Kensington
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 13958 (44.9%)
Labour: 8857 (28.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 6161 (19.8%)
Other: 2108 (6.8%)
Majority: 5102 (16.4%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 18144 (57.9%)
Labour: 5521 (17.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 5726 (18.3%)
Green: 1342 (4.3%)
UKIP: 395 (1.3%)
Other: 208 (0.7%)
Majority: 12418 (39.6%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 15270 (54.5%)
Labour: 6499 (23.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 4416 (15.8%)
UKIP: 416 (1.5%)
Green: 1158 (4.1%)
Other: 279 (1%)
Majority: 8771 (31.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 19887 (53.6%)
Labour: 10368 (28%)
Liberal Democrat: 5668 (15.3%)
Other: 1165 (3.1%)
Majority: 9519 (25.7%)
Boundary changes: Major. The borough of Kensington and Chelsea will no longer be twinned with Westminster when deciding boundaries, so the North Kensington part of the old Regent`s Park and North Kensington seat, including Notting Hill, joins this seat, while Chelsea is hived off to form the new Chelsea and Fulham constituency.
Profile: a residential seat west of central London, recently brought into the congestion charge zone. Kensington is one of the most solidly Conservative parts of the country, the housing is largely expensive gardens squares and Georgian terraces. Kensington High street is an upmarket shopping hub, Kensington Palace is the residence of several members of the Royal Family and Kensington Palace Gardens the site of many embassies and a few private residences for the super-rich. South Kensington is the museum district, home to the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert and is somewhat more cosmopolitan, housing the halls of residence for Imperial College.
As well as Kensington itself the seat covers Earl`s Court, Brompton, Holland Park and Notting Hill. Earls Court is far more run down and cheaper than it`s richer neighbour and while it it undergoing rapid gentrification and contains its own areas of the super-rich such as the Boltons, there are still cheap areas of run down hotels and bedsits around Earls Court Exhibition Centre, which straddles the boundary between this and Hammersmith.
Notting Hill today is an affluent and trendy area associated politically with David Cameron and the younger Conservative set surrounding him, and more widely with the Notting Hill carnival, led by the area`s vibrant Afro-Carribean community. It is a highly cosmopolitan area, having fallen on hard times in the twentieth century and become associated with dingy flats and houses of multiple occupancy it has undergone rapid gentrification. These days while the old Victorian private houses are sought after and extortionately expensive, there is much social housing and tower blocks and there remains a large ethnic population and areas of social deprivation in North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove. Whereas the Kensington wards are safely Conservative, northern wards like Notting Barns, which includes the tower blocks of Lancaster West Estate, and Colville reliabley return Labour councillors.
Kensington and Chelsea has had a high turnover of high profile MPs. When originally created in 1997 it selected the Chelsea MP Sir Nicholas Scott, who was forced to stand down prior to the election over accusations of alcoholism after being found in a gutter in Bournemouth. The seat was instead fought and won by the former MP and famed diarist Alan Clark, making a return to Parliament having grown bored of retirement. He died two years later and the subsequent by-election returned Michael Portillo, the former Defence Secretary. Portillo spent a year as Shadow Chancellor before unsuccessfully contesting the Conservative leadership and then stepping down from politics. In 2005 the seat was won by another former minister, defeated in 1997, this time the former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Like Michael Portillo he briefly served in the shadow cabinet, stood for the leadership of the party, lost, and returned to the backbenches, though unlike Portillo he shows no signs of retiring from politics.
Outgoing MP: Sir Malcolm Rifkind(Conservative) born 1946, Edinburgh. Educated at George Watson`s College and Edinburgh University. Advocate and QC. Contested Edinburgh Central 1970. Elected as MP for Edinburgh Pentlands in February 1974 where he served until his defeat in 1997, during that time serving as a junior minister in the Scottish office 1979-1983, minister of state in the foreign officer 1983-1986, secretary of state for Scotland 1986-1990, secretary of state for transport 1990-1992, secretary of state for defence 1992-1995 and foriegn secretary 1995-1997. After his 1997 defeat he was given a knighthood in John Major`s resignation honours and served as President of the Scottish Conservative party. He stood again in Edinburgh Pentlands in 2001, but in 2005 moved to the safe Conservative seat of Kensington and Chelsea. Following the 2005 he joined the shadow cabinet as shadow work and pensions secretary, intending to contest the party leadership following Michael Howard`s resignation. In the event he recieved little support and dropped out of the race prior to the first round of voting. He stepped down from the shadow cabinet following the leadership election having failed to be appointed shadow foriegn secretary, the only role which he wished to be considered for. Rifkind has indicated he will contest the Kensington seat at the next election, rather than seek nomination for the new Fulham & Chelsea constituency (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Sir Malcolm Rifkind(Conservative) born 1946, Edinburgh. Educated at George Watson`s College and Edinburgh University. Advocate and QC. Contested Edinburgh Central 1970. Elected as MP for Edinburgh Pentlands in February 1974 where he served until his defeat in 1997, during that time serving as a junior minister in the Scottish office 1979-1983, minister of state in the foreign officer 1983-1986, secretary of state for Scotland 1986-1990, secretary of state for transport 1990-1992, secretary of state for defence 1992-1995 and foriegn secretary 1995-1997. After his 1997 defeat he was given a knighthood in John Major`s resignation honours and served as President of the Scottish Conservative party. He stood again in Edinburgh Pentlands in 2001, but in 2005 moved to the safe Conservative seat of Kensington and Chelsea. Following the 2005 he joined the shadow cabinet as shadow work and pensions secretary, intending to contest the party leadership following Michael Howard`s resignation. In the event he recieved little support and dropped out of the race prior to the first round of voting. He stepped down from the shadow cabinet following the leadership election having failed to be appointed shadow foriegn secretary, the only role which he wished to be considered for. Rifkind has indicated he will contest the Kensington seat at the next election, rather than seek nomination for the new Fulham & Chelsea constituency (more information at They work for you)
Sam Gurney (Labour) TUC policy officer.
