Created 1997 | Electorate 76,962 (December 2010) European Parliament constituency South East England Number of members 1 | |
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Created from EsherChertsey & Walton | ||
Esher and Walton /ˈiːʃər ənd wɔːltən/ is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The current MP is Dominic Raab of the Conservative Party. Since 1906 the seats to which its wards (and/or civil parishes) contributed have elected Conservative MPs and the lowest majority since the 1930s has been 16.1%. It is a safe Conservative seat.
Contents
Boundaries
Since the constituency's creation in 1997 it has consisted of the Borough of Elmbridge wards of Claygate, Cobham and Downside, Cobham Fairmile, Esher, Hersham North, Hersham South, Hinchley Wood, Long Ditton, Molesey East, Molesey North, Molesey South, Oxshott and Stoke D'Abernon, Thames Ditton, Walton Ambleside, Walton Central, Walton North, Walton South, and Weston Green.
Features of the constituency
The constituency is in the north of Surrey, bordering Greater London, in the affluent London commuter belt. It is partly rural, with heathland and reservoirs, as well as towns such as Esher and Walton-on-Thames, and lower density Cobham, Claygate and Molesey and the villages of Oxshott and Thames Ditton. The constituency occupies all but the far west of the Borough of Elmbridge. A majority of its housing is on private planned estates, with larger gardens on average than in most boroughs of Greater London. The South Western Main Line passes through the middle of the seat, with fast trains to central London, and the seat has low unemployment. The area of the seat includes the last non-tidal section of the River Thames, wooded Esher Commons, the River Mole and Sandown Park racecourse.
Members of Parliament
Ian Taylor held the seat from 1997 to 2010, having held the previous Esher seat from 1987. Taylor stood down at the 2010 election, and Dominic Raab was elected as the new Conservative MP for this seat.
History
The last time when any of the component villages/towns (then urban districts and below this level, civil parishes) in this area voted for an MP who was not Conservative was in 1906. The MP who served the four-year term to 1910 for Chertsey represented the Walton-on-Thames part of the seat.