Post by sirbenjamin on Aug 18, 2023 13:55:21 GMT
Croydon South consists of eight wards in the south-west of the London Borough of Croydon and has existed, with only fairly modest changes, in its current form since the 1974 boundary review. Perhaps confusingly, a Croydon South constituency also existed from 1918 to 1974, which covered the central and southern parts of what we now know as Croydon town centre, and shared relatively little geographic territory with the modern version. To add to the confusion, one of the eight wards is itself called 'South Croydon' and, like the parliamentary seat, it typically elects Conservatives.
The area is, for the most part, classic Tory suburbia that has resisted electoral change in a way that other parts of Outer London have not. While Labour have battled for second place with the
Liberal Democrats and Liberal-SDP Alliance that preceded them, the Conservative majority has only dipped below 10,000 on one occasion, in 2001, and while support for opposition parties is divided, the seat looks like a fairly distant prospect for either of them.
The best-known part of the seat is probably Purley ('Say no more!') where commuter trains divide and passengers who want to go to Tattenham Corner hurriedly extricate themselves from the front five coaches. When JD Wetherspoon announced plans to sell off their Purley pub, the Foxley Hatch, a campaign by locals - reportedly including a high