Greenwich and Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Greenwich and Woolwich is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Matthew Pennycook of the Labour Party.^{[n 1][n 2]}

Greenwich and Woolwich
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Greenwich and Woolwich in Greater London
County	Greater London
Electorate	77,190 (June 2017) ^[1]^[2]
Major settlements	Greenwich, Woolwich and Charlton
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Matthew Pennycook (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Greenwich, Woolwich

Constituency profile

The seat is dominated in the south by expansive and panoramic Greenwich Park^[3] with an acute demand for housing, particularly in the western half, due to architecturally-rich conservation areas and very close proximity to Canary Wharf and City of London.^[4] There remain some industrial areas in the former Royal Docks and around North Greenwich^{[n 3]}. The seat includes considerable social dependency in its Greenwich and Woolwich town centres, including in social housing,^[5]

History

Since 1997

The constituency was created for the 1997 general election by the merger of the former Greenwich constituency, and the western half of the former Woolwich constituency. It has been controlled by the Labour Party since its creation, when they polled 63.4% of the vote and a majority of 44.8%. Thirteen years later, the 2010 general election produced the smallest majority as a share of the vote, 24.7%, with the Labour candidate taking 49.2% of votes cast.

The 2015 general election result was the 105th-safest Labour majority of 232 seats won by Labour at that election.^[6]

Greenwich forerunner

Reflecting a demographic split in the latter twentieth century were five and eleven-year periods when the two predecessor seats were represented by candidates from the SDP.

The former Greenwich constituency was a secure Labour Party seat for much of the twentieth century, though it had been a safe Liberal seat throughout most of the nineteenth century. In 1987, it was gained by the Social Democratic Party at a by-election and narrowly regained by Labour five years later at the 1992 general election.

Woolwich forerunner

The former Woolwich constituency (and its predecessor Woolwich East) was a similar safe-Liberal-seat-turned-safe-Labour-seat. Its Labour MP Christopher Mayhew defected to the Liberal Party in 1974 before being defeated, and his Labour successor, John Cartwright, defected to the SDP in 1981. He retained the seat at the 1983 and 1987 general elections, but narrowly lost it to Labour in 1992; in a similar fashion to the neighboring Greenwich seat. In council elections, since the seat's 1997 creation, most wards have tended to elect Labour councillors and few wards other than the Blackheath Westcombe ward have tended to elect Conservative councilors.

1945-1997 combined summary

Including the pre-1997 predecessors, the area has since World War II been a Labour safe seat, or, as indicated in the 1987 result for Greenwich only, in the best result for a Conservative candidate locally during the years since 1955, occasionally a marginal.^{[n 4]}

Boundaries

 

Map of current boundaries

1997–2010: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Arsenal, Blackheath, Burrage, Charlton, Ferrier, Hornfair, Kidbrooke, Nightingale, Rectory Field, St Alfege, St Mary's, Trafalgar, Vanbrugh, West, and Woolwich Common.

2010–present: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Blackheath Westcombe, Charlton, Glyndon, Greenwich West, Peninsula, Woolwich Common, and Woolwich Riverside.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, and as a consequence of changes to ward boundaries, the Boundary Commission for England recommended that part of Woolwich Common ward be transferred to Greenwich and Woolwich from the constituency of Eltham; that parts of Glyndon ward be transferred from Eltham and Erith and Thamesmead; and that parts of Kidbrooke with Hornfair ward, Eltham West ward, and Middle Park and Sutcliffe ward be transferred from Greenwich and Woolwich to Eltham.

Proposed

 

Greenwich and Woolwich in 2023

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 Glyndon ward (as it existed on 1 December 2010) will be transferred to Erith and Thamesmead in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range.^[7]

Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2022,^[8][9] the constituency will now comprise the following wards of the Royal Borough of Greenwich from the next general election:

• Blackheath Westcombe (most); Charlton Hornfair (most); Charlton Village and Riverside; East Greenwich; Greenwich Creekside; Greenwich Park; Greenwich Peninsula; Woolwich Arsenal (most); Woolwich Common (most); Woolwich Dockyard; and small parts of Shooters Hill and Plumstead Common.^[10]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[11]	Party
	1997	Nick Raynsford	Labour
	2015	Matthew Pennycook	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Greenwich and Woolwich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Annous^[12]
	Green	Stacy Smith^[13]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Greenwich and Woolwich^[14][15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Pennycook	30,185	56.8	-7.6
	Conservative	Thomas Turrell	11,721	22.1	-3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Rhian O'Connor	7,253	13.7	+6.6
	Green	Victoria Rance	2,363	4.4	+1.4
	Brexit Party	Kailash Trivedi	1,228	2.3	New
	CPA	Eunice Odesanmi	245	0.5	New
	Independent	Shushil Gaikwad	125	0.2	New
Majority			18,464	34.7	-4.3
Turnout			53,120	66.4	-2.4
Registered electors			79,997
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.1

