selected as our Labour candidate in Surrey Heath!…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ Jon Campbell 🇺🇦 [@jcampbellffc] (24 May 2024). "Pleased to announce that I have been selected as the @TheGreenParty candidate for Surrey Heath" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Surrey heath". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  26. ^ "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED, NOTICE OF POLL AND SITUATION OF POLLING STATIONS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  27. ^ "Loony Party Candidates". Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  28. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  29. ^ webteam, Surrey Heath UKIP. "Leave the EU - Surrey Heath Constituency UKIP branch. News, articles, videos, policies, join, in.camberley, frimley, bagshot, chobham, bisley, mytchett". surreyheathukip.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  30. ^ "Kimberley Lawson PPC page". Green Party of England and Wales. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  31. ^ Clark, Nick (3 December 2014). "Bob and Roberta Smith will run against Michael Gove at the election on culture platform". Independent. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  32. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  33. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  34. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  35. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

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51°19′N 0°41′W / 51.32°N 0.68°W / 51.32; -0.68

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