List of Parliamentary constituencies in Surrey

The county of Surreyis divided into 11 Parliamentary constituencies- 4 Borough constituenciesand 7 County constituencies.

Boundary review

Current proposals by the Boundary Commission for England would retain these 11 constituencies, with changes to realign constituency boundarieswith the boundaries of current local government wards,and to reduce the electoral disparity between constituencies. These changes are expected to be implemented at the United Kingdom general election, 2009/10.

Initial proposals

The initial proposals envisaged no changes at all for the seats of East Surrey, Esher and Walton, Runnymede and Weybridge, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath and Woking seats, whilst the only changes proposed for Mole Valley involved realignment of largely rural ward boundaries with Epsom & Ewell that did not move any voters. However there was a disparity of over 11,000 voters between the Guildford and Reigate seats and the Commission proposed to make the following amendments:

Guilford and South West Surrey

*Move the entire Waverley ward of Bramley, Bushridge and Hascombe into South West Surrey
*Move the entire Waverley ward of Alford, Cranleigh Rural and Ellens Green into Guildford.

The net effect is to reduce the size of the Guildford seat.

Reigate and Epsom & Ewell

*Move the Reigate and Banstead ward of Preston from Epsom & Ewell into Reigate.

This increases the size of the Reigate seat. Overall the disparity across the county is reduced from 11,000 to 8,000.

History

Surrey has always been a strong Conservative supporting county.

Consultation and final recommendations

The main objections focused upon the moving of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe into South West Surrey and a public review meeting was called which was dominated by this. The objections centred on the argument that the area had stronger links, including transport services, to Guildford than to Farnham and Godalming. Some noted that the previous Boundary Commission rejected a proposal to move Bramley after public objection. However this would have been to Mole Valley and the petitioners, including Bramley Parish Council, had stated that whilst they preferred to stay in Guildford, if they had to move they would prefer to be moved to South West Surrey. Also Bramley was not the entirety of the ward and the Commission was deeply reluctant to divide wards. The review upheld the proposals.

Objections were also made to the names of Guildford, Surrey Heath and Reigate. In general the objections were limited by a desire to avoid name changes unless majority boundary changes were made.

The objection to Guildford was lodged by a non resident who proposed "Guildford and Cranleigh" to take into account the large village in the seat. This was rejected, with the citation that there was no local support.

Reigate was objected to by those who proposed "Reigate and Banstead", the name of the district. Amongst those objecting were both Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and Crispin Blunt, the local MP. However the seat covers only 70% of the district, with Reigate at its centre, whilst Banstead (in the north east corner) has a history of being moved between seats. The present name was retained.

Surrey Heath received objections, in part because of the 20% of the constituency that is outside the Surrey Heath district. Alternative suggested included "North West Surrey" (the pre 1997 name), "Camberley and Ash" and "West Surrey". However this proposal was opposed by many, including the Surrey Heath borough council. The objection was rejection as the identity was clear and the alternatives were divided and even more imprecise.

The proposed changes to Reigate, Epsom & Ewell and Mole Valley did not meet objections.

Historic List of Constituencies in Surrey

Used from 1983 to 1997

*Chertsey and Walton
*East Surrey
*Epsom and Ewell
*Esher
*Mole Valley
*Guildford
*North West Surrey
*Reigate
*South West Surrey
*Spelthorne
*Woking

Used from 1974 to 1983

*Chertsey and Walton
*Dorking
*East Surrey
*Epsom and Ewell
*Esher
*Farnham
*Guildford
*North West Surrey
*Reigate
*Spelthorne
*Woking

Used from 1955 to 1974

*Constituency link|Constituency = Chertsey
*Constituency link|Constituency = Dorking
*Constituency link|Constituency = Epsom
*Constituency link|Constituency = Esher
*Constituency link|Constituency = Farnham
*Constituency link|Constituency = Guildford
*Constituency link|Constituency = Reigate
*Constituency link|Constituency = Richmond (Surrey)
*Constituency link|Constituency = Spelthorne
*Constituency link|Constituency = East Surrey
*Constituency link|Constituency = Woking

External links

* [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/Surrey.asp The Boundary Commission proposals for Surrey]