|
|
Post by robertwaller on May 1, 2020 13:51:37 GMT
I think I shall choose this exciting constituency for my next effort ....
|
|
|
|
Post by robertwaller on May 1, 2020 16:14:44 GMT
Ah yes I think you have had connections to the constituency. Worked therein for seventeen years .... |
|
|
|
Post by matureleft on May 1, 2020 16:16:20 GMT
Ahh. George Gardiner.
|
|
|
|
Post by robertwaller on May 2, 2020 16:26:08 GMT
The constituency of Reigate is located in the eastern half of Surrey – in fact of the eleven seats in the county only East Surrey itself is further ‘to the right’ looking at a map, then after that you’re in Kent. Reigate is to the right in politics too, and essentially always has been. It has been won by the Conservatives (including when they styled themselves Unionists largely because of the prominence of the Irish issue) in every election since 1885, save the ‘Liberal landslide’ year of 1906, when they lost by just 219 votes (on an 86% turnout, by the way; those were the days).
There is a tendency that some think regrettable to lengthen the names of constituencies by satisfying, or appeasing, the claims of a number of communities within them. Despite comprising the bulk of the Reigate and Banstead borough council area, this seat retains a plain single word title. Indeed it would scarcely be justified to include Banstead, as only ‘Banstead Village’ ward, with barely 9,000 voters, is included, with other wards near the northern boundary such as Nork and Tattenhams, up to the 1970s in Banstead Urban District Council, being placed in Epsom and Ewell since 1983. Horley, a community of over 20,000 souls, at the other end of the borough abutting Gatwick Airport, is also excluded, in this case drawn into East Surrey. However the one place that might have a case for recognition in the name is Redhill, adjacent to Reigate and of a similar size, and being honoured by the RH postcode.
The exact boundaries and of course the name do not affect the electoral outcome in the Reigate division, which remains very solidly Conservative, held since 1997 by the independently minded ex army officer Crispin Blunt. It is true that when Blunt first won, he had to deal with the incumbent, the long-serving right-wing Sir George Gardiner, who had been deselected in 1996, for example for comparing John Major to a ventriloquist's dummy for the government's pro-European Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, and in March 1997 he had defected to James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party, thus becoming its only ever sitting MP (for just two weeks). But Gardiner finished fourth with only 7% of the vote in 1997. Blunt has not been seriously challenged in elections since, either. In 2019 the Liberal Democrats increased their share, but by less than in some other Surrey seats, and were actually still third, just 35 votes behind Labour. This even division of the opposition makes the Conservative grip on Reigate look even stronger and actually be even stronger, because it discourages tactical voting. Although the Green party does have some success on the local council, easily winning Redhill East and Earlswood & Whitebushes wards in May 2019, they were in fourth place when the parliamentary seat was at stake in December, just saving their deposit with 6%.
Why is Reigate so safely Conservative? It is affluent, strongly professional and managerial, close to the top 50 seats for these categories, in the bottom 50 for ‘routine’ occupations. There is a substantial rural ambience attractive to London outer commuters, and it has no tradition of Liberal Democrat strength at local or Westminster elections. Although estimated to have narrowly preferred ‘Remain’ in 2016, it was not targeted by the Lib Dems in 2019 as Esher & Walton was, for example; and a less cash-rich party has to husband its resources. This is very attractive territory, with population centres like Reigate nestling between ridges in the North Downs, but close to the M25 as it cuts through those hills. There are some very good schools and the property prices are steep. There are pockets of social housing such as in Preston on the north side of Tadworth and in the overspill estate in the eastern part of Merstham; but these are an untypical minority (less than 14% of housing is in this sector). An alternative sense for example of Merstham is given by its village centre and golf and cricket clubs located just off … Quality Street. Some housing, such as in Kingswood, is very expensive indeed. All in all, Reigate voters tend to see no reason to disrupt their comfortable lives and livings; and there is no sign of this changing.
