Orpington (UK Parliament constituency)

Orpington
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Orpington in Greater Londonfor the 2010 general election
County	Greater London
Electorate	71,571 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Orpington and Biggin Hill
Current constituency
Created	1945
Member of Parliament	Gareth Bacon (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Chislehurst and Dartford

Orpington is a constituency ^{[n 1]} created in 1945 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Gareth Bacon, a Conservative. ^{[n 2]} It is the largest constituency in Greater London by area, covering the east and south of the London Borough of Bromley. ^[2]

History

Orpington was created in a major boundary review enacted at the 1945 general election, which followed an absence of reviews since 1918. The seats of Dartford and Chislehurst had both seen their electorate grow enormously into newly built houses since the 1918 review and were treated as one and reformed into four seats, creating the additional seats of Bexley and this one in 1945.

Political history

The seat has been won by a Conservative since creation except for the 1962, 1964 and 1966 Liberal Party wins of Eric Lubbock.

The 2015 result made the seat the 43rd safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority. ^[3]

Role in the Liberal Party revival

The seat is famous for its 1962 by-election when it was taken in a shock result and substantial victory by the Liberal Party candidate Eric Lubbock. ^[4] He lost the seat in the 1970 general election.

The constituency shared boundaries with the Orpington electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981.

Boundaries

Orpington in Kent, boundaries used from 1955 to 1974

Map showing the wards of the Orpington parliamentary constituency (red) within the London Borough of Bromley (yellow). Cray Valley West (orange) was included in the constituency at the election in 2005 but transferred to Bromley and Chislehurst in 2010.

Historic

1945–1950: The urban district of Orpington, and part of the municipal boroughs of Beckenham and Bromley. ^[5]

1950–1955: The urban district of Orpington, and the rural district of Dartford except the parishes of Darenth, Stone, Sutton at Hone, and Wilmington. ^[6]

1955–1974: The urban district of Orpington. ^[7]

1974–1983: The London Borough of Bromley wards of Biggin Hill, Chelsfield, Darwin, Farnborough, Goddington, Petts Wood, and St Mary Cray. ^[8]

1983–1997: In the same borough: Chelsfield and Goddington, Crofton, Farnborough, Orpington Central, Petts Wood and Knoll, and St Mary Cray.

1997–2010: In the same borough: Biggin Hill, Chelsfield and Goddington, Crofton, Darwin, Farnborough, Orpington Central, Petts Wood and Knoll, St Mary Cray, and St Paul's Cray.

2010–2024: In the same borough: Biggin Hill, Chelsfield and Pratts Bottom, Cray Valley East, Darwin, Farnborough and Crofton, Orpington, and Petts Wood and Knoll.

Boundary changes

The seat has changed a little in subsequent boundary reviews since 1945. For the 1997 general election the Ravensbourne seat which had emerged in the west by Bromley was divided between three constituencies which before then overshot the London Borough of Bromley, adding to Orpington the community of Biggin Hill.

Current

Orpington from 2024

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was defined as comprising the following wards of the London Borough of Bromley as they existed on 1 December 2020:

• Chelsfield and Pratts Bottom; Cray Valley East; Cray Valley West; Darwin (part¹); Farnborough and Crofton; Crockenhill ; Well Hill;Hockenden ;Orpington; Petts Wood and Knoll. ^[9]

^1.Area marked “4” on the map of the Orpington constituency produced by the Boundary Commission for England ^[10]

The boundary with Bromley and Chislehurst (to be renamed Bromley and Biggin Hill) was realigned with Cray Valley West ward being transferred in (thus uniting the two Cray Valley wards), offset by the loss of Biggin Hill.

Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2022, ^{[11] [12]} the constituency now comprises the following wards of the London Borough of Bromley from the 2024 general election:

• Chelsfield; Darwin (except polling district DAR1); Farnborough and Crofton; Orpington; Petts Wood and Knoll; Well Hill; Crockenhill; St Mary Cray; St Paul's Cray. ^[13]

Constituency profile

The constituency is in the quite uniformly larger-housing dominated London Borough of Bromley, ^[14] which has low unemployment ^[15] and forms the southeastern limits of Greater London. It contains the largely buffered settlements of St Mary Cray, parts of St Pauls Cray, Swanley and Ruxley, then ascends through Orpington, Farnborough, and Chelsfield to the uppermost tracts of the North Downs and to the Biggin Hill settlement, which has an airport ^[16] and retains some of the hill-farming and woodland which dominated the area through the Industrial Revolution until the inter-war period. ^[17]

The wealth of the Conservative vote comes from Biggin Hill, Biggin Hill Valley, Downe and Orpington. The area mainly comprises detached and semi-detached houses surrounded by winding roads and vast areas of parkland,^{[ citation needed ]} which since the seat's creation have continually returned Conservative candidates, with the exception of 1962, when a Liberal MP was elected.

Members of Parliament

Election	Member [18]	Party
1945	Sir Waldron Smithers		Conservative
1955 by-election	Donald Sumner		Conservative
1962 by-election	Eric Lubbock		Liberal
1970	Ivor Stanbrook		Conservative
1992	John Horam		Conservative
2010	Jo Johnson		Conservative
2019	Gareth Bacon		Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Orpington ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gareth Bacon	17,504	38.0	−23.9
	Labour	Ju Owens	12,386	26.9	+7.1
	Reform UK	Mark James	8,896	19.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Graeme Casey	4,728	10.3	−4.3
	Green	Seamus McCauley	2,319	5.0	+1.3
	SDP	John Bright	240	0.5	N/A
Majority			5,118	11.1	−34.8
Turnout			46,073	64.7	–3.7
Registered electors			71,203
	Conservative hold		Swing	–15.5

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result [20]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	30,308	61.9
	Labour	9,681	19.8
	Liberal Democrats	7,145	14.6
	Green	1,824	3.7
Turnout		48,958	68.4
Electorate		71,571

General election 2019: Orpington ^{[21] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gareth Bacon	30,882	63.4	+0.5
	Labour	Simon Jeal	8,504	17.5	−6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Allan Tweddle	7,552	15.5	+8.9
	Green	Karen Wheller	1,783	3.7	+1.6
Majority			22,378	45.9	+7.4
Turnout			48,721	70.7	−3.6
Registered electors			68,884
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.7

General election 2017: Orpington ^{[23] [24]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Johnson	31,762	62.9	+5.5
	Labour	Nigel de Gruchy	12,309	24.4	+8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Feakes	3,315	6.6	−0.2
	UKIP	Brian Philp	2,023	4.0	−12.7
	Green	Tamara Galloway	1,060	2.1	−1.4
Majority			19,453	38.5	−2.2
Turnout			50,469	74.3	+1.7
Registered electors			67,902
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.6

By numerical vote share, the 2017 general election saw Orpington become the safest Conservative seat in London.

General election 2015: Orpington ^{[25] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Johnson	28,152	57.4	−2.3
	UKIP	Idham Ramadi [27]	8,173	16.7	+13.9
	Labour	Nigel de Gruchy	7,645	15.6	+6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Brooks	3,330	6.8	−17.7
	Green	Tamara Galloway [28]	1,732	3.5	+2.5
Majority			19,979	40.7	+5.5
Turnout			49,032	72.6	+0.4
Registered electors			68,129
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.1

