South West Surrey (UK Parliament constituency)

South West Surrey
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South West Surrey in Surrey
Location of Surrey within England
County	Surrey
Electorate	76,495 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Farnham, Godalming and Haslemere
1983–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Farnham
Replaced by	Farnham and Bordon, Godalming and Ash

South West Surrey was a constituency ^{[n 1]} in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. ^{[n 2]} Since its 1983 creation, South West Surrey has been represented only by members of the Conservative Party. From 2005, the seat's MP was Jeremy Hunt, who served as chancellor of the Exchequer until 2024, and the former Culture Secretary, Health Secretary and Foreign Secretary.

Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was abolished. Subject to major boundary changes - including the combination of the western part of the seat, including the towns of Farnham and Haslemere and comprising the majority of the electorate, with parts of the District of East Hampshire - it will be reformed as Farnham and Bordon, to be first contested at the 2024 general election. Godalming and the area of the North Downs to the south will be included in the newly created constituency of Godalming and Ash. ^[2]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

1983–2010: The District of Waverley wards of Alford and Dunsfold, Busbridge, Hambledon and Hascombe, Chiddingfold, Elstead, Peper Harow and Thursley, Farnham Bourne, Farnham Castle, Farnham Hale and Heath End, Farnham Rowledge and Wrecclesham, Farnham Upper Hale, Farnham Waverley, Farnham Weybourne and Badshot Lea, Frensham, Dockenfield and Tilford, Godalming North, Godalming North East and South West, Godalming North West, Godalming South East, Haslemere North and Grayswood, Haslemere South, Hindhead, Milford, Shottermill, and Witley.

2010–2024: The Borough of Waverley wards of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe, Chiddingfold and Dunsfold, Elstead and Thursley, Farnham Bourne, Farnham Castle, Farnham Firgrove, Farnham Hale and Heath End, Farnham Moor Park, Farnham Shortheath and Boundstone, Farnham Upper Hale, Farnham Weybourne and Badshot Lea, Farnham Wrecclesham and Rowledge, Frensham, Dockenfield and Tilford, Godalming Binscombe, Godalming Central and Ockford, Godalming Charterhouse, Godalming Farncombe and Catteshall, Godalming Holloway, Haslemere Critchmere and Shottermill, Haslemere East and Grayswood, Hindhead, Milford, and Witley and Hambledon.

The seat included the towns of Farnham, Godalming and Haslemere.

Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies

The Boundary Commission's recommendations implemented by Parliament for 2010 saw the realignment of the boundary with Guildford in order to bring it in line with adjustment of local government wards. Guildford's electorate was the largest of the county and this aimed to reduce it. Two wards split between the two constituencies: Bramley; and Busbridge and Hascombe, afterwards entirely in South West Surrey; and the ward 'Alfold, Cranleigh Rural and Ellens Green' was split, so it was consolidated into Guildford for the 2010 general election. The net effect was to increase the number of voters in South West Surrey and reduce the number in Guildford. ^[3]

A public review was called, dealing primarily with objections to receiving the rest of Bramley. Many petitioned to argue that the village's links, especially transport, were mainly with Guildford rather than the towns of Godalming (or Farnham). The precedent of the previous review was cited, when a proposal to move Bramley out of Guildford and into Mole Valley was rejected after local opposition. However, the review felt that this did not justify splitting the ward (something the Boundary Commission seeks to avoid completely) and that the other parts of the ward had strong links to Godalming. Furthermore, it cited the point that, in the previous review, Bramley Parish Council had stated that if it were to be moved it would prefer to be moved to South West Surrey and thus argued that the previous objection had accommodated a preferred progressive change towards being wholly in South West Surrey if necessary to equalise electorates.

History

The constituency was created in 1983, largely replacing the former seat of Farnham. It was consistently won by the Conservative Party, though the majority dropped to a mere 861 votes in 2001, leaving it as the Liberal Democrats' third target constituency by swing required. Since then, the Conservative majority substantially increased, exceeding 28,000 votes in 2015.

