History
The constituency was created for the 1983 general election and abolished for the 1997 general election. As all constituencies since 1950 it was a single-member-representation seat, of the sort envisioned by the Chartists in 1832 and by the legislators mooting the Third Reform Act - The Reform Act 1884 so had a single Member of Parliament throughout its existence, furthermore a plurality of its electorate voted for the same candidate at each election, the Liberal Democrat (previously Liberal) Simon Hughes.
Hughes had already been the MP for the forebear of virtually the whole seat. His February 1983 by-election win was one of the most bitterly contested by-elections in the UK as it involved Bob Mellish, its retired Labour MP of many years service, running a highly personal and homophobic campaign against the Labour candidate, Peter Tatchell against a backdrop of the Labour Party being at an immense low in the polls nationally amid success in the Falklands War and the start of a phase of strong positive economic growth under Margaret Thatcher. The result was the election of Simon Hughes as a Liberal in a post-War Labour stronghold.
- Political and social historic background
The area's "middle class, well-to-do" streets were its main thoroughfares, Borough High Street, Blackfriars Road, Old Kent Road, Southwark Park Road, and Southwark Street in Booth's Poverty Map (1898-1899). [2] The survey found no gold-shaded "upper-middle and upper classes, wealthy" streets and far more "mixed, some comfortable, others poor" streets than those intensely poverty-stricken such as tenement yards clumped west of Borough High Street, east of Great Dover Street and clinging close to parts of the eastern riverside. [2] In the far southwest, St Alphege, Southwark (approximately 4% of the area) was approximately half overlain as "Lowest class. Vicious, semi-criminal.".
The area sustained heavy damage in the London Blitz including 1,651 high-explosive bombs across the wider borough, [3] taking decades to rebuild. Relatively poorly paid dock work rapidly evaporated to leave a labour shortage and local work included settings of low-skilled/paid warehouses, railway yards, buses/trams/taxis, civil infrastructure, and many people employed in the lower-paid public service careers, construction etc. within the aftermath of World War II. This was coupled with major social housing projects throughout inner south London in schemes ranging from cheap brutalist steel-and-glass fronted or plain concrete towers to semi-classical or green landscaped part-brick and concrete mid-rise apartment blocks. The forerunner seat of Bermondsey (created 1950) saw low right wing (i.e. Conservative/Unionist/Constitutionalist/Liberal National) support, rising marginally from 15.8% in 1951 to a peak of 24.9% in 1979.
Before 1950, the last non-Labour MP for any of Bermondsey's one-third-predecessor seats was in Southwark North from 1935 to 1939, in the form of Edward Anthony Strauss who moved with part of the Liberal Party to being a 'Liberal National' at that election, who were a more centrist group. The last non-Labour MP for Bermondsey West was a Liberal – Roderick Morris Kedward, winning in 1923 – who polled 52.5% of votes against a Labour opponent and no right-wing/centre-right opponents. The last non-Labour MP for the final one-third forebear Rotherhithe was won in 1931: early Conservative female MP Norah Cecil Runge, who polled 50.3% in 1931 before facing narrow defeat in 1935.
Boundaries
The London Borough of Southwark wards of Abbey, Bricklayers, Browning, Burgess, Cathedral, Chaucer, Dockyard, Riverside, and Rotherhithe.
Southwark and Bermondsey consisted of the northern part of the London Borough of Southwark. In 1997 it was largely replaced by the new North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency, with 290 electors moving to the Lewisham Deptford constituency. [4]
Bermondsey is a district in South East London in the London Borough of Southwark, England, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, and to the north is Wapping across the River Thames. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Surrey.
The London Borough of Southwark in south London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963. All districts of the area are within the London postal district. It is governed by Southwark London Borough Council.
The Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London, created in 1900 by the London Government Act 1899. It was abolished and its area became part of the London Borough of Southwark in 1965.
Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a former British politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, an External Adviser to The Open University, and UK Strategic Adviser to Talgo. Hughes was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014, and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark from 1983 until 2015.
North Southwark and Bermondsey was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created for the 1997 general election.
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A by-election was held in the Bermondsey constituency in South London, on 24 February 1983, following the resignation of Labour MP Bob Mellish. Peter Tatchell stood as the candidate for the Labour Party, and Simon Hughes stood for the Liberal Party. Following a bitter campaign, the Liberals made huge gains and took the seat, with a majority of votes cast. Labour's vote fell from 63.6 per cent in May 1979 to 26.1 per cent as Tatchell came a distant second, while the Conservative candidate, Robert Hughes, managed only fourth place. With a swing of 44.2%, the 1983 Bermondsey by-election remains the largest by-election swing in British political history.
Camberwell and Peckham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 creation by Harriet Harman of the Labour Party. Harman had served for the previous constituency of Peckham since 1982. She is a former cabinet minister and the "Mother of the House of Commons", having the longest record of continuous service of any female MP.
Barking is a constituency formed in 1945, and represented since then by a member of the Labour Party in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 1994, its Member of Parliament has been Margaret Hodge.
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Robert Joseph Mellish, Baron Mellish, PC was a British politician. He was a long-serving Labour Party MP of 36 years, from 1946 to 1982. He served as the Labour Chief Whip from 1969 until 1976, but in his later years he fell out with his local Constituency Labour Party which he felt had become dominated by people on the left of the Labour Party, and he eventually left the party. He became a life peer in 1985.
Bermondsey and Old Southwark is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2015, it has been represented by Neil Coyle, who was elected as a Labour MP but was suspended from the party in February 2022 following an accusation of racism.
Bermondsey was a borough constituency centred on the Bermondsey district of South London, England. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Elections were held using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Rotherhithe was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Rotherhithe district of South London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.
Alfred Salter was a British medical practitioner and Labour Party politician.
The Lambeth Central by-election was held on 20 April 1978, following the death of Labour Party Member of Parliament for Lambeth Central Marcus Lipton.
The Bermondsey by-election, 1909 was a by-election held on 28 October 1909 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bermondsey in South East London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The presiding officer and the ballots were damaged by two suffragettes who tried to disrupt the men's election.
The election for Southwark London Borough Council took place on 3 May 2018, the same day as for other London Boroughs. All 63 seats were up for election.
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