Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames | |
---|---|
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | London |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Created | 1 April 1965 |
Admin HQ | Kingston upon Thames |
Government | |
• Type | London borough council |
• Body | Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council |
• Leadership | Liberal Democrat (Liberal Democrat) |
• Mayor | Diane White |
• London Assembly | Tony Arbour (Conservative) AM for South West |
• MPs | Sir Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat) Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat) |
Area | |
• Total | 14.38 sq mi (37.25 km2) |
• Rank | 267th (of 296) |
Population (2021) | |
• Total | 167,845 |
• Rank | 122nd (of 296) |
• Density | 12,000/sq mi (4,500/km2) |
Time zone | UTC (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
Postcodes | |
Area code | 020 |
ONS code | 00AX |
GSS code | E09000021 |
Police | Metropolitan Police |
Website | http://www.kingston.gov.uk/ |
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden, Surbiton and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in England. The others are the London boroughs of Greenwich and Kensington and Chelsea and Windsor and Maidenhead, the site of Windsor Castle. The local authority is Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council.
Kingston upon Thames, on the south bank of the River Thames has existed for many hundreds of years. Many Roman relics have been found in the surrounding areas. A church has stood on the site of All Saints' Church, in the centre of Kingston, for more than a thousand years. An earlier church was sacked by the Vikings in 1009 AD. Kingston was the site of the coronations of seven Anglo-Saxon monarchs:
The Coronation Stone, on which they are said to have been crowned stands outside the local council offices, the Guildhall. A coin from the reign of each of those kings is set into the base of the stone.
The borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal boroughs of Kingston-upon-Thames (which itself was a Royal Borough, transferring that designation to the merged entity), Malden and Coombe and Surbiton. At time of the merger the new borough was transferred from the county of Surrey and added as an administrative part of Greater London. The current name of the borough omits hyphens to distinguish it from the similarly named former municipal borough. Kingston also contains County Hall, the former seat of Surrey County Council.
It was part of Surrey for postal purposes until postal counties were abolished in 1996. Districts mainly use the KT postcode, except from the parts of Ham in the borough which use the TW code, and the Kingston Vale area in the north-east which has an SW15 postcode.
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1801 | 4,612 | — |
1811 | 4,960 | +7.5% |
1821 | 6,050 | +22.0% |
1831 | 7,212 | +19.2% |
1841 | 9,587 | +32.9% |
1851 | 12,080 | +26.0% |
1861 | 19,863 | +64.4% |
1871 | 27,647 | +39.2% |
1881 | 35,430 | +28.2% |
1891 | 44,106 | +24.5% |
1901 | 54,956 | +24.6% |
1911 | 68,481 | +24.6% |
1921 | 79,468 | +16.0% |
1931 | 92,220 | +16.0% |
1941 | 115,055 | +24.8% |
1951 | 143,545 | +24.8% |
1961 | 142,448 | −0.8% |
1971 | 141,375 | −0.8% |
1981 | 131,230 | −7.2% |
1991 | 137,453 | +4.7% |
2001 | 147,295 | +7.2% |
2011 | 160,060 | +8.7% |
Note: [1] |
The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 2001 and 2011 census in Kingston upon Thames.