In the 2011 referendum on adopting the Alternative Vote (AV) system, Waverley Borough, which includes the constituency, rejected the proposal by 72.6%. ^[4] In the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, Waverley voted to remain in the European Union by 58.4%. ^[5]

In the 2017 general election, the Green Party endorsed Dr Louise Irvine, of the National Health Action Party, and did not field its own candidate in an attempt to unseat the incumbent Jeremy Hunt as a result of his controversial record as the Secretary of State for Health. Some local members of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties also advocated not fielding a candidate for their respective parties. ^[6] However, the national Labour party declined to withdraw in the seat, saying that it would impose its own candidate if necessary, and Labour party members who publicly supported Dr Irvine were expelled. ^[7] The Liberal Democrats also declined to withdraw. ^[8] In 2019, Dr. Irvine declined to stand and endorsed the Liberal Democrat candidate. At the election, the Liberal Democrats polled over 17,000 more votes - an almost 30% vote share increase - compared to 2017, however Hunt retained his seat by 8,817 votes.

Prominent members

Virginia Bottomley, the MP from 1984 to 2005, became the Secretary of State for Health in 1992 (a Privy Council level office). ^{[9] [10]} She then served as the Secretary of State for National Heritage from 1995 to 1997. She was elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone in 2005, having left the House of Commons in the same year. ^[10]

Jeremy Hunt served as the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Secretary of State for Health, Foreign Secretary, Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee and more recently, Chancellor of the Exchequer. ^[11]

Constituency profile

The constituency includes one end of the Greensand Ridge, including the Devil's Punch Bowl and visitor centre at Hindhead. The area has two railways, a branch line via Farnham, the Alton line and the Portsmouth Direct line. The A3 three-lane highway passes through the seat.

Workless claimants (registered jobseekers) were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian . ^[12]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [13]	Party
	1983	Maurice Macmillan	Conservative
	1984 by-election	Virginia Bottomley	Conservative
	2005	Jeremy Hunt	Conservative
	2024	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South West Surrey ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Hunt	32,191	53.3	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Follows	23,374	38.7	+28.8
	Labour	Tim Corry	4,775	7.9	−4.7
Majority			8,817	14.6	−21.1
Turnout			60,340	76.3	−1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.6

General election 2017: South West Surrey ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Hunt	33,683	55.7	−4.2
	NHA	Louise Irvine	12,093	20.0	+11.5
	Labour	David Black	7,606	12.6	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ollie Purkiss	5,967	9.9	+3.6
	UKIP	Mark Webber	1,083	1.8	−8.0
Majority			21,590	35.7	−14.3
Turnout			60,432	77.6	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also: Endorsements in the United Kingdom general election, 2017 § South West Surrey

General election 2015: South West Surrey ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Hunt	34,199	59.9	+1.2
	UKIP	Mark Webber	5,643	9.9	+7.3
	Labour	Howard Kaye	5,415	9.5	+3.5
	NHA	Louise Irvine	4,851	8.5	New
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Haveron [n 3]	3,586	6.3	−23.9
	Green	Susan Ryland	3,105	5.4	4.2
	Something New	Paul Robinson	320	0.6	New
Majority			28,556	50.0	+21.5
Turnout			57,119	74.0	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § South West Surrey

General election 2010: South West Surrey ^{[19] [20] [21] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Hunt	33,605	58.7	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Simpson	17,287	30.2	−9.2
	Labour	Richard Mollet	3,419	6.0	−1.9
	UKIP	Roger Meekins	1,486	2.6	+0.8
	Green	Cherry Allan	690	1.2	New
	BNP	Helen Hamilton	644	1.1	New
	Pirate	Luke Leighton	94	0.2	New
	Independent	Arthur Price	34	0.1	New
Majority			16,318	28.5	+17.6
Turnout			57,259	73.4	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.6

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South West Surrey ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Hunt	26,420	50.4	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Cordon	20,709	39.5	−4.1
	Labour	Tom Sleigh	4,150	7.9	−0.8
	UKIP	Timothy Clark	958	1.8	−0.6
	Veritas	Glenn Platt	172	0.3	New
Majority			5,711	10.9	+9.2
Turnout			52,409	71.8	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.6

General election 2001: South West Surrey ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Virginia Bottomley	22,462	45.3	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Cordon	21,601	43.6	+3.8
	Labour	Martin Whelton	4,321	8.7	−0.7
	UKIP	Timothy Clark	1,208	2.4	+1.7
Majority			861	1.7	−3.1
Turnout			49,592	70.3	−7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South West Surrey ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Virginia Bottomley	25,165	44.6	−13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Sherlock	22,471	39.8	+6.3
	Labour	Margaret Leicester	5,333	9.4	+3.0
	Referendum	Judith Clementson	2,830	5.0	New
	UKIP	James Kirby	401	0.7	New
	ProLife Alliance	Josephine Quintavalle	258	0.5	New
Majority			2,694	4.8	−20.2
Turnout			56,458	77.5	−5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−10.1

The seat underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus vote share changes are based on a notional calculation.

