Erith and Thamesmead () is a constituency created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Abena Oppong-Asare of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
The Erith and Thamesmead constituency is located in the east of Greater London on the south bank of the River Thames, and is made up of parts of the boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich. It contains the neighbourhoods of Erith, Thamesmead, Belvedere, Abbey Wood, Plumstead and Shooter's Hill. Much of the area, especially Thamesmead, was developed for social housing in the 1960s. There is a large industrial area on the bank of the river, which includes Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, and the constituency is the site of Isis, Thameside and Belmarsh prisons, the latter of which holds some of the country's most high-profile prisoners. The constituency has high levels of deprivation and house prices are around half the London average.
In general, residents of the constituency are young and have low levels of education, income and professional employment compared to the rest of London. At the local borough council level, all wards in the constituency are represented by Labour Party councillors. An estimated 53% of voters in the constituency supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, similar to the nationwide figure and higher than the rest of London.
2010 Labour selection controversy
In April 2009, an investigation took place into the tampering of ballot boxes and abuse of the postal vote system used for the selection of the prospective Labour candidate for Erith and Thamesmead. A rerun of the candidate selection ballot resulted in victory for Teresa Pearce.
Boundaries
1997–2010: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Belvedere, Erith, Northumberland Heath, and Thamesmead East, and the London Borough of Greenwich wards of Abbey Wood, Eynsham, Glyndon, Lakedale, St Nicholas, and Thamesmead Moorings.
2010–2024: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Belvedere, Erith, Lesnes Abbey, Northumberland Heath, and Thamesmead East, and the London Borough of Greenwich wards of Abbey Wood, Plumstead, and Thamesmead Moorings.
Following its 2007 review of parliamentary representation in South London, and as a consequence of changes to ward boundaries, the Boundary Commission for England recommended for the 2010 general election that parts of Glyndon ward and Colyers ward be transferred from Erith and Thamesmead to the constituencies of Greenwich and Woolwich and Bexleyheath and Crayford respectively; that part of Plumstead ward be transferred to Erith and Thamesmead from Eltham; and that parts of Lesnes Abbey ward, Northumberland Heath ward and Erith ward be transferred to Erith and Thamesmead from Bexleyheath and Crayford.
2024–present: The London Borough of Bexley wards of Belvedere, Erith, and Thamesmead East, and the Royal Borough of Greenwich wards of Abbey Wood, Plumstead & Glyndon, Plumstead Common (part), Shooters Hill (part), Thamesmead Moorings, West Thamesmead, and parts of Woolwich Arsenal and Woolwich Common.
:The Greenwich Borough wards of Glyndon and Shooters Hill were transferred from Greenwich and Woolwich, and Eltham (replaced by Eltham and Chislehurst) respectively. To partly compensate, southernmost parts in Bexley Borough were transferred to Bexleyheath and Crayford.
Members of Parliament
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member
!Party
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1997
| John Austin
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2010
| Teresa Pearce
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2019
| Abena Oppong-Asare
| Labour
|}
Election results
thumb|centre|upright=2.5|Election results 1997-2024
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 2019 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 25,141 ||align=right| 58.4
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 12,153 ||align=right| 28.2
|-
|
| Brexit Party ||align=right| 2,174 ||align=right| 5.0
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 2,119 ||align=right| 4.9
|-
|
| Green ||align=right| 1,226 ||align=right| 2.8
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 272 ||align=right| 0.6
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|43,085
|align=right|56.2
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|76,728
|}
Elections in the 2000s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 2005 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 19,926 ||align=right| 52.8
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 10,038 ||align=right| 26.6
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 4,553 ||align=right| 12.1
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 3,220 ||align=right| 8.5
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|37,737
|align=right|53.8
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|70,127
|}
Elections in the 1990s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1992 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 21,245 ||align=right| 43.0
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 15,615 ||align=right| 31.6
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 12,555 ||align=right| 25.4
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|49,415
|align=right|74.2
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|66,600
|}
See also
- List of parliamentary constituencies in London
Notes
References
External links
- Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
- Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
- Erith and Thamesmead UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Erith and Thamesmead UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Erith and Thamesmead UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK