Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Twickenham is a constituency in Greater London^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Munira Wilson of the Liberal Democrats.^{[n 2]}

Twickenham
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Greater London
Electorate	75,889 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Twickenham, Hampton and Teddington
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats)
Seats	One
Created from	Brentford

History

Hampton Court Palace

Since 1945, the boundaries of the seat have been similar to those of the abolished Municipal Borough of Twickenham.

From 1931 until 1983, Twickenham was a safe seat of the Conservative Party and from 1983 until 1997 a marginal seat for that party.

Liberal Democrat Vince Cable gained the seat during the 1997 landslide Conservative defeat and held it until 2015. The seat was one of very few in Britain that gave the Liberal Democrats a majority of votes in the 2005 and 2010 elections, being their sixth best performance nationally in 2010.^{[n 3]} Cable was Secretary of State for Business from 2010 to 2015, but unexpectedly lost his seat to the Conservative candidate Tania Mathias in the 2015 general election during the nationwide collapse in the Liberal Democrat vote.

Cable regained the seat in the 2017 snap election by a 14.8% majority and an absolute majority at 52.8% of the vote; this was the highest vote percentage for the Liberal Democrats in any constituency nationally.^[2]

The seat has in the 21st century had notably high turnouts. At the 2015 general election, it had the highest turnout in England and the fourth highest in the UK.^[3] In 2017, turnout was 79.7%, the highest for any seat in the UK, ahead of Oxford West and Abingdon gained by the same party.^[4][5] The seat of Twickenham has also been won by the same party as the neighbouring seat of Kingston and Surbiton in all seven elections they have been in (6 Lib Dem, 1 Conservative).

In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable.^[6]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

Historic

Twickenham in Middlesex, 1918–45

Twickenham, 1945–50

1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Heston and Isleworth, and Twickenham.

1945: boundaries substantially changed – losing territory in the north to form Heston and Isleworth, gaining territory from Spelthorne to the south including Hampton, Teddington, Hampton Wick, Hampton Court Park and Bushy Park

1945–1974: The Municipal Borough of Twickenham.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Central Twickenham, East Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.^[7]

1983–1997: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Central Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Nursery, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.^[8]

1997–2010: Central Twickenham, East Twickenham, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Nursery, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, South Twickenham, Teddington, West Twickenham, and Whitton.^[9]

2010–2024: The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Fulwell and Hampton Hill, Hampton, Hampton North, Hampton Wick, Heathfield, St Margaret's and North Twickenham, South Twickenham, Teddington, Twickenham Riverside, West Twickenham, and Whitton.^[10]

Current

Twickenham from 2024

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the Whitton ward was transferred to Brentford and Isleworth, in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range.^[11]

The seat covers the majority of the western half of the London Borough of Richmond, that part of the borough on the north bank of the River Thames.^{[n 4]} It chiefly contains the towns or London districts of Twickenham, Hampton, and Teddington. Smaller sub-localities by order of commercial activity are Hampton Hill, Hampton Wick, St Margarets, Fulwell, Strawberry Hill and Hampton Court hamlet proper.^{[n 5]} Features includes Hampton Court Palace, Bushy Park (one of the Royal Parks of London), and the Rugby Football Union's national ground, Twickenham Stadium.

History of boundaries

1918–1945

During this period the Hamptons (Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Court and Hampton Wick) and Teddington were excluded from the seat, which instead contained two urban districts to the north of subsequent boundaries, Isleworth and Hounslow, an area at the time with key economic sectors of construction, brewing, warehousing and goods transportation. As such these areas had some support for the Labour Party, who in their best result in the seat, lost the 1929 by-election in the seat by 503 votes (1.6% of the vote).

1945–date

In 1945, the area saw as an unusual corollary to its shift southwards, the swing nationally, of +11.7% (Con-to-Lab) converted in the more strongly middle-class redefined seat to a major cut in the 24% Conservative majority ^{[n 6]} swinging −15.3% to a Liberal opponent, George Granville Slack. In February 1974 and from 1979 until seizing victory in 1997, the runner-up party became the Liberal Party or their successor, the Liberal Democrats and the ward boundaries became only slightly adjusted to reflect changes made in the borderlines made at the local level of government.

Constituency profile

As described by the boundaries, the area enjoys substantial parkland and Thameside landscapes, coupled with a variety of commuter train services to Central London including semi-fast services from Twickenham itself to London Waterloo.