General election 1992: South West Surrey ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Virginia Bottomley	35,008	58.5	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Sherlock	20,033	33.5	−0.9
	Labour	Philip Kelly	3,840	6.4	+0.8
	Green	Nigel Bedrock	710	1.2	New
	Natural Law	Keith Campbell	147	0.3	New
	Anglo-Saxon	Donald Newman	98	0.2	New
Majority			14,975	25.0	−0.1
Turnout			59,836	82.8	+4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South West Surrey ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Virginia Bottomley	34,024	59.5	−0.2
	Liberal	Gavin Scott	19,681	34.4	+2.3
	Labour	John Evers	3,224	5.6	−2.6
	Ind. Conservative	Matthew Green	299	0.5	New
Majority			14,343	25.1	−2.5
Turnout			57,228	78.4	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.3

By-election 1984: South West Surrey ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Virginia Bottomley	21,545	49.3	−10.4
	Liberal	Gavin Scott	18,946	43.4	+11.3
	Labour	Barbara Roche	2,949	6.7	−1.5
	Pro-Nuclear Holocaust Masturbation Freedom	Victor Litvin	117	0.3	New
	Death off Roads: Freight on Rail	Helen Anscomb	82	0.2	New
	Votes for a full hearing	Peter Smith	29	0.1	New
Majority			2,599	5.9	−21.7
Turnout			43,668	61.7	−12.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−10.9

General election 1983: South West Surrey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maurice Macmillan	31,067	59.7
	Liberal	George Scott	16,716	32.1
	Labour	Stephen Williams	4,239	8.2
Majority			14,351	27.6
Turnout			52,022	74.5
	Conservative win (new seat)

Notes

1. A county 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. After nominations were closed, Haveron was suspended by the Liberal Democrats following allegations that he had falsified council nomination papers. ^[17] Although his name still appeared on the ballot papers as the Liberal Democrat candidate, the party said he no longer represented them ^[17] and the treasurer of the local branch encouraged supporters to vote for Louise Irvine instead. ^[18]

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 – South East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
3. "2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
4. "Electoral Commission | Waverley". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
5. "EU Referendum local results – W". BBC News. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
6. Bulman, May (8 May 2017). "Progressive alliance: Greens, Labour and Liberal Democrats unite to take down Jeremy Hunt" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
7. Elgot, Jessica (9 May 2017). "Labour expels two members over attempt to unseat Jeremy Hunt". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
8. "SW Surrey Parliamentary Candidate Ollie Purkiss". Waverley Liberal Democrats. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
9. William E. Schmidt (12 April 1992). "In London's Shock, A Cabinet Is Named". New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
10. "Bottomley of Nettlestone" . Who's Who . A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U8194.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
11. "Hunt, Rt Hon. Jeremy" . Who's Who . A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U45507.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
12. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
13. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
14. "Surrey South West Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
15. "Election for the constituency of South West Surrey on 8 June 2017". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
16. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. Surrey Liberal Democrat candidate Patrick Haveron suspended – BBC News, 27 April 2015
18. Jeremy Hunt could lose seat to GP after bookies slash odds on top doctor – The Mirror, 5 May 2015
19. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
20. Results for the UK Parliamentary Election 2010 (South West Surrey) Archived 2010-05-12 at the Wayback Machine , Waverley Borough Council
21. Surrey South West, guardian.co.uk
22. Election 2010, Surrey South West, BBC News
23. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
28. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Surrey

Sources

• Election result, 2005 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 – 2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 – 2001 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1983 – 1992 Archived 2000-08-19 at the Wayback Machine (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1992 – 2010 (Guardian)
• By-election result, 1984

External links

• UK Constituency Maps
• South West Surrey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• South West Surrey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Spelthorne	Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer 2022–2024	Succeeded by Godalming and Ash
Preceded by Uxbridge and South Ruislip	Constituency represented by the foreign secretary 2018–2019	Succeeded by Esher and Walton

51°09′N0°42′W / 51.15°N 0.70°W / 51.15; -0.70