Esher and Walton | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Surrey |
Electorate | 76,962 (December 2010)[1] |
Major settlements | Esher, Walton-on-Thames, Claygate |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 |
Member of Parliament | Dominic Raab (Conservative) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Esher Chertsey & Walton |
Esher and Walton (/ˌiːʃər ... ˈwɔːltən/) is a constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[n 1] Since 2010, it has been represented by Dominic Raab of the Conservative Party, who served as deputy prime minister before resigning from that role in April 2023 due to bullying allegations.[2] In May he announced he would be standing down as an MP at the next general election.[3]
The constituency is in the north of Surrey 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, Thames Ditton and Hinchley Wood. The constituency occupies all but the far west of the Borough of Elmbridge. A majority of its housing is on private planned estates.[4] The South West Main Line passes through the middle of the seat, with fast trains to central London. The constituency has low unemployment[5] and has traditionally been regarded as one of the Conservative Party's safest seats in the UK. 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.[6]
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, Weston Green.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The electorate will be reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring southern areas, including Cobham, to Runnymede and Weybridge, partly offset by the addition of the village of Oatlands.
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.
Election | Member[8] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Ian Taylor | Conservative | |
2010 | Dominic Raab | Conservative |
The last time a component of this area voted for an MP who was not Conservative was in 1906, when a Liberal MP served the four-year term to 1910 for Chertsey, representing the Walton-on-Thames part of the current seat.[9][10]
In the 2019 general election, 60 seats, including this seat, were written into the Remain Alliance, an agreement between the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru not to vie against one another in those seats.[11] These were parties opposed to Britain's departure from the European Union. In consequence, Laura Harmour,[12] who had been lined up to fight the seat for the Green Party, did not stand. Axel Thill,[13] the candidate selected for the Brexit Party, was one of those withdrawn by party leader Nigel Farage before nominations closed,[14] when Farage decided not to field candidates in Conservative-held seats. This was done to avoid the potential for pro-Remain parties winning seats and holding a People's Vote on Brexit.
The seat, long considered safe for the Conservatives, was heavily targeted by the Liberal Democrats, particularly because the incumbent Conservative, Dominic Raab, had campaigned for a Leave vote in the EU referendum. The constituency itself voted in favour of remaining in the EU and is socially similar to the two Greater London seats it borders, namely Twickenham and Kingston & Surbiton, which are both strongholds for the Lib Dems. This resulted in a large swing to the Liberal Democrats of 18.5%, reducing the seat's majority to make it a marginal for the first time since its creation.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Cope[15] | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Monica Harding[16] | ||||
Reform UK | Alastair Gray[17] | ||||
SDP | Richard Bateson[18] | ||||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Swing |
In 2019, Esher and Walton was one[19] of five English seats (the others being Cheltenham, East Devon, Westmorland and Lonsdale, and Winchester) where the Labour candidate failed to get over 5% votes cast so lost the deposit.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 31,132 | 49.4 | 9.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Monica Harding | 28,389 | 45.0 | 27.7 | |
Labour | Peter Ashurst | 2,838 | 4.5 | 15.2 | |
Independent | Kylie Keens | 347 | 0.6 | New | |
Monster Raving Loony | Baron Badger | 326 | 0.5 | 0.0 | |
Advance | Kyle Taylor | 52 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 2,743 | 4.4 | 34.5 | ||
Turnout | 63,084 | 77.7 | 3.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | 18.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 35,071 | 58.6 | 4.3 | |
Labour | Lana Hylands | 11,773 | 19.7 | 7.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Andrew Davis | 10,374 | 17.3 | 7.9 | |
Green | Olivia Palmer | 1,074 | 1.8 | 2.3 | |
UKIP | David Ions | 1,034 | 1.7 | 8.0 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Baron Badger | 318 | 0.5 | New | |
Independent | Della Reynolds | 198 | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
Majority | 23,298 | 38.9 | 11.3 | ||
Turnout | 59,842 | 73.9 | 2.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | 5.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 35,845 | 62.9 | +4.0 | |
Labour | Francis Eldergill | 7,229 | 12.7 | +2.0 | |
UKIP | Nicholas Wood | 5,551 | 9.7 | +6.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Andrew Davis | 5,372 | 9.4 | −15.4 | |
Green | Olivia Palmer | 2,355 | 4.1 | New | |
CISTA | Matthew Heenan | 396 | 0.7 | New | |
Independent | Della Reynolds | 228 | 0.4 | New | |
Majority | 28,616 | 50.2 | +16.1 | ||
Turnout | 56,976 | 71.3 | −0.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Dominic Raab | 32,134 | 58.9 | +13.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Lionel Blackman | 13,541 | 24.8 | −4.8 | |
Labour | Francis Eldergill | 5,829 | 10.7 | −8.7 | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 1,783 | 3.3 | 0.0 | |
Independent | Tony Popham | 378 | 0.7 | New | |
Monster Raving Loony | Chinners Chinnery | 341 | 0.6 | −0.7 | |
English Democrat | Mike Kearsley | 307 | 0.6 | New | |
Best of a Bad Bunch | Andy Lear | 230 | 0.4 | New | |
Majority | 18,593 | 34.1 | +18.0 | ||
Turnout | 54,543 | 72.0 | +9.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +9.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Taylor | 21,882 | 45.7 | −3.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark Marsh | 14,155 | 29.6 | +7.1 | |
Labour | Richard C.H. Taylor | 9,309 | 19.4 | −4.2 | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 1,582 | 3.3 | −1.6 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Chinners Chinnery | 608 | 1.3 | New | |
Socialist Labour | Richard G. Cutler | 342 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 7,727 | 16.1 | -9.3 | ||
Turnout | 47,878 | 62.2 | +0.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −5.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Taylor | 22,296 | 49.0 | −0.8 | |
Labour | Joe McGowan | 10,758 | 23.6 | +0.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark Marsh | 10,241 | 22.5 | +2.1 | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 2,236 | 4.9 | +3.9 | |
Majority | 11,538 | 25.4 | -1.6 | ||
Turnout | 45,531 | 61.9 | −12.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −0.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Taylor | 26,747 | 49.8 | −10.9 | |
Labour | Julie A. Reay | 12,219 | 22.8 | +5.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Gary M. Miles | 10,937 | 20.4 | −1.6 | |
Referendum | Andrew A.C. Cruickshank | 2,904 | 5.4 | New | |
UKIP | Bernard Collignon | 558 | 1.0 | New | |
Rainbow Dream Ticket | Simone Kay | 302 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 14,528 | 27.0 | |||
Turnout | 53,667 | 74.3 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |