Kensington and Chelsea (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Kensington and Chelsea


Type = Borough
Entity = Greater London
DivisionType = County
Division = Greater London
Year = 1997
MP = Sir Malcolm Rifkind
Party = Conservative
EP = London

Kensington and Chelsea is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is one of the safest Conservative seats in the United Kingdom, and since its creation in 1997, has become a prestigious seat, with the notorious MP Alan Clark, the former Defence Secretary Michael Portillo and the former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind all holding the seat for the Conservatives.

Boundaries

The constituency covers the central and southern portions of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, covering the centres of both Kensington and Chelsea.

Following their review into parliamentary boundaries in North London, the Boundary Commission have created two new constituencies based on the existing Kensington & Chelsea.

The northern section (namely Earl's Court, South Kensington, High Street Kensington and Holland Park) will be combined with the southern section of the current Regent's Park & Kensington North constituency (including Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill) to create a new Kensington constituency whilst the southern part (namely Chelsea) will be combined with the southern half of the current Hammersmith & Fulham constituency to create a new Chelsea and Fulham seat.

History

The seat first came into existence at the 1997 general election. Notional calculations indicated that it would be one of the safest Conservative seats in the country and so the Conservative nomination has been much sought. In the run up to the 1997 election the nomination was initially won by Nicholas Scott, MP for the Chelsea constituency, but following allegations of alcoholism he was deselected. Tabloids reported that he was "found kissing the pavement".

The nomination was subsequently secured by Alan Clark, the former minister and diarist who was seeking to return to the Commons after standing down at the 1992 general election. Clark was elected, but died after only two years. As a safe Conservative seat in London there was much speculation that former Defence Secretary and widely-predicted future Conservative leader Michael Portillo would seek to return to the Commons after losing the Enfield Southgate constituency in the 1997 election. Portillo was elected in a by-election but his subsequent career stalled and he crashed out of the 2001 Conservative Party leadership election and withdrew to the backbenches. In 2003 he announced that he was going to retire from politics and seek a career in the media. Another former Cabinet Minister, Sir Malcolm Rifkind was nominated and elected in the 2005 general election.

In October 2007 former Labour minister Tony Benn announced that he wanted to come out of retirement and return to the Commons, offering himself to the Kensington and Chelsea constituency Labour Party to challenge Rifkind for his seat in the next general election. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7028042.stm |title=I want to be an MP again - Benn |publisher=BBC News online |date=2007-10-04 |accessdate=2007-10-04] [cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2183661,00.html |title=Benn: I want to return to parliament |author=Fred Attewill |publisher=The Guardian |date=2007-10-04 |accessdate=2007-10-05] Though it is important to note that Tony Benn has not yet been selected for this seat and the process has attracted other high quality potential candidates.

Members of Parliament

* 1997 — 1999: Alan Clark, Conservative (died)
* 1999 — 2005: Michael Portillo, Conservative
* 2005 — "present": Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Conservative

Election results

Elections in the 2000s

Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Malcolm Rifkind
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = n/a
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Sam Gurney
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Malcolm Rifkind
votes = 18,144
percentage = 57.9
change = +3.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Jennifer Kingsley
votes = 5,726
percentage = 18.3
change = +2.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Catherine Atkinson
votes = 5,521
percentage = 17.6
change = −5.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = Julia Stephenson
votes = 1,342
percentage = 4.3
change = +0.2Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Mildred Eiloart
votes = 395
percentage = 1.3
change = −0.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Alfred Bovill
votes = 107
percentage = 0.3
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance for Green Socialism
candidate = Eddie Adams
votes = 101
percentage = 0.3
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 12,418
percentage = 39.6
change =Election box turnout
votes = 31,336
percentage = 50.0
change = +6.7Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing = +0.5

Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Michael Portillo
votes = 15,270
percentage = 54.5
change = +0.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Simon Stanley
votes = 6,499
percentage = 23.2
change = –4.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Kishwer Falkner
votes = 4,416
percentage = 15.8
change = +0.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = Julia Stephenson
votes = 1,158
percentage = 4.1
change = n/aElection box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Damian Hockney
votes = 416
percentage = 1.5
change = n/aElection box candidate with party link
party = Prolife Alliance
candidate = Josephine Quintavalle
votes = 179
percentage = 0.6
change = n/aElection box candidate
party = Jam Wrestling Party
candidate = Ginger Crab
votes = 100
percentage = 0.4
change = n/aElection box majority
votes = 8,771
percentage = 31.3
change = Election box turnout
votes = 28,038
percentage = 43.3
change = –11.4Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing =

Elections in the 1990s

Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Michael Portillo
votes = 11,004
percentage = 56.4
change = +2.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Robert Atkinson
votes = 4,298
percentage = 22.0
change = –5.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Robert Woodthorpe Browne
votes = 1,831
percentage = 9.4
change = –5.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Pro-Euro Conservative Party
candidate = John Stevens
votes = 740
percentage = 3.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Damian Hockney
votes = 450
percentage = 2.3
change = +0.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = Hugo Charlton
votes = 446
percentage = 2.3
change = Election box candidate
party = Democratic Party
candidate = The Earl of Burford
votes = 182
percentage = 0.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Legalise Cannabis Alliance
candidate = Colin Paisley
votes = 141
percentage = 0.7
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Dr. Michael Irwin
votes = 97
percentage = 0.5
change = Election box candidate
party = UK Pensioners Party
candidate = Paul Oliver
votes = 75
percentage = 0.4
change = –0.1Election box candidate
party = Independent Referendum Party
candidate = Stephen Scott-Fawcett
votes = 57
percentage = 0.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Louise Hodges
votes = 48
percentage = 0.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = Ged Valente
votes = 35
percentage = 0.2
change = 0.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Prolife Alliance
candidate = Lisa Lovebucket
votes = 26
percentage = 0.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = John Davies
votes = 24
percentage = 0.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Peter May
votes = 24
percentage = 0.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Official Monster Raving Loony Party
candidate = Alan Hope
votes = 20
percentage = 0.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Tony Samuelson
votes = 15
percentage = 0.1
change = Election box majority
votes = 6,706
percentage = 34.4
change =Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 29.7
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Alan Clark
votes = 19,887
percentage = 53.6
change = –14.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Robert Atkinson
votes = 10,368
percentage = 27.9
change = +11.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Robert Woodthorpe Browne
votes = 5,668
percentage = 15.3
change = +2.1Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Andrew Ellis-Jones
votes = 540
percentage = 1.3
change = Election box candidate
party = Teddy Bear Alliance
candidate = Edward Bear
votes = 218
percentage = 0.6
change = Election box candidate
party = United Kingdom Pensioners Party
candidate = Paul Oliver
votes = 176
percentage = 0.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = Susan Hamza
votes = 122
percentage = 0.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
candidate = Paul Sullivan
votes = 65
percentage = 0.2
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Pete Parliament
votes = 44
percentage = 0.1
change = Election box majority
votes = 9,519
percentage = 25.7
change =Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change = 54.7Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing =

See also

* List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London
* Kensington and Chelsea by-election, 1999

References

*BBC News (2005). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/345.stm Election 2005 - Kensington & Chelsea] . Retrieved May 3, 2005.