County Greater London Created 2010 Member of parliament Jim Dowd Replaced by Lewisham West, Beckenham | Electorate 69,399 (December 2010) European Parliament constituency London Number of members 1 | |
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Created from Lewisham West
Beckenham | ||
Lewisham West and Penge is a constituency in Greater London created in 2010 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its creation by Jim Dowd of the Labour Party.
Contents
History
Following the adoption of the relevant part of the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies this constituency was born for 2010 uniting electoral wards for the national elected chamber's elections, General elections, from the London Boroughs of Bromley and Lewisham. The greater electorate and area of the constituency is in the London Borough of Lewisham.
At the 2010 general election a strong Liberal Democrat challenge edged the Conservative candidate narrowly into third. The 2015 Liberal Democrat candidate moved into fifth position on results night. The 2015 result made the seat the 106th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.
Constituency profile
The seat comprises the South-Western portion of Lewisham borough with the northwestern tip of Bromley borough. At the heart of the seat is Forest Hill, bisected by the route of the South Circular Road. Its ambit also includes some of the Crystal Palace hill (the park and site of the palace itself is on the intersection of five boroughs) and the nearby areas of Anerley, Penge and Sydenham. The Guardian however positively summarised it in 2010 as "suburban south-east London, with a large Afro-Caribbean population."
Boundaries
The seat covers the following electoral wards: Bellingham; Forest Hill; Perry Vale; Sydenham (London Borough of Lewisham) and Clock House; Crystal Palace; Penge & Cator (London Borough of Bromley).
To create the new constituency the Boundary Commission for England transferred Perry Vale ward, Bellingham ward, Forest Hill ward, and Sydenham ward from the former Lewisham West constituency. Clock House ward, Crystal Palace ward, and Penge and Cator ward were transferred from Beckenham constituency.