Carshalton and Wallington
Notional 2005 Results:
Liberal Democrat: 16815 (40.3%)
Conservative: 15771 (37.8%)
Labour: 7198 (17.2%)
Other: 1958 (4.7%)
Majority: 1044 (2.5%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 16289 (37.8%)
Labour: 7396 (17.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 17357 (40.3%)
Green: 908 (2.1%)
UKIP: 1111 (2.6%)
Majority: 1068 (2.5%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 13742 (33.8%)
Labour: 7466 (18.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 18289 (45%)
UKIP: 501 (1.2%)
Green: 614 (1.5%)
Majority: 4547 (11.2%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 16223 (33.5%)
Labour: 11565 (23.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 18490 (38.2%)
Referendum: 1289 (2.7%)
Other: 856 (1.8%)
Majority: 2267 (4.7%)
Boundary changes: several very minor changes. Loses parts of Belmont ward, Sutton Central and Sutton South to Sutton and Cheam, gains pathetically small areas from Sutton & Cheam - 8 voters in Carshalton Central (a few houses to the West of King`s Lane), and 38 voters in the Wrythe (again, a few houses on Erskine Road).
Profile: South London marginal between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. An affluent residential seat, but less so than some of the other Liberal Democrat strongholds in South-West London. There is still a solid Labour vote here, drawn from the council estates at St Helier and Roundshaw.
Current MP: Tom Brake (Lib Dem) born 1962, Melton Mowbray. Educated at Lycee International, St Germaine and Imperial College London. Computer software consultant. Former Hackney (1988-1990) and Sutton (1994-1998) councillor. Contested Carshalton and Wallington in 1992. First elected as MP for Carshalton and Wallington in 1997. Lib Dem spokesman on the environment from 1997-2001, transport 2001-2003. Lib Dem shadow secretary on International development from 2003-5. Briefly Lib Dem shadow transport secretary in 2005 until Menzies Campbell became leader. Lib Dem spokesman for London 2007-2008, for home affairs since 2008 (more information at They work for you)
Candidates:
Ken Andrew (Conservative) born 1944. Businessman. Chairman of Aman Bank 1984-7, Director of N&P Building Society 1987-1990, Chairman and CEO of Aetna 1991-1993. Chairman of Recall Group plc 2002. Contested Loughborough in 1997, Carshalton and Wallington in 2001 and 2005. 
Bob Steel (Green) Educated at Southampton and Nottingham universities. Teacher. Contested Carshalton and Wallington 1983, 1987, 1992, 2005.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 91424
Male: 48.3%
Female: 51.7%
Under 18: 25.5%
Over 60: 17.5%
Born outside UK: 10.4%
White: 89.5%
Black: 3.2%
Asian: 4.2%
Mixed: 2.1%
Other: 1%
Christian: 70%
Hindu: 1.9%
Muslim: 1.9%
Full time students: 2.5%
Graduates 16-74: 18.3%
No Qualifications 16-74: 25.8%
Owner-Occupied: 69.7%
Social Housing: 21.9% (Council: 16.6%, Housing Ass.: 5.3%)
Privately Rented: 6.8%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 8.2%
50 Responses
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Lewisham Deptford
Of the three “golden triangle” boroughs of SW London, this is the one where the LDs have had the greatest local strength, with unbroken control since 1986, and I think this is reflected in their relative resilience here. The big worry for the LDs is that this has never really carrie through to parliamentary level.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:11 pmI predict the Tories will win this seat next time, along with Sutton/Cheam and Richmond Park.
Richmond Park may be a little tricky and will have to be worked pretty hard but Im sure it can be done.
Kingston/Surbiton and Twickenham are beyond grasp though. The tories would be better off leaving these seats alone and concentrating on the other three.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:51 pmRuislip Northwood
I agree that those two seats are very unlikely to be winnable at the next election, but they shouldnt leave them alone because they need to look to be gaining these seats in future elections, in particular Twickenham where Vince Cable is likely to retire at the following election which would provide the best chance of a Tory gain there. They will not be in a position to do that if they leave it alone before then and they need to work to close the gap.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:58 pmYes, I agree Pete perhaps I should have said “concentrate their efforts” in the 3 seats that are the most winnable.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:11 pmTwickenham (& Richmond Park,Windsor)
Twickenham and Richmond Park are being worked hard.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:24 pmIf Twickenham wasn’t worked, it would release LD activists to other seats. We know Twickenham is a difficult seat, but believe it can be won in two stages, and possibly one.
Personally, I don’t think some of the economic statements Vince Cable makes are as sound as people assume, and he is linked to an incompetent local council - which he wasn’t in 2002-6.
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