Westminster North (UK Parliament constituency)

Westminster North was a constituency^{[n 1]} in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.^{[n 2]} It existed for the periods 1983–1997 and 2010–2024.

Westminster North
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Westminster North in Greater London
County	Greater London
Electorate	65,936 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Maida Vale St John's Wood Queen's Park Bayswater
2010–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Regent's Park & Kensington North Cities of London & Westminster (one ward and parts of two others)
Replaced by	Cities of London and Westminster, Kensington and Bayswater, Queen's Park and Maida Vale
1983–1997
Seats	One
Created from	Paddington and St Marylebone
Replaced by	Regent's Park & Kensington North Cities of London & Westminster

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished, with the majority being included in the new constituency of Queen's Park and Maida Vale. The Abbey Road and Regent's Park wards were transferred to Cities of London and Westminster, and the Bayswater and Lancaster Gate wards to Kensington and Bayswater.^[2]

Constituency profile

Comprising the northwestern part of the City of Westminster, the constituency contained some affluent residential areas that have historically voted Conservative in large numbers, such as Bayswater and the area on the western and northwestern sides of Regent's Park.

Lord's Cricket Ground and the Abbey Road Studios are in the seat, as are the Queen's Park, Church Street, Westbourne Park, and Harrow Road areas, further from central London. However, the seat has mostly been represented at local level by Conservative councillors, via the wards of Little Venice, Regent's Park, Abbey Road and Lancaster Gate, while Maida Vale and Bayswater have had split representation.

Reflective of the transport links to the selective professional industries of the City of London and long-standing desirable housing in this area, workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.9% of the population, based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[3]

History

1983–1997

The seat was created under the Third Periodic Review of constituencies in 1983, which followed the first Boundary Commission Review in 1945, which in turn directly followed the Representation of the People Act 1918 review. It was based largely on Paddington but also took in the abolished St Marylebone constituency.

Political history

The seat was held with modest majorities for the first creation, made up of three terms, by John Wheeler, a Conservative. Paddington constituency, its main predecessor was often marginal: by length of a single party's representation and by majorities achieved. The far less contributory precursor, St Marylebone, was a Conservative safe seat.

The 1997 boundary changes expanded the constituency to the west, taking in Labour-voting areas of north Kensington and tilting the seat towards Labour. Wheeler decided that he did not wish to contest such unfavourable territory and sought selection elsewhere. However he was unsuccessful in finding a new safe seat and thus retired at the 1997 general election.

2010-2024

Political history

The seat was tipped in mainstream newspapers to be likely to achieve the necessary notional swing based on the same area's votes in the previous election, in 2005, to fall to the Conservative candidate; however the seat fell short of the national average swing and was accordingly won by Karen Buck. The 2015 result gave the seat the 21st most marginal majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.^[4] In the 2017 general election, Karen Buck increased her majority over Lindsey Hall, the Conservative Party candidate, from 1,977 to 11,512.^[5]

Boundaries

1983–1997

The City of Westminster wards of: Bayswater; Church Street; Hamilton Terrace; Harrow Road; Lancaster Gate; Little Venice; Lords;^{[n 3]} Maida Vale; Queen's Park; Regent's Park; and Westbourne.

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

2010–2024

The electoral wards of: Abbey Road; Bayswater; Church Street; Harrow Road; Lancaster Gate; Little Venice; Maida Vale; Queen's Park; Regent's Park; and Westbourne in the City of Westminster.^[6]

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which called for the recreation of this constituency for the 2010 general election. This was achieved from parts of two seats: the eastern three quarters of Regent's Park and Kensington North and northern parts of Cities of London and Westminster:

• Lancaster Gate ward (that part of Bayswater closest to Hyde Park)
• A major part of a shared ward next to this, Bayswater
• Loss of a minor part of a shared ward, Bryanston and Dorset Square, centred on Baker Street.

Population expansion across the former main seat was a factor, including Maida Vale, West Kilburn and to a lesser degree in St John's Wood, which were retained, as well as in Notting Hill and North Kensington, which were therefore removed.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[8]	Party	Notes
	1983	John Wheeler	Conservative	Knighted in 1993[n 4]
constituency abolished in 1997
	2010	Karen Buck	Labour	Member for main predecessor seat (1997–2010)

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Westminster North^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karen Buck	23,240	54.2	−5.7
	Conservative	Jamie Macfarlane	12,481	29.1	−4.2
	Liberal Democrats	George Lee	5,593	13.0	+7.8
	Green	Holly Robinson	1,064	2.5	+1.1
	Brexit Party	Cyrus Parvin	418	1.0	New
	CPA	Gabriela Fajardo Palacios	115	0.3	New
Majority			10,759	25.1	−1.5
Turnout			42,911	65.5	−2.3
Registered electors			65,519
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.7

General election 2017: Westminster North^{[11] [12][13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karen Buck[14]	25,934	59.9	+13.1
	Conservative	Lindsey Hall[15]	14,422	33.3	−8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Harding[16]	2,253	5.2	+1.5
	Green	Emmanuelle Tandy[17]	595	1.4	−1.9
	Independent	Abby Dharamsey[18]	91	0.2	New
Majority			11,512	26.6	+14.6
Turnout			43,295	67.8	+8.4
Registered electors			63,846
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.8