Twickenham is the only constituency situated entirely within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and, as such, is made up completely of middle-class suburbia, similar to the neighbouring constituencies of Kingston & Surbiton, Richmond Park (both in Greater London) and Esher & Walton in Surrey. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower in Twickenham than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[12]

Members of Parliament

Map that gives each named seat and any constant electoral success for national (Westminster) elections for Middlesex, 1955 to 1974.

Election	Member
1918	William Joynson-Hicks		Unionist
1929 by-election	John Ferguson		Unionist
1932 by-election	Hylton Murray-Philipson		Conservative
1934 by-election	Alfred Critchley		Conservative
1935	Edward Keeling		Conservative
1955 by-election	Gresham Cooke		Conservative
1970	Toby Jessel		Conservative
1997	Vince Cable		Liberal Democrats
2015	Tania Mathias		Conservative
2017	Vince Cable		Liberal Democrats
2019	Munira Wilson		Liberal Democrats

Elections

Election results 1918–2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Twickenham^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Munira Wilson	30,185	56.3	+0.1
	Conservative	Jonathan Hulley	8,728	16.3	−17.5
	Labour	Tom Bruce	6,693	12.5	+3.8
	Reform UK	Alexander Starling	4,092	7.6	+6.3
	Green	Chantal Kerr-Sheppard	3,590	6.7	New
	Workers Party	Umair Malik	347	0.6	New
Majority			21,457	40.0	+17.6
Turnout			53,635	71.5	−5.4
Registered electors			74,980
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+8.8

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[14]
Party		Vote	%
	Liberal Democrats	32,816	56.2
	Conservative	19,742	33.8
	Labour	5,051	8.7
	Brexit Party	743	1.3
Turnout		58,352	76.9
Electorate		75,889

General election 2019: Twickenham^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Munira Wilson	36,166	56.1	+3.3
	Conservative	Isobel Grant	22,045	34.2	−3.8
	Labour	Ranjeev Walia	5,476	8.5	−0.7
	Brexit Party	Stuart Wells	816	1.3	New
Majority			14,121	21.9	+7.1
Turnout			64,503	76.3	−3.2
Registered electors			84,906
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+3.6

This was the second largest Lib Dem majority by percentage, after Bath and the largest by number. It was also their largest vote share at the 2019 general election.^[16]

General election 2017: Twickenham^{[17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Cable	34,969	52.8	+14.8
	Conservative	Tania Mathias	25,207	38.0	−3.3
	Labour	Katherine Dunne	6,114	9.2	−2.3
Majority			9,762	14.8	N/A
Turnout			66,290	79.5	+2.2
Registered electors			83,362
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.0

General election 2015: Twickenham^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tania Mathias	25,580	41.3	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Cable	23,563	38.0	−16.4
	Labour	Nick Grant	7,129	11.5	+3.8
	UKIP	Barry Edwards	3,069	4.9	+3.4
	Green	Tanya Williams	2,463	4.0	+2.9
	Christian	Dominic Stockford	174	0.3	New
	Magna Carta	David Wedgwood	26	0.0	New
Majority			2,017	3.3	N/A
Turnout			62,004	77.3	+2.5
Registered electors			80,250
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+11.8

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Twickenham

General election 2010: Twickenham^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Cable	32,483	54.4	+2.7
	Conservative	Deborah Thomas	20,343	34.1	+1.7
	Labour	Brian Tomlinson	4,583	7.7	−3.7
	UKIP	Brian Gilbert	868	1.5	0.0
	Green	Stephen Roest	674	1.1	−1.7
	BNP	Chris Hurst	654	1.1	New
	Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality	Harry Cole	76	0.1	New
	Magna Carta	Paul Armstrong	40	0.0	New
Majority			12,140	20.3	+1.0
Turnout			59,721	74.8	+2.4
Registered electors			80,569
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+0.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Cable	26,696	51.6	+2.9
	Conservative	Paul Maynard	16,731	32.4	−1.0
	Labour	Brian Whitington	5,868	11.4	−2.4
	Green	Henry Leveson-Gower	1,445	2.8	0.0
	UKIP	Douglas Orchard	766	1.5	+0.3
	Independent	Brian Gibert	117	0.2	New
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	George Weiss	64	0.1	New
Majority			9,965	19.2	+3.9
Turnout			51,687	71.8	+5.4
Registered electors			71,444
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 2001: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Cable	24,344	48.7	+3.6
	Conservative	Nicholas Longworth	16,689	33.4	−4.4
	Labour	Dean Rogers	6,903	13.8	−1.8
	Green	Judith Maciejowska	1,423	2.8	New
	UKIP	Ray Hollebone	579	1.2	New
Majority			7,655	15.3	+8.0
Turnout			49,938	66.4	−12.9
Registered electors			72,225
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+4.0