Robin Meltzer (Liberal Democrat) TV producer.
Melan-Zahra Ebrahimi-Fardouee (Green)
Stephen Cleeve (UKIP)
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 116478
Male: 48%
Female: 52%
Under 18: 17.8%
Over 60: 15.4%
Born outside UK: 45.5%
White: 76.2%
Black: 8.2%
Asian: 5.2%
Mixed: 4.4%
Other: 5.9%
Christian: 60.4%
Hindu: 1%
Jewish: 2.2%
Muslim: 9.3%
Full time students: 8.6%
Graduates 16-74: 51.1%
No Qualifications 16-74: 13.5%
Owner-Occupied: 42.1%
Social Housing: 27.8% (Council: 8.5%, Housing Ass.: 19.3%)
Privately Rented: 24.9%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 13.6%
My sources are mainly those available to everyone else online, as far as old constituency boundaries are concerned.
Harry the area you refer to will have been in Kensington borough and was always part of Brompton ward (as I say the area to on the other side of Brompton Road was in Chelsea and part of the Hans Town ward before 2002). As I say I had assumed the Chelsea constituency before 1974 was coterminous with the old Chelsea LB but Peter Crerar suggests this area was also included from 1955 and I am in no position to contradict him
“It’s not a problem. I myself am quite anorakky enough to wonder, if I am not completely sure, which Constituency I am in at any given time. At least when I’m in the UK.”
I am probably a bit more anorakky. It would be good if sat nav technology would included election-maps data to enable one to know which ward one is in. Many years ago I had a London A-Z on which I had marked all the ward boundaries and I carried it around with me when I toured various parts of the city. I was gutted when I mislaid it in (I think) Chislehurst.
I do also usually like to find out what electoral divisions I have vistied overseas as well and something about how they vote.
When I toured parts of the US a few years back I had the Almanac of US poltics with me as well as a road map and amde sure to know which congressional district I was in at any given time
The sources all probably all available but it takes time to compile them.
I’ve been meaning to get hold of a copy of the American Almanac for about 5 years but for some reason I haven’t got round to it. The American version is the original Almanac I believe.
Pete
While touring around with your maps and almanacs are there any particular places which you have found surprising in reality compared to what you would have expected them to be from their election results?
Pete,
I have maps of the part of Kensington moved to Chelsea in 1950, not 1955 as I thought!
Click on the following links and look at the London Constituency maps for 1888 – 1950………
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BermondseyWest.png
………………and 1950 – 1955……………………..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bermondsey1950.png
The single Kensington Ward was first added to Chelsea for westminter purposes in 1950, not 1955 as I thought.
The boundary changes removed the South East point of the old Kensington borough where Fulham Road narrows Hyde Park.
Looks like the area is more or less the current Brompton Ward with a small part of Courtfield.
Hi Pete,
Check my above post with links to maps showing the Chelsea boundary from 1888 – 1950 and 1950 to 1974, with one Kensington Ward.
They will show the extent of the Royal Borough of Kensington that was in the Chelsea parliamentary constituency from 1950 – 1974.
Thanks Peter. Those maps on Wikipedia are superb – I have managed to find now a map of the parliamentary boundaries in Middlesex for 1945 which I was just commenting elsewhere I had been trying to find for ages. That has cleared up alot of questions I had.
It does also confirm what you said that essentially the old Brompton ward was in Chelsea from 1950 to 1974 and this will have included the area around the museums which Harry was interested in (but not Hyde Park Gate which is in Queens Gate and therefore remained in Kensington South throughout)
“While touring around with your maps and almanacs are there any particular places which you have found surprising in reality compared to what you would have expected them to be from their election results?”
There have been many that have not matched what I imagined based on both election results and on census results – bearing in my mind my earliest tours took place when I had the fairly limited data provided by the 1981 census. Therefore, based on owner occupation levels and also the safe Tory nature of the area in the 1980s I expected Bexley and Bexleyheath to be quite wealthy areas and was quite surprised at how drab the area was when I visited. I had a similar reaction to much of Sutton.
On the other side of the coin I remember driving round Oxford East as it being at the time the only Labour seat in the South East I expected it must be pretty grim but for the most part it was not (it is fairly grotty in parts). Elsewhere visits to Barnsley and the Rhondda also surprised me as they were nothing like as grim (superficially anyway) as I had been led to expect
‘When I toured parts of the US a few years back I had the Almanac of US poltics with me as well as a road map and amde sure to know which congressional district I was in at any given time’
Pete, do you know of any sites (apart from Wikipedia of course) that give historic congressional district boundaries? The most detailed articles on Wikipedia are about seats in California.
Crikey. I’ve just added UKIP’s candidate from their website – I’m leaving the biography blank since he seems to be litigious… but…
I think Sir Humphry would have called it a brave choice.
‘When I toured parts of the US a few years back I had the Almanac of US poltics with me as well as a road map and amde sure to know which congressional district I was in at any given time’
What I find annoying about US congressional districts is that they sometimes retain the same boundaries while changing their district numbers, which can be annoying when you’re trying to find out the boundary history of certain places in the States (as I do for the UK all too often on here)
The only list of representation of a specific place that I could find on Wikipedia is of Erie, Pennsylvania – wish there were others
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Members_of_Congress_who_have_represented_Erie,_Pennsylvania