Ethnic Group | 1981 estimations [2] | 1991 [3] | 2001 [4] | 2011 [5] | 2021 [6] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
White: Total | 122,709 | 94.6% | 121,548 | 91.4% | 124,392 | 84.46% | 119,219 | 74.48% | 114,831 | 68.3% |
White: British | – | – | – | – | 111,810 | 75.92% | 101,015 | 63.11% | 90,288 | 53.7% |
White: Irish | – | – | – | – | 3,201 | 2.17% | 2,718 | 1.70% | 2,633 | 1.6% |
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller | – | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 0.06% | 61 | 0.0% |
White: Roma | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 445 | 0.3% |
White: Other | – | – | – | – | 9,381 | 6.37% | 15,391 | 9.62% | 21,404 | 12.7% |
Asian or Asian British: Total | – | – | 8,447 | 6.35% | 13,492 | 9.16% | 26,152 | 16.34% | 29,938 | 17.9% |
Asian or Asian British: Indian | – | – | 3,069 | 5,322 | 3.61% | 6,325 | 3.95% | 7,731 | 4.6% | |
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani | – | – | 858 | 1,916 | 1.30% | 3,009 | 1.88% | 4,380 | 2.6% | |
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi | – | – | 147 | 384 | 0.26% | 892 | 0.56% | 932 | 0.6% | |
Asian or Asian British: Chinese | – | – | 1,089 | 2,026 | 1.38% | 2,883 | 1.80% | 4,127 | 2.5% | |
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian | – | – | 3,284 | 3,844 | 2.61% | 13,043 | 8.15% | 12,768 | 7.6% | |
Black or Black British: Total | – | – | 1,296 | 0.97% | 2,309 | 1.57% | 4,021 | 2.51% | 4,741 | 2.% |
Black or Black British: African | – | – | 478 | 1,406 | 0.95% | 2,616 | 1.63% | 3,105 | 1.8% | |
Black or Black British: Caribbean | – | – | 507 | 772 | 0.52% | 1,027 | 0.64% | 1,081 | 0.6% | |
Black or Black British: Other Black | – | – | 311 | 131 | 0.09% | 378 | 0.24% | 555 | 0.3% | |
Mixed or British Mixed: Total | – | – | – | – | 3,357 | 2.28% | 6,269 | 3.92% | 8,996 | 5.3% |
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean | – | – | – | – | 591 | 0.40% | 1,238 | 0.77% | 1,564 | 0.9% |
Mixed: White and Black African | – | – | – | – | 392 | 0.27% | 700 | 0.44% | 1,090 | 0.6% |
Mixed: White and Asian | – | – | – | – | 1,398 | 0.95% | 2,500 | 1.56% | 3,540 | 2.1% |
Mixed: Other Mixed | – | – | – | – | 976 | 0.66% | 1,831 | 1.14% | 2,802 | 1.7% |
Other: Total | – | – | 1,705 | 1.3% | 3,723 | 2.53% | 4,399 | 2.75% | 9,559 | 5.7% |
Other: Arab | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,439 | 1.52% | 3,580 | 2.1% |
Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | 1,705 | 1.3% | 3,723 | 2.53% | 1,960 | 1.22% | 5,979 | 3.6% |
Non-White: Total | 6,986 | 5.4% | 11,448 | 8.62% | 22,881 | 15.54% | 40,841 | 25.52% | 53,234 | 31.7% |
Total | 129,695 | 100% | 132,996 | 100% | 147,273 | 100.00% | 160,060 | 100.00% | 168,065 | 100% |
The borough includes the whole of the Kingston and Surbiton Parliamentary Constituency and part of the Richmond Park Constituency with both constituencies being created in 1997. The previous constituencies re-arranged to form these two had been essentially Conservative.
In 1997 the Liberal Democrats won both seats. Dr Jenny Tonge took Richmond Park constituency and in 2005 Susan Kramer became its Liberal Democrat MP with a majority of 3,731 but she was beaten in the May 2010 election by Conservative Zac Goldsmith with a majority of 4,091. Goldsmith retained his seat at the 2015 general election, with a greatly increased majority of 23,015. [7] Goldsmith stood as an Independent candidate in the by-election held on 1 December 2016, but was defeated by Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat, after the Conservative Party decided not to put forward its own candidate. [8] Goldsmith regained the seat for the Conservatives in the 2017 general election with a significantly reduced majority of 45 votes. [9] Sarah Olney then regained the seat during the 2019 general election. [10]
In 1997 Edward Davey overturned the previous Conservative majority of more than 10,000 in Kingston and Surbiton, to win by 56 votes after three recounts. He retained the seat in 2001 with a majority of 15,676 over the Conservative candidate David Shaw. In 2005 Davey's majority was 8,961, and in the May 2010 general election he again retained the seat with a slightly reduced majority, beating the Conservative candidate Helen Whately. In the 2015 general election, Davey's seat was taken by Conservative James Berry [11] with a majority of 2,834. Davey's was one of six Liberal Democrat losses in London and 49 overall as the party suffered its worst election results since its formation in 1988. [12] Davey regained the seat in the 2017 general election. [13]
The borough council was controlled by the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1986, when a short-lived SDP-Liberal Alliance minority administration took over. It lost several by-elections due to its attempt to abolish the borough's grammar school system. The Conservatives regained control in 1987. The 1990 election gave no party a majority but the Conservatives kept power with the casting vote of the mayor.