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Cable	26,237	45.1	+5.8
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	21,956	37.8	−11.8
	Labour	Eva Tutchell	9,065	15.6	+5.2
	Independent English Conservative and Referendum	Jane Harrison	589	1.0	New
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Terence Haggar	155	0.3	New
	Natural Law	Anthony Hardy	142	0.2	−0.1
Majority			4,281	7.3	N/A
Turnout			58,144	79.3	−4.9
Registered electors			73,569
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	−8.8

General election 1992: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	26,804	50.4	−1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Vince Cable	21,093	39.7	+1.4
	Labour	Michael Gold	4,919	9.3	+0.9
	Natural Law	Gary Gill	152	0.3	New
	Democratic Liberal and Conservatives	D Griffith	103	0.2	New
	Liberal	A Miners	85	0.2	New
Majority			5,711	10.7	−2.8
Turnout			53,156	84.2	+2.7
Registered electors			63,072
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	27,331	51.9	+1.5
	Liberal (Alliance)	John Waller	20,204	38.3	−2.5
	Labour	Valerie Vaz	4,415	8.4	+0.9
	Green	David Batchelor	746	1.4	+0.5
Majority			7,127	13.6	+4.0
Turnout			52,696	81.5	+3.7
Registered electors			64,661
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.5

General election 1983: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	25,110	50.4	−1.8
	Liberal (Alliance)	John Waller	20,318	40.8	+10.9
	Labour	Patricia Nicholas	3,732	7.5	−9.2
	Ecology	John J. Clarke	424	0.9	New
	National Front	T.J. Denville-Faulkner	234	0.5	−0.7
	Independent	R.W. Kenyon	40	0.1	New
Majority			4,792	9.6	−12.7
Turnout			49,858	77.8	−2.5
Registered electors			64,116
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.0

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	30,017	52.2	+5.7
	Liberal	John Waller	17,169	29.9	+5.7
	Labour	David Wetzel	9,591	16.7	−12.1
	National Front	Martin Braithwaite[22]	686	1.2	New
Majority			12,848	22.3	+4.6
Turnout			57,463	80.3	+5.9
Registered electors			71,535
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	24,959	46.5	+0.2
	Labour	Mavis Cunningham	15,452	28.8	+2.1
	Liberal	Stephen Kramer	13,021	24.2	−2.8
	Anti EEC	W. Burgess	287	0.5	New
Majority			9,507	17.7	−1.6
Turnout			53,719	74.4	−8.7
Registered electors			72,210
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	27,595	46.3	−8.1
	Liberal	Stephen Kramer	16,092	27.0	+14.6
	Labour	Ronald M. Taylor	15,909	26.7	−5.6
Majority			11,503	19.3	−2.8
Turnout			59,596	83.1	+12.2
Registered electors			71,682
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Jessel	28,571	54.4	+6.7
	Labour	John H.W. Grant	16,950	32.3	−1.7
	Liberal	David Kenneth Rebak	6,516	12.4	−5.9
	Independent	Richard Franklin	462	0.9	New
Majority			11,621	22.1	+8.4
Turnout			52,499	70.9	−7.7
Registered electors			74,038
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gresham Cooke	26,512	47.7	−1.2
	Labour	David Carlton	18,884	34.0	+6.8
	Liberal	Simon Goldblatt	10,160	18.3	−3.7
Majority			7,628	13.7	−8.1
Turnout			55,556	78.6	+0.9
Registered electors			70,675
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gresham Cooke	27,427	48.9	−8.3
	Labour	W Eric Wolff	15,231	27.2	−1.1
	Liberal	John Woolfe	12,306	22.0	+7.4
	Nuclear Disarmament	Michael H. Craft	1,073	1.9	New
Majority			12,196	21.7	−7.2
Turnout			56,037	77.7	−2.1
Registered electors			72,154
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gresham Cooke	33,677	57.2	−1.2
	Labour	Anne Kerr	16,638	28.3	−1.9
	Liberal	Kenwyn Arthur Powell	8,589	14.6	+3.1
Majority			17,039	28.9	+0.7
Turnout			58,904	79.8	+2.8
Registered electors			73,852
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gresham Cooke	33,726	58.4	−2.7
	Labour	Pat O'Gorman	17,450	30.2	−7.7
	Liberal	Margaret Neilson	6,626	11.5	New
Majority			16,276	28.2	+4.0
Turnout			57,802	77.0	−4.3
Registered electors			75,106
	Conservative hold		Swing