General election 2010: Orpington ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Johnson	29,200	59.7	+8.5
	Liberal Democrats	David McBride	12,000	24.5	−15.9
	Labour	Stephen Morgan	4,400	9.0	+3.0
	UKIP	Mick Greenhough	1,360	2.8	+0.4
	BNP	Tess Culnane	1,241	2.5	New
	Green	Tamara Galloway	511	1.0	New
	English Democrat	Chris Snape	199	0.4	New
Majority			17,200	35.2	+26.2
Turnout			48,911	72.2	−0.2
Registered electors			67,732
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Orpington ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	26,718	48.8	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Maines	21,771	39.8	−3.5
	Labour	Emily Bird	4,914	9.0	−1.8
	UKIP	Mick Greenhough	1,331	2.4	+0.4
Majority			4,947	9.0	+8.4
Turnout			54,734	69.9	+5.3
Registered electors			78,240
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.2

General election 2001: Orpington ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	22,334	43.9	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Maines	22,065	43.3	+7.6
	Labour	Chris A. Purnell	5,517	10.8	−7.1
	UKIP	John B. Youles	996	2.0	+1.1
Majority			269	0.6	−4.3
Turnout			50,912	64.6	−11.7
Registered electors			78,853
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Orpington ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	24,417	40.6	−16.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Maines	21,465	35.7	+5.5
	Labour	Sue Polydorou	10,753	17.9	+6.4
	Referendum	David Clark	2,316	3.8	New
	UKIP	James Carver	526	0.9	New
	Liberal	Robin Almond	494	0.8	−0.3
	ProLife Alliance	Nicholas Wilton	191	0.3	New
Majority			2,952	4.9	−22.1
Turnout			60,162	76.3	−7.4
Registered electors			78,831
	Conservative hold		Swing	-11.0

General election 1992: Orpington ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Horam	27,421	57.2	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Maines	14,486	30.2	−0.8
	Labour	Stephen J. Cowan	5,512	11.5	+0.8
	Liberal	Robin Almond	539	1.1	New
Majority			12,935	27.0	−0.2
Turnout			47,958	83.7	+5.2
Registered electors			57,318
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Orpington ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	27,261	58.2	+0.9
	Alliance (Liberal)	Jonathan Fryer	14,529	31.0	−3.5
	Labour	Steven Cowan	5,020	10.7	+3.0
Majority			12,732	27.2	+4.4
Turnout			46,810	78.5	+2.5
Registered electors			59,608
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

General election 1983: Orpington ^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	25,569	57.3	−0.7
	Alliance (Liberal)	John Cook	15,418	34.5	+5.5
	Labour	David Bean	3,439	7.7	−4.2
	BNP	L.T. Taylor	215	0.5	New
Majority			10,151	22.8	−6.2
Turnout			44,641	76.0	−5.7
Registered electors			58,759
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.2

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	32,150	58.0	+11.0
	Liberal	John Cook [36]	16,074	29.0	−8.3
	Labour	Anne Weyman [36]	6,581	11.9	−3.7
	National Front	Frank Hitches [36]	516	0.9	New
	Homeland Party	Ian MacKillian [36]	146	0.3	New
Majority			16,076	29.0	+19.3
Turnout			55,467	81.7	+2.7
Registered electors			67,917
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.6

General election October 1974: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	24,394	47.0	−0.2
	Liberal	Lady Avebury	19,384	37.3	−3.4
	Labour	C. Spillane	8,121	15.6	+3.5
Majority			5,010	9.7	+3.1
Turnout			51,899	79.0	−7.1
Registered electors			65,686
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

General election February 1974: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	26,435	47.2	−0.1
	Liberal	Robin Young	22,771	40.7	−4.0
	Labour	David Grant	6,752	12.1	+4.1
Majority			3,664	6.6	+4.0
Turnout			55,598	86.1	+7.0
Registered electors			64,967
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 1970: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Stanbrook	24,385	47.3	+4.0
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	23,063	44.7	−2.0
	Labour	David Grant	4,098	8.0	−2.1
Majority			1,322	2.6	N/A
Turnout			51,546	79.1	−7.9
Registered electors			65,191
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.0

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	22,615	46.7	−1.7
	Conservative	Norris McWhirter	20,993	43.3	+1.5
	Labour	David Jonathan Sleigh	4,870	10.1	+0.2
Majority			1,622	3.4	−3.2
Turnout			48,478	86.9	1.6
Registered electors			55,776
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.6