In 2011, Councillor Tim Dennen resigned from the Liberal Democrat group to sit as an independent member. [14]
On Tuesday 11 June 2013 Derek Osborne was arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, following his release on bail he resigned the Liberal Democrat group, as leader of Kingston Council and as a councillor for Beverley Ward. [15] Osborne pleaded guilty and was subsequently jailed for 2 years in October 2013. [16] The Conservatives comfortably won the by-election following the resignation of the former leader of the council. [17]
In 2014 the Conservatives gained a majority of 8 at the local elections, bucking a trend of the Liberal Democrats retaining control in their heartlands. [18]
The Liberal Democrats regained control of the council in 2018 with a large majority of 39 seats compared to the Conservatives' 9 seats. [19]
For elections to the Greater London Council, the borough formed the Kingston upon Thames electoral division, electing two members. In 1973 it was divided into the single-member Kingston upon Thamea and Surbiton electoral divisions. [20] The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986.
Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly, the borough forms part of the South West constituency.
Kingston benefits from one of the biggest and most visited shopping areas outside of central London, with a varied selection of high street stores, and a large number of independent boutiques and retailers.
The most famous shop in Kingston[ according to whom? ] is Bentalls, started by Frank Bentall in 1867 in Clarence Street, where it (or at least the completely rebuilt Bentall Centre) stands.
Close to Kingston, and located between Kingston, Richmond and Roehampton, is Richmond Park, one of the oldest of London's royal parks.
The borough is home to the highest number of South Koreans in Europe, in the town of New Malden.[ citation needed ]
Kingston has many attractions in and near it, ranging from nature and historical attractions to theme parks.
Some of the borough's attractions are:
Kingston is the 3rd largest retail centre by employment, in London.
Sega Amusements International, responsible for the production of arcade games outside Japan, has its head office in Chessington, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. [21] Lidl relocated its UK Headquarters to Kingston in 2020. [22]
Sopwith Aviation Company had a factory in the Canbury Park area of Kingston, where the famous Sopwith Camel was produced during World War I. The Hawker Hurricane was designed in a site in Kingston town centre and built in the aviation factory near Ham now known as the Hawker Centre.
Primary responsibility for education in the borough lies with the local education authority.
Kingston has nine South Western Railway stations and two centrally located bus stations, but no London Underground or other Transport for London stations. In 2008, 64 bus routes served Kingston.
Coaching interests in Kingston opposed the plan of the London and Southampton Railway to run its line to Southampton near Kingston. The line consequently avoided the town with a station opened in 1838 southwest of the town; it was later resited to the present site of Surbiton station.
In 1863 a branch was built from Twickenham to a terminus in Kingston. That line was extended to the main line in 1869 to form the Kingston Loop Line.
All rail services in the borough are operated by South Western Railway, who provide regular services to and from London Waterloo.
Railway stations in the borough:
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 26.1% of all residents aged 16–74; train, 7.1%; bus, minibus or coach, 7.1%; on foot, 6.9%; work mainly at or from home, 4.3%; bicycle, 2.8%; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 2.5%. [23]
The Kingston coat of arms displays three salmon and its shield is almost identical to the coat of arms of the Swedish municipality of Laholm. Both coats of arms can be traced back to the 16th century. The arms of the Norwegian town of Mandal is also similar, but more recent.
