Woking
2010 Results:
Conservative: 26551 (50.3%)
Labour: 4246 (8.04%)
Liberal Democrat: 19744 (37.4%)
UKIP: 1997 (3.78%)
Others: 248 (0.47%)
Majority: 6807 (12.9%)
2005 Results:
Conservative: 21838 (47.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 15226 (33.1%)
Labour: 7507 (16.3%)
Other: 1474 (3.2%)
Majority: 6612 (14.4%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 19747 (46%)
Labour: 8714 (20.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 12988 (30.3%)
UKIP: 1461 (3.4%)
Majority: 6759 (15.8%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 19553 (38.4%)
Labour: 10695 (21%)
Liberal Democrat: 13875 (27.3%)
Referendum: 2209 (4.3%)
Other: 4582 (9%)
Majority: 5678 (11.2%)
No Boundary Changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Jonathan Lord (Conservative) Marketing consultant and former director of Saatchi and Saatchi. Surrey county councillor since 2009. Former Westminster councillor. Contested Oldham West and Royton 1997.
Jonathan Lord (Conservative) Marketing consultant and former director of Saatchi and Saatchi. Surrey county councillor since 2009. Former Westminster councillor. Contested Oldham West and Royton 1997.
Tom Miller (Labour) 
Rosie Sharpley (Liberal Democrat) Nurse practitioner. Woking councillor since 1988, Mayor of Woking 1993-1994. Contested Horsham 2005. 
Rob Burberry (UKIP) .Julie Roxburgh (Peace)Ruth Temple (Magna Carta Conservation)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 97041
Male: 49.4%
Female: 50.6%
Under 18: 23.1%
Over 60: 18.7%
Born outside UK: 13.3%
White: 91.7%
Black: 0.6%
Asian: 5.4%
Mixed: 1.3%
Other: 1%
Christian: 71.8%
Hindu: 0.7%
Muslim: 4.7%
Full time students: 2.4%
Graduates 16-74: 28.3%
No Qualifications 16-74: 19.6%
Owner-Occupied: 76.3%
Social Housing: 12% (Council: 8.9%, Housing Ass.: 3.1%)
Privately Rented: 8.3%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 3.9%
Joe James B,
Back in July last year you alluded to a couple of concerns about the prospects for the Tories in Woking. Do you feel up for elaborating? Or do you feel the selection of Jonathan GC Lord has addressed the risk of an upset…
On the subject of Asian voters in Woking, I’d say the recent anti-mosque stance taken by Conservatives in nearby Camberley could be an influencing factor. It is clear the Conservatives a somewhat anti Islam and this could well be a factor in Woking. Yes, I know Woking has a mosque, but the Camerley vote may well be seen as a line in the sand.
Ray – I understand the Literal Democracy comment – see Wigan.
Thanks David!
I have to be very careful what I say on this subject. But getting sworn at by a member of your own party (who doesn’t even know you!) at Conference is not on when all you’ve done is exercise your freedom of choice….
The Peace Party are standing Julie Roxburgh here – http://www.peaceparty.org.uk/?4
A 6,600 swing!- No way in the current polls. LD would have done nicely here due to IRAQ. I see the lead increasing. I heard Rosie Sharpley was poor in Horsham as LD candidate.
An easy win for the CONS. I see 7,000 majority plus.
Simon, I’m surprised that someone who frequents this site makes such a basic error. The swing needed is 3,300 not 6,600. You need to take into account the Asian vote which was Tory in 2005 and is now Lib Dem (see above) and the fact that the Tory is new and unknown whereas the LD is very well known locally. Add in a strong UKIP presence and you have all the ingredients for an exciting evening. I still think the Tories will win but not easily.
The Tory lead in last year’s County elections was down to 5%.
Don’t know anything about Horsham but the LD vote went up there in 2005, while it went down in many other places in the South.
Cons Hold= 10,000 maj
Chippy- Local elections and general elections generate very different results. Most likely lib dems will be producing nice graphs saying ‘its so close here’ and ‘why vote labour, only lib dems can beat tories’ and make no mention of there data source?!
I repeat at the last GE Iraq vote played a role. The polls are significantly improved for the conservatives now. I find it hard that all the ethnic minortiy vote went tory at 2005, and is now lib dem? If lib dems did not win here in 1997, they will not win at 2010. I don’t quite see 10,000 like shaun bennett but do think this is a SAFE tory seat. Look at the big picture the lib dem candidate is a part time nurse practicioner, the conservative candidate a business advisor. It’s a no brainer. Big win for the tories!
Have the Liberals been strong in Woking for twenty years?
In terms of campaigning Rosie Sharpley is everywhere – I’ve seen her in the town centre, Knaphill, West Byfleet, St Johns and Horsell… I suspect the LDs have made clones and are dotting them around the constituency. They also seem to be distributing tonnes of leaflets around Woking. She is also a pretty well respected local figure. Most people in Woking know who she is as she has been involved in local politics for years.
Jonathan Lord on the otherhand seems conspicuous by his absence. I haven’t seen him anywhere nor have I seen any material on him being distributed – which is a pity because most people know nothing about him. Perhaps I live in an LD stronghold ward and they’re putting their resources elsewhere in Woking.
From the people I’ve spoken to there is a feeling that the Tories aren’t doing enough to promote their candidate and that they’ll vote for the LD candidate because she’s local and she has a track record in Woking.
Con Hold
Maj 8600
Con maj 5,750
Tory candidate appears very weak. Liberals have popular local candidate and the Clegg effect.
Lib maj. 1,000
This seat is going to be one of the shocks of the whole election. I seriously think the LDs will win this one given that the Tories own Counyy Councilors have already admitted that the seat is lost.
Rumours abound everywhere that the Cons don’t like their own candidate, no campaigning presence and real distrust on the doorstep of a candidate who was parachuted in. I even read somewhere that he had tried to be an MP in two other places before he came to Woking. There’s real annoyance about that in the borough.
Cons assuming that this is a safe seat for them looks like its about to backfire massively.
Any of you lot predicting a victory for the completely absent Jonty (his nickname apparently) want to put your money where your mouth is. I could make some serious money. It’s quite clear you know nothing about what’s happening on the ground.
Honestly anybody who thinks that people are more likely to vote for a PR consultant who doesn’t know where the constituency is, against a nursing practitioner who’s lived here for over 30 years………….
Little indication look at the Tory website
http://www.wokingconservatives.org.uk/index.php?sectionid=3
And the Lds
http://wokinglibdems.org.uk/
Mickey/ Chippy-
I hear evidence to the contrary! I repeat my earlier comment that Rosie Sharpley was an awful candidate in Horsham. She tried to be elected there and the people distrusted her, and her campaigning skills were truly awful.
So she tried to be MP before, and yet you can criticise conservative candidate for trying elsewhere?!
Jonathan Lord lives in GUILDFORD which is near to Woking, your comment is ludicrious!
He was selected by open primary so the people of Woking chose the candidate compared to lib dems dropping in an ageing candidate. Who would be better at westminster- no contest!
I attended the hustings for all the candidates arranged at Christchurch on Wednesday evening. As a life-long Lib Dem I was appalled to hear how inarticulate Rosie Sharpley was, and how she struggled to focus and answer the questions.
She may have a record of long service in the community but I am not sure that she has what it takes to be our MP. The most impressive candidate (by some way) was the Labour man by the way. But he has no chance of winning. Anyway, with a heavy heart, my vote is not going to the Lib Dems this time.
I moved to Woking 6 months ago, and went to the hustings last Thursday at Knaphill Baptist Church. I had decided who to vote for before the hustings but wanted to meet all the main candidates. It was a good evening but my over-arching concern was Rosie Sharpley. There seems to be slightly more liberal democrat posters in Woking than conservative but at the hustings she was very poor. A-kin to a rabbit in headlights most answers were frozen, light in policy, incoherent, and weak. I came away very concerned that at the least she would be unable to speak in the chamber if elected. Some people I know rave on about her but I was amazed that she even got selected as a candidate. Literature received on the doorstep is very poor in quality, and negative. I want politics to be positive, and negative campaigning is a real turn off for me.
Labour candidate was very young but good speaker on key issues, I think he has potential in the future (though not in Woking). UKIP candidate reasonable and got a few laughs, but again light on policies (well UKIP really are the anti- EU vote) he did make good point on Turkey though that all 3 parties support Turkey entry.
Jonathan Lord was very impressive on the evening. A very strong speaker he gave clear articulate answers, and I think will make a good MP. Living locally in Guildford is near enough for me. Balanced answers quoting from various sources, and good mix of positive conservative policy, and negative on what Labour have done in government.