General election 2015: Westminster North^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karen Buck	18,504	46.8	+2.9
	Conservative	Lindsey Hall	16,527	41.8	+3.3
	UKIP	Nigel Sussman	1,489	3.8	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Kirsty Allen	1,457	3.7	−10.2
	Green	Jennifer Nadel	1,322	3.3	+2.1
	Christian	Gabriela Fajardo	152	0.4	+0.2
	Independent	Nicholas Ward	63	0.2	New
Majority			1,977	5.0	−0.4
Turnout			39,514	63.4	+4.1
Registered electors			62,346
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.2

General election 2010: Westminster North ^[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karen Buck	17,377	43.9
	Conservative	Joanne Cash	15,251	38.5
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Blackburn	5,513	13.9
	Green	Tristan Smith	478	1.2
	BNP	Stephen Curry	334	0.8
	UKIP	Jasna Badzak	315	0.8
	Independent	Ali Bahaijoub	101	0.3
	English Democrat	Edward Roseman	99	0.3
	Christian	Gabriela Fajardo	98	0.2
	Independent	Abdulla Dharamsey	32	0.1
Majority			2,126	5.4
Turnout			39,616	59.3
Registered electors			66,739
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections 1983–1992

General election 1992: Westminster North^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Wheeler	21,828	49.0	+1.7
	Labour	Jennifer Edwards	18,095	40.6	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Lewis Wigoder	3,349	7.5	−4.6
	Green	Amelia Burke	1,017	2.3	+1.2
	Natural Law	Jonathan Hinde	159	0.4	New
	Anti-Federalist League	Michael Kelly	137	0.4	New
Majority			3,733	8.4	+0.6
Turnout			44,585	75.1	+4.0
Registered electors			59,405
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.3

General election 1987: Westminster North^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Wheeler	19,941	47.3	+4.1
	Labour	Jennifer Edwards	16,631	39.5	+0.1
	SDP	Richard De Ste Croix	5,116	12.1	−3.6
	Green	David Stutchfield	450	1.1	−0.1
Majority			3,310	7.8	+4.0
Turnout			42,138	71.1	+6.9
Registered electors			59,363
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 1983: Westminster North^[27][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Wheeler	19,134	43.2	−3.8
	Labour	Arthur Latham	17,424	39.4	−2.8
	SDP	Thomas Halliwell	6,956	15.7	+7.1
	Ecology	Timothy Cooper	527	1.2	New
	Independent	Thomas Keen [n 5]	148	0.3	New
	Independent	Brian Fisher	73	0.2	New
Majority			1,710	3.8	−1.0
Turnout			44,262	64.2
Registered electors			68,988
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• Kensington (UK Parliament constituency)
• Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. This was one of several small wards, not shown in the 2010 post-revision (and pre-revision) map of the area, which was thus abolished before the Fifth review – the actual area around "Lords" remained squarely within the seat on the re-appearance of the constituency in 2010.
4. Since January 1993 John Wheeler only has the title: Sir
5. Used the description "Tactically Vote Conservative Annihilates Bennites Livingstonites"

References

1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – London | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
3. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
4. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
5. "BBC Election 2017 Westminster North Results". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
6. "Boundary Commission for England Fifth Periodical Report Cm 7032" (PDF). Retrieved 28 May 2017.
7. "2011 Census". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)
9. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
10. "BBC News". BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
11. "Election Title" (PDF). Westminster City Council. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
12. "Election Data 2017". Electoral Calculus. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
13. "General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF). researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
14. Ford, Matthew (20 April 2017). "Launching the General Election 2017 campaign". Karen Buck MP. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
15. Wallace, Mark (24 April 2017). "Lee Scott back for Ilford North. Vicky Ford in final Chelmsford three. Tatton finalists named. The latest candidate selections and shortlists". Conservative Home. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
16. Gari, Aparna (26 April 2017). "Alex Harding: PPC, Westminster North". Westminsterandcityoflondonlibdems.org.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
17. "General Election 2017 Candidate - Green Party". My.greenparty.org.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
18. "UK GENERAL ELECTION 2017". Abbydharamsey.co.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
19. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
20. "7 May 2015 - UK general election". Westminster City Council. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
21. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
22. Election 2010: The Official Results, compiled by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, Biteback Publishing, London, 2010, p. 176.
23. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. Britain Votes 5, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot, 1993, p. 152; Return of Election Expenses, HC Paper 603 of session 1992–93, p. 79.
25. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. Britain Votes 4, ed. F. W. S. Craig, Parliamentary Research Services, Chichester, 1987, p. 24; Return of Election Expenses, HC Paper 426 of session 1987–88, p. 62.
27. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
28. Britain Votes 4, ed. F. W. S. Craig, Parliamentary Research Services, Chichester, 1987, p. 24; Return of Election Expenses, HC Paper 130 of session 1983–84, p. 71.

External links

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• Westminster North UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

51.525°N 0.180°W / 51.525; -0.180