In 1966 the newly created London Borough added a set crests and supporters taken from the localities merged into it. The crest came from the Municipal Borough of Malden and Coombe, with that borough's arms hung from the neck of the stag, and the supporters taken from Municipal Borough of Surbiton, with again its arms hanging from the stags' necks. [24]
Although not officially 'twinned', The Royal Borough of Kingston has a partner city of Oldenburg in Germany and Gwanak-gu, an administrative subdivision of Seoul, in South Korea. Some road signs announce that Kingston is linked with Delft in the Netherlands but this official link has ended. [25]
The Borough of Kingston upon Thames has several football clubs in its area:
Kingston upon Thames is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as the ancient market town in which Saxon kings were crowned and today is the administrative centre of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is 9.4 miles (15.1 km) from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes Park, Surbiton, Tolworth, Wimbledon, Old Malden, and Worcester Park. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, New Malden was in the administrative county of Surrey.
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has been in Greater London. Surbiton comprises four of the RBK's wards: Alexandra, Berrylands, St. Mark's, and Surbiton Hill.
Andrew Stuart MacKinlay is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Thurrock from 1992 until he stepped down at the 2010 general election.
Anthony Francis Arbour JP, commonly known as Tony Arbour, is a British Conservative Party politician. From 2000 until his retirement in 2021, he was a member of the London Assembly representing South West London and is a former Richmond councillor.
Kingston Vale with Kingston Hill is a district in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London. It is a residential area between Richmond Park, the much smaller Putney Vale, Wimbledon Common, Coombe/Coombe Hill and the Norbiton part of the very old borough. The main road is the A308 which is a through route for traffic passing to and from Kingston Hill to the A3 trunk road. Many of the branch roads are cul-de-sacs. It includes, toward the east and in the Vale, the only part of Kingston which drains eastward, that is, into Beverley Brook. The hill expanse, shared with Coombe and a golf course, has a hotel, some tall blocks overlooking Kingston, the edge of Kingston Hospital, the main campus of Kingston University London and faint remnants of dense woodland.
Berrylands is a residential neighbourhood in Surbiton, London, originally forming part of the Municipal Borough of Surbiton, and since 1965 part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is a suburban development situated 10.1 miles (16.3 km) south west of Charing Cross. Nearby places include Surbiton, New Malden, Old Malden, Tolworth and Chessington. Berrylands railway station is 24 minutes from London Waterloo by train.
Wimbledon is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2005, the seat has been held by Stephen Hammond of the Conservative Party.
Kingston and Surbiton is a constituency in Greater London created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Davey previously held the seat from 1997 until losing reelection in 2015 to Conservative James Berry.
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The region of Greater London, including the City of London, is divided into 73 parliamentary constituencies which are sub-classified as borough constituencies, affecting the type of electoral officer and level of expenses permitted.
Epsom was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. From its creation in 1885 until its abolition in 1974, it was won by eight Conservatives. The winner took less than 50% of the votes in its contested elections once, in 1945, receiving 49.9% of the vote in a three-party contest. Six elections, the last being a by-election in 1912, were uncontested.
Kingston or Kingston-upon-Thames was a parliamentary constituency which covered the emerging southwest, outer London suburb of Kingston upon Thames and which existed between 1885 and 1997 and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The Conservative candidate won each election during its 112-year existence.
Surbiton was a borough constituency created for the 1955 general election and abolished for the 1997 general election, in Surrey until 1965 and thereafter in outer south-west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system of election.
Southborough High School, commonly known as Southborough, is a boys secondary School with a mixed sixth form. Founded in 1962, it has academy status and is in Surbiton, Greater London. It was rated a grade 2 school (Good) in 2017 by Ofsted.
Elections for the London Borough of Kingston upon Thames were held on 6 May 2010. The Liberal Democrats retained control of the council with an increased majority of six.
The 1964 Kingston upon Thames Council election took place on 7 May 1964 to elect members of Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party gained control of the council.
The 2018 Kingston upon Thames Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Kingston upon Thames Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections.
The 2022 Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect all 48 members of Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.