General election 1964: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	22,637	48.4	+27.2
	Conservative	Norris McWhirter	19,565	41.8	−14.8
	Labour	Peter A W Merriton	4,609	9.9	−12.3
Majority			3,072	6.6	N/A
Turnout			46,811	85.3	+5.0
Registered electors			54,846
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

1962 Orpington by-election ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Eric Lubbock	22,846	52.9	+31.7
	Conservative	Peter Goldman	14,991	34.7	−21.9
	Labour	Alan Jinkinson	5,350	12.4	−9.8
Majority			7,855	18.2	N/A
Turnout			43,187	80.3	−2.5
Registered electors			53,779
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+26.8

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Sumner	24,303	56.6	−3.3
	Labour	Norman John Hart	9,543	22.2	−5.4
	Liberal	Jack Omar Galloway	9,092	21.2	+8.7
Majority			14,760	34.4	+1.1
Turnout			42,938	82.8	+3.4
Registered electors			51,872
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 1955: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Sumner	22,166	59.9	−2.8
	Labour	Norman John Hart	10,230	27.6	−9.8
	Liberal	Alfred Baldock Howard	4,610	12.5	new
Majority			11,936	32.3	+7.0
Turnout			37,006	79.4	−2.6
Registered electors			46,581
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5

1955 Orpington by-election ^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Sumner	20,082	65.8	+3.1
	Labour	R. David Vaughan Williams	10,426	34.2	−3.2
Majority			9,656	31.6	+6.3
Turnout			30,508	55.4	−26.6
Registered electors			55,069
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

General election 1951: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Waldron Smithers	27,244	62.7	+6.0
	Labour	R. David Vaughan Williams	16,241	37.4	+4.6
Majority			11,003	25.3	+1.4
Turnout			43,485	82.0	−3.1
Registered electors			53,023
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

General election 1950: Orpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Waldron Smithers	24,450	56.7	+8.1
	Labour	George H. C. Vaughan	14,161	32.8	−5.0
	Liberal	Ruth Abrahams	4,523	10.5	−1.8
Majority			10,289	23.9	+13.1
Turnout			43,134	85.1	+12.4
Registered electors			50,704
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Orpington ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Waldron Smithers	20,388	48.6
	Labour	Alan Raymond Mais	15,846	37.8
	Liberal	Edward Rogers Goodfellow	5,140	12.3
	Independent	Guy Chandler Milner	528	1.3
Majority			4,542	10.8
Turnout			41,902	72.7
Registered electors			57,625
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, Orpington elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

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4. On This Day - "1962: Liberals seize Orpington" Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine BBC News
5. "The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Order 1945. SI 1945/701". Statutory Rules and Orders 1945. Vol. I. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1946. pp. 682–698.
6. "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch.1), retrieved 23 July 2023
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (North Kent) Order 1955. SI 1955/13". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2155–2156.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (London Borough of Bromley) Order 1971. SI 1971/2112". Statutory Instruments 1971. Part III Section 2. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1972. pp. 6228–6230.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 3 London region.
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11. LGBCE. "Bromley | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
12. "The London Borough of Bromley (Electoral Changes) Order 2021".
13. "New Seat Details - Orpington". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
14. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
15. Unemployment claimants by constituency Archived 2017-08-02 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian
16. "OS Maps - online and App mapping system - Ordnance Survey Shop". getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
17. Samuel Lewis (publisher) (1848). "Orpington - Osgoodby". A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013. A
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External links

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• UK Constituency Maps
• BBC Vote 2001 Includes 1997 and 2001 results
• BBC Election 2005
• Political Science Resources Archived 2 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
• Orpington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Orpington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Orpington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

51°21′25″N0°05′06″E / 51.357°N 0.085°E / 51.357; 0.085