I think the margin will be slightly less than 6,000 than in 2005 election but am very concerned if Rosie Sharpley is elected as to the representation that Woking will receive at parliament.
I am not concerned about having Rosie Sharpley as MP for Woking in the slightest and I feel your comments are unfounded. She has always spoken from the heart and from experience. Jonathan Lord speaks straight from the lines of the manifesto and has no interest in anything other than being an MP. I mean he tried to be selected for 3 seats for this election alone for goodness sake – doesnt that tell you anything. Thats not someone who is going to represent this borough.
As for Simon’s comments. He is once again wildly inaccurate. Rosie increased the vote share for the LibDems by a substantial margin when she stood to cut her political teeth in Horsham in the same way that Jonathan ran for Oldham and Royton in 1997. However the difference is that since then, Rosie has never tried to be selected anywhere else and has only ever gone for the Woking seat where Mr Lord has tried two other places before being selected here.
Whilst some may pontificate about her public speaking, at least she defends the NHS robustly and does not stand up in public with Daniel Hannan who declared the NHS a 60 year mistake – who in their right mind advised him that was a sensible thing to do?
He was rightly crucified over that in the hustings in St Johns the other night. I imagine Woking Conservatives are regretting that decision.
Rosie Sharpley will make an excellent MP. With her campaigning skills and exemplary local knowledge, she will work tirelessly for this constituency and its people. Not everyone wants a cabinet post or to be a font bencher. Sometimes you can do more in the background in committes and the like and this is where Rosie will be brilliant in my personal opinion.
‘This seat is going to be one of the shocks of the whole election. I seriously think the LDs will win this one given that the Tories own Counyy Councilors have already admitted that the seat is lost.’
This is one of those seats where the Tories don’t even have to campaign to win and I’d be shocked if the Lib Dems can do anything more that erode what is, by Surrey standards at least, a narrow Tory majority
Having said that, the cases of Guildford and Solihull – both of which were considered safer Tory seats than this – show that the Lib Dems can make that extra mile in these kind of affluent middle class seats that were once considered Tory strongholds – although in Guildford and Solihull they effectively ran single-issue campaigns and won
With the Lib Dems having onkly slightly slipped since the first debate, what looked highly unlikely two weeks ago now seems possible if not plausible
@ MICKEY
Ouch – well I hope I wasn’t pontificating. I agree, we don’t need a Demosthenes to represent us, but we do need someone who can answer the question. I didn’t see that last week. There were some excruciating moments where RS lost her thread in her answers, waffled, and had the bell rung on her. That worries me.
On this local candidate thing. I was involved in the 2005 PPC candidate short-listing for the Lib Dems and for most of the applicants Woking was one of several options. I don’t see anything wrong in that. By all means use the carpetbagger allegation from time to time – but to make it the prime theme (in most of the literature I have seen) seems a bit of a threadbare approach to me.
Anyway, for what it is worth, I think Woking WILL be close on the night. The Labour vote will shift to the Lib Dems to some extent and I am sure Humfrey Malins had built up a personal vote (among all communities) which won’t accrue to Mr Lord.
Woking is going to be very touch and go for the Conservatives. Whatever is said about the candidates personally, the fact remains that the Lib Dems have had Rosie in place for quite sometime, whilst Mr Lord was literally parachuted in at the last minute.
Couple that with the loss of the Asian community that Humphrey Malins had assiduously supported, and the national polls and there are all the ingredients of an upset.
On the campaigning side, it is also very apparent that the Conservatives have rather taken Woking for granted. Frankly Mr Lord has not been spending much time in the constituency, whilst the Lib Dem has lived their for 30 years,
@Woking Observer
Firstly thanks for the comments – they were certainly more respectful than some of the other commentators on here, one of whom is a Conservative Candidate who has been insulting on a personal level towards the LibDem candidate for nothing more than political gain, Something which I and many other people find disgusting and which puts people off voting.
What i disagree most strongly with is this air of ‘its ours to lose’ arrogance with which Woking Conservatives are conducting themselves and their intimidatory tactics towards said LibDem candidate.
I firmly believe that we should be conducting this campaign in a polite manner and they seem to have left theirs at the bedisde table. It simply isnt right.