General election 2017: Greenwich and Woolwich^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Pennycook	34,215	64.4	+12.2
	Conservative	Caroline Attfield	13,501	25.4	-1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Adams	3,785	7.1	+1.4
	Green	Daniel Garrun	1,605	3.0	-3.4
Majority			20,714	39.0	+13.4
Turnout			53,107	68.8	+5.1
Registered electors			77,190
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.7

General election 2015: Greenwich and Woolwich^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Pennycook	24,384	52.2	+3.0
	Conservative	Matt Hartley	12,438	26.6	+2.1
	UKIP	Ryan Acty^[21]	3,888	8.3	New
	Green	Abbey Akinoshun^[22]	2,991	6.4	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Holder^[23]	2,645	5.7	-12.8
	TUSC	Lynne Chamberlain	370	0.8	+0.2
Majority			11,946	25.6	+0.9
Turnout			46,716	63.7	+0.8
Registered electors			73,315
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.5

General election 2010: Greenwich and Woolwich^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	20,262	49.2	-3.3
	Conservative	Spencer Drury	10,109	24.5	+7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Joseph Lee	7,498	18.5	-1.5
	BNP	Lawrence Rustem^[25]	1,151	2.8	New
	Green	Andy Hewett	1,054	2.6	-1.9
	Christian	Edward Adeyele	443	1.1	New
	English Democrat	Raden Wresniwiro	339	0.8	-2.6
	TUSC	Onay Kasab	267	0.6	New
	No description	Tammy Alingham	61	0.2	New
Majority			10,153	24.7	-3.8
Turnout			41,188	62.9	+9.6
Registered electors			65,489
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Greenwich and Woolwich^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	17,527	49.2	-11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Le Breton	7,381	20.7	+5.1
	Conservative	Alistair Craig	7,142	20.1	+0.9
	Green	David Sharman	1,579	4.4	New
	English Democrat	Garry Bushell	1,216	3.4	New
	UKIP	Stan Gain	709	2.0	-0.1
	Independent	Purvarani Nagalingam	61	0.2	New
Majority			10,146	28.5	-12.8
Turnout			35,615	55.6	+1.5
Registered electors			63,631
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.2

General election 2001: Greenwich and Woolwich^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	19,691	60.5	-2.9
	Conservative	Richard Forsdyke	6,258	19.2	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Russell Pyne	5,082	15.6	+3.1
	UKIP	Stan Gain	672	2.1	New
	Socialist Alliance	Kirstie Paton	481	1.5	New
	Socialist Labour	Margaret Sharkey	352	1.1	New
Majority			13,433	41.3	-3.5
Turnout			32,536	54.1	-11.8
Registered electors			60,114
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.8

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Greenwich and Woolwich^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Raynsford	25,630	63.4
	Conservative	Michael Mitchell	7,502	18.6
	Liberal Democrats	Cherry Luxton	5,049	12.5
	Referendum	Douglas Ellison	1,670	4.1
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	428	1.1
	Constitutionalist	David Martin-Eagle	124	0.3
Majority			18,128	44.8
Turnout			40,403	65.9
Registered electors			61,352
	Labour win (new seat)

Notes

1. MP for Greenwich (UK Parliament constituency) 1992–97
2. As with all constituencies, Greenwich and Woolwich elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. See The O2 Arena
4. The winning majority was 5.7% over the Conservative challenger.

References

1. Pack, James (8 June 2017). . Royal Borough of Greenwich. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022.
2. . 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. "OpenStreetMap". OpenStreetMap.
4. "Area and Property Guide for se10 - Mouseprice". www.mouseprice.com.
5. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
6. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. from the original on 29 September 2018.
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 3 London region.
8. LGBCE. "Greenwich | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
9. "The Royal Borough of Greenwich (Electoral Changes) Order 2021".
10. "New Seat Details - Greenwich and Woolwich". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
12. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
13. "Announcing our Greenwich and Woolwich prospective candidate for the General Election, Stacy Smith". Twitter. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
14. "Greenwich & Woolwich Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
15. "Greenwich & Woolwich Parliamentary constituency". Greenwich Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
16. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
17. "Greenwich & Woolwich parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
18. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
19. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
20. . Royal Borough of Greenwich. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
21. . www.ryanacty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015.
22. . London Green Party. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
23. . Greenwich Borough Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
24. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
25. . BNP. 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
26. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
28. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

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