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
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Greenwich and Woolwich in Greater London
County	Greater London
Electorate	69,824 (2023)[1]
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 south of the constituency is dominated by the 74 hectare Greenwich Park.^[2] The constituency's high house prices, particularly in its western half, reflect the beauty of its conservation areas and its close proximity to Canary Wharf and the City of London.^[3] The former Royal Docks and North Greenwich are partly industrial in character.^{[n 3]}. Poorer districts in the constituency include the centres of Greenwich and Woolwich, where many residents live in social housing.^[4]

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.^[5]

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

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.

2010–2024: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Blackheath Westcombe, Charlton, Glyndon, Greenwich West, Peninsula, Woolwich Common, and Woolwich Riverside.

Part of Woolwich Common ward transferred to Greenwich and Woolwich from the constituency of Eltham; parts of Glyndon ward transferred from Eltham and Erith and Thamesmead; and parts of Kidbrooke with Hornfair, Eltham West, and Middle Park & Sutcliffe wards be transferred from Greenwich and Woolwich to Eltham.

2024–present: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Blackheath Westcombe (part), Charlton Hornfair (part), Charlton Village and Riverside, East Greenwich, Greenwich Creekside, Greenwich Park, Greenwich Peninsula, Woolwich Arsenal (part), Woolwich Common (part), Woolwich Dockyard, and small parts of Shooters Hill and Plumstead Common.^[6]

Glyndon ward transferred to Erith and Thamesmead to bring the electorate within the permitted range.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[8]	Party
	1997	Nick Raynsford	Labour
	2015	Matthew Pennycook	Labour

Election results

Election results 1997-2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Greenwich and Woolwich ^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Pennycook	23,999	56.2	+1.2
	Green	Stacy Smith	5,633	13.2	+8.6
	Conservative	Jonathan Goff	4,863	11.4	–11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Annous	3,865	9.0	–5.6
	Reform UK	Abdoul Ndiaye	3,305	7.7	+5.4
	Workers Party	Sheikh Raquib	570	1.3	N/A
	Independent	Niko Omilana	311	0.7	N/A
	Climate	Priyank Bakshi	173	0.4	N/A
Majority			18,366	43.0	+10.7
Turnout			42,719	58.1	–9.7
Registered electors			73,573
	Labour hold		Swing	3.7

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[11]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	26,043	55.0
	Conservative	10,760	22.7
	Liberal Democrats	6,902	14.6
	Green	2,176	4.6
	Brexit Party	1,089	2.3
	Others	370	0.8
Turnout		47,340	67.8
Electorate		69,824

General election 2019: Greenwich and Woolwich^[12][13][14]

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	N/A
	CPA	Eunice Odesanmi	245	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Shushil Gaikwad	125	0.2	N/A
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^[15][16]

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^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Pennycook	24,384	52.2	+3.0
	Conservative	Matt Hartley	12,438	26.6	+2.1
	UKIP	Ryan Acty[19]	3,888	8.3	N/A
	Green	Abbey Akinoshun[20]	2,991	6.4	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Holder[21]	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^[22]

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[23]	1,151	2.8	N/A
	Green	Andy Hewett	1,054	2.6	−1.9
	Christian	Edward Adeyele	443	1.1	N/A
	English Democrat	Raden Wresniwiro	339	0.8	−2.6
	TUSC	Onay Kasab	267	0.6	N/A
	No description	Tammy Alingham	61	0.2	N/A
Majority			10,153	24.7	−3.8
Turnout			41,184	62.9	+9.6
Registered electors			65,489
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Greenwich and Woolwich^[24]

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	N/A
	English Democrat	Garry Bushell	1,216	3.4	N/A
	UKIP	Stan Gain	709	2.0	−0.1
	Independent	Purvarani Nagalingam	61	0.2	N/A
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^[25]

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	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Kirstie Paton	481	1.5	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Margaret Sharkey	352	1.1	N/A
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^[26]

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)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

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.