1955 Twickenham by-election^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gresham Cooke	23,075	64.0	+1.9
	Labour	R. P. Pitman	12,953	36.0	−1.9
Majority			10,122	28.0	+3.8
Turnout			36,028	47.3	−38.4
Registered electors			76,147
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.9

General election 1951: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Keeling	39,080	62.1	+6.2
	Labour	Ethel Chipchase	23,871	37.9	+2.8
Majority			15,209	24.2	+3.4
Turnout			62,951	81.3	−4.4
Registered electors			77,444
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Keeling	36,757	55.9	+7.9
	Labour	John Stonehouse	23,088	35.1	−6.8
	Liberal	Derek Alan Forwood	5,950	9.0	−1.2
Majority			13,669	20.8	+14.7
Turnout			65,795	85.7	+11.7
Registered electors			76,810
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Keeling	26,045	48.0	−15.3
	Labour	Arthur Irvine	22,736	41.9	+4.2
	Liberal	Granville Slack	5,509	10.2	New
Majority			3,309	6.1	−18.5
Turnout			54,290	74.0	+7.5
Registered electors			73,336
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Keeling	37,635	62.3	−11.7
	Labour Co-op	Percy Holman	22,823	37.7	+11.7
Majority			14,812	24.6	−23.4
Turnout			60,458	66.5	−4.8
Registered electors			90,929
	Conservative hold		Swing

1934 Twickenham by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alfred Critchley	23,395	56.1	−0.1
	Labour Co-op	Percy Holman	19,890	43.9	+0.1
Majority			5,505	12.2	−0.2
Turnout			43,285	55.5	+3.6
Registered electors			81,529
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.1

1932 Twickenham by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hylton Murray-Philipson	21,688	56.2	−17.8
	Labour Co-op	Percy Holman	16,881	43.8	+17.8
Majority			4,807	12.4	−35.6
Turnout			38,569	51.9	−19.4
Registered electors			74,272
	Conservative hold		Swing	−17.8

General election 1931: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Ferguson	39,161	74.0	+26.3
	Labour Co-op	Percy Holman	13,763	26.0	−20.1
Majority			25,398	48.0	+46.4
Turnout			42,954	71.3	+21.8
Registered electors			74,272
	Conservative hold		Swing	+23.2

Elections in the 1920s

1929 Twickenham by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Ferguson	14,705	47.7	−0.8
	Labour	Thomas Jackson Mason	14,202	46.1	+11.3
	Liberal	Frederick Paterson	1,920	6.2	−10.5
Majority			503	1.6	−12.1
Turnout			30,827	49.5	−20.3
Registered electors			62,264
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.6

General election 1929: Twickenham^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Joynson-Hicks	21,087	48.5	−21.9
	Labour	Thomas Jackson Mason	15,121	34.8	+5.2
	Liberal	Frederick Paterson	7,246	16.7	New
Majority			5,966	13.7	−27.1
Turnout			43,454	69.8	−0.2
Registered electors			62,263
	Unionist hold		Swing	−13.6

General election 1924: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Joynson-Hicks	18,889	70.4	+15.0
	Labour	Stanley Simon Sherman	7,945	29.6	+5.9
Majority			10,944	40.8	+9.1
Turnout			26,834	70.0	+8.0
Registered electors			38,353
	Unionist hold		Swing	+4.6

Joynson-Hicks

General election 1923: Twickenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Joynson-Hicks	12,903	55.4	N/A
	Labour	Stanley Simon Sherman	5,509	23.7	New
	Liberal	Charles Baker	4,858	20.9	New
Majority			7,394	31.7	N/A
Turnout			23,270	62.0	N/A
Registered electors			37,558
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1922: Twickenham^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Joynson-Hicks	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Twickenham^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Unionist Party (UK)	William Joynson-Hicks	14,015	83.2
	Labour	Humphrey Chalmers	2,823	16.8
Majority			11,192	66.4
Turnout			16,838	48.2
Registered electors			34,924
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London
• 1929 Twickenham by-election
• 1932 Twickenham by-election
• 1934 Twickenham by-election
• 1955 Twickenham by-election

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. By share of the vote, behind five seats: Orkney and Shetland, Westmoreland and Lonsdale, Bath, Yeovil, and Norfolk North
4. However mostly further south as the river is on a north-south axis at this point
5. An ill-defined but major neighbourhood of East Molesey often self-identifies as and ascribes to itself Hampton Court by virtue of its station and long standing sweep of shops of that name, across historic and actual boundaries, across the Thames in Surrey, this is not part of the Hampton Court hamlet mentioned.
6. Also known as one-party swing