For what its worth, the doorstep tells us that Rosie has a great chance of winning and people love her personable approach to discussion. To some it may be waffly but to others it shows a genuine passion and committment based on personal experience.
We’ll see what May 6th brings.
Very interesting to read the comments here.
I too attended a hustings and was frankly shocked by what I heard. While the Labour, UKIP, and conservative candidates were all pretty articulate and spoke to the point, poor Rosie Sharpley was all over the place. Frankly, she was an embarrassment, and I ended up feeling sorry for her. How she would fare in the Westminster snake pit doesn’t bear thinking about.
I have voted for various parties in the past, but it has to be Lord this time. Not only do we need a Tory government to sort out the economic mess, but JL is a far more compelling candidate than Rosie.
As for the point that he currently lives a few miles down the road, so what? It’s still North West Surrey, and he even tells us he’ll move to Woking if elected.
And I also don’t understand the point about him not camapigning for our votes. We’ve had at least 3 communications so far, and his website has got all kinds of activity recorded – http://www.wokingconservatives.org.uk/gallery.php
I disagree with quite a lot of the comments which Mickey/ Woking Observer seem to make. They seem like lib dem activisits. I repeat Rosie Sharlepy was very poor at the husting, did not make points clear, weak on policy and conclusions.
Lib dem literature is very weak, an negative (dog end dirty) which I think is a real turn- off.
Jonathan Lord was selected by open primary and so has been selected by the people of Woking not behind closed doors. I think it should be considered for more open primaries. Ifthe lib dems gain here I am concerned as to the representaiton Woking will receive at parliament as Rosie Sharpley cannot debate well at all, the hustings showed that to me. Even Tom Miller Labour candidate who is in his mid 20′s argued better!
Con majority 6000
CON HOLD
So Mickey/ Chippy/ Mike got it all wrong! A safe CON hld here, and increased majority. The liberal candidate was very poor, and a good show in the seat next door n Guildford to increase Conservative majority to safe seat territory now. I can’t remember who said it but I think Chippy (?) has just lost some money on Rosie Sharpley here.
Good luck to Jonathan, he is a great speaker, and will be a good constituency MP
I’d say this result is a bit disappointing for the Conservatives.
I suppose (considering the Labour vote was halved) the result could’ve been tighter, and the vote share did finally climb back up to 50%, but even so the percentage majority is slightly smaller than it was.
I think 8% is the lowest vote share Labour have ever got in the Woking constituency (created in 1950 according to Wikipedia… obviously there’ve been boundary changes in the decades since).
This decline has clearly been to the Lib Dems’ benefit. They may lose votes to Labour at the next election, hindering their chances of making a gain, but Jonathan Lord needs to work hard here.
Outside of Guildford (which with Surrey university etc… has some unique features for the area) Surrey might flirt with the Libs in order to keep the Tories on their toes, and might want Lib-Dem councillors, but I can’t imagine seats like this ever returning anything other than a Tory MP. (I grew up in Mole Valley, just down the road).
That said, Labour might as well not bother in most of Surrey at the moment.
Despite having the smallest majority of all the Surrey seats (with Guildford not far behind), it now seems that anything other than a full slate of Conservative MPs in the county is very unlikely. I’m surprised how resilient the Tory vote has been here. In 1997, it was the only county in the South East that did not vote for a Labour or Lib Dem MP while everywhere else in the region gained at least one non-Tory. It does seem pretty stuck in its ways with its voting habits and only goes against the grain once in a blue moon (Guildford in 2001). Not really good for democracy though having a one party state enduring all these years. Mind you, Conservatives probably think the same about Durham and Tyne and Wear!
It seems the Lib Dems will have to get used to being challengers on a local level in Surrey from now on. It’s more likely they’ll regain Guildford and Woking councils rather than the equivalent parliamentary seats.
The C vote is still about 8% below 1992 here, but it seems they are reasonably secure (usual caveats – Solihull), as the LD vote must surely include substantial Labour support.
Surrey voters are happy for the LDs to be in charge of waste collection but not nuclear bombs to misquote Jeremy Paxman.
Looking at the 1997 results, both Dorset and Surrey returned a full slate of Tory MPs. That all changed in 2001 of course.
Surrey went back to being all Tory in 2005 and Dorset came within 269 votes in 2010 of doing the same with the LDs just holding on to Mid Dorset.