2011 Census
Owner-occupied 72.2% 155/650
Private rented 13.3% 381
Social rented 12.2% 481
White 90.0% 435
Black 1.7% 191
Asian 5.4% 211
Managerial & professional 43.8%
Routine & Semi-routine 16.1%
Degree level 36.1% 83
No qualifications 16.2% 583
Students 5.9% 495
Age 65+ 16.4% 349
General election 2019: Reigate
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Crispin Blunt 28,665 53.9 –3.5
Labour Susan Gregory 10,355 19.5 –5.2
Liberal Democrats John Vincent 10,320 19.4 +8.5
Green Jonathan Essex 3,169 6.0 +1.8
UKIP Julia Searle 647 1.2 –1.6
C Majority 18,310 34.4 +1.7
Turnout 53,156 71.0 –1.1
Conservative hold
Swing +0.9 Lab to C, +6.0 C to LD
|
|
|
|
Post by timrollpickering on May 2, 2020 17:05:38 GMT
There is a tendency that some think regrettable to lengthen the names of constituencies by satisfying, or appeasing, the claims of a number of communities within them. Despite comprising the bulk of the Reigate and Banstead borough council area, this seat retains a plain single word title. Indeed it would scarcely be justified to include Banstead, as only ‘Banstead Village’ ward, with barely 9,000 voters, is included, with other wards near the northern boundary such as Nork and Tattenhams, up to the 1970s in Banstead Urban District Council, being placed in Epsome and Ewell since 1983. Despite this there was a lot of pressure for "and Banstead" to be added to the name at the last completed review. I suspect some of this was seeking an insurance against yet another move the next time - Banstead has a history of being shunted between seats, having been in Carshalton, Epsom and Reigate (the last more than once) in the last fifty years. |
|
|
|
Post by froome on May 2, 2020 18:34:35 GMT
There is a tendency that some think regrettable to lengthen the names of constituencies by satisfying, or appeasing, the claims of a number of communities within them. Despite comprising the bulk of the Reigate and Banstead borough council area, this seat retains a plain single word title. Indeed it would scarcely be justified to include Banstead, as only ‘Banstead Village’ ward, with barely 9,000 voters, is included, with other wards near the northern boundary such as Nork and Tattenhams, up to the 1970s in Banstead Urban District Council, being placed in Epsome and Ewell since 1983. Despite this there was a lot of pressure for "and Banstead" to be added to the name at the last completed review. I suspect some of this was seeking an insurance against yet another move the next time - Banstead has a history of being shunted between seats, having been in Carshalton, Epsom and Reigate (the last more than once) in the last fifty years. A thread about which towns have been in the most constituencies would be interesting. I suspect there may be several which tend to get shunted in each review. I don't know how much rivalry there is between Reigate and Redhill. There can't be many similar situations where two towns of almost identical size are just a mile or so apart, though the three Medway towns would be one. It would have happened a lot historically, but usually one town inevitably swallows up the other, or grows larger than the other and thus becomes more dominant, such as Manchester and Salford. |
|
|
|
Post by Pete Whitehead on May 2, 2020 18:48:15 GMT
Despite this there was a lot of pressure for "and Banstead" to be added to the name at the last completed review. I suspect some of this was seeking an insurance against yet another move the next time - Banstead has a history of being shunted between seats, having been in Carshalton, Epsom and Reigate (the last more than once) in the last fifty years. A thread about which towns have been in the most constituencies would be interesting. I suspect there may be several which tend to get shunted in each review. I don't know how much rivalry there is between Reigate and Redhill. There can't be many similar situations where two towns of almost identical size are just a mile or so apart, though the three Medway towns would be one. It would have happened a lot historically, but usually one town inevitably swallows up the other, or grows larger than the other and thus becomes more dominant, such as Manchester and Salford. South Essex would be a good place to look for this, or parts of Hampshire. Rochford for example was in SE Essex until 1950, then in Southend East from 1950-55, South East Essex again from 1955-74, Maldon from 1974-83, Rochford 1983-97 and Rochford & Southend East since then |
|
Merseymike
Independent
Don't vote. It only encourages them.
Posts: 30,237
|
Reigate
May 4, 2020 22:50:49 GMT
via mobile
Post by Merseymike on May 4, 2020 22:50:49 GMT
If I recall correctly Reigate is another example of a southern town which used to have a small but solid bloc of Labour councillors but that is no longer the case. Chesham and Windsor are two other examples - and closer by Walton on Thames. I recall being at university with a girl who had a parent who was a Labour Councillor there.
|
|
|
|
Reigate
May 5, 2020 5:15:06 GMT
via mobile
Post by londonseal80 on May 5, 2020 5:15:06 GMT
Reigate & Redhill had several Labour-held wards but have none now. Walton-on-Thames only has 3 wards unless you also include Hersham, when it's 5. At various times 3 of these wards have had Labour councillors. Chesham isn't large enough to have a lot of wards and only one has a Labour tradition. Windsor hasn't had a Labour councillor in many many years but has had in the past; Eton has had one more recently, in the more heterogeneous west of the village. Walton-on-Thames county council electoral division was Labour held for some years but isn't any more, In Surrey, only Woking and Epsom have a solid borough Labour ward perhaps due to these wards being a lot more deprived than the other working class Surrey wards, however neither have had a county council ward since 1981. |
|
Merseymike
Independent
Don't vote. It only encourages them.
Posts: 30,237
|
Post by Merseymike on May 5, 2020 6:02:32 GMT
Reigate & Redhill had several Labour-held wards but have none now. Walton-on-Thames only has 3 wards unless you also include Hersham, when it's 5. At various times 3 of these wards have had Labour councillors. Chesham isn't large enough to have a lot of wards and only one has a Labour tradition. Windsor hasn't had a Labour councillor in many many years but has had in the past; Eton has had one more recently, in the more heterogeneous west of the village. Walton-on-Thames county council electoral division was Labour held for some years but isn't any more, I think we are talking the 70's with regard to Chesham - Labour used to hold at least three wards at district level (Pond Park, Waterside and I think St. Mary's if my memory is correct) and held the county seat - there was a unified Chesham county ward then. And they held the Clewer wards in Windsor. It's interesting how there has been such a clear Labour reversal in some of those towns. Independents have had some success in both Windsor and Chesham in those areas. |
|
|
|
Post by robertwaller on May 5, 2020 10:45:30 GMT
I must say that surprises me, but I think you come from near there and know the area, so I presume you know. It's a long while since I've been through Chesham and I've only stopped there once ever - I once met a friend in Chartridge Lane and we went for a drink in the Queen's Head. I had musical reasons for being in the area. Illuminating for discussions like this, if not already known this is a useful resource www.electionscentre.co.uk/?page_id=2397For example, on Chesham, Mike is correct. In the 1973 elections they seem to have had no fewer than eight councillors elected; then on the re-warding of Chiltern council in 1976 several more successes as mentioned above www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Chiltern-1973-2011.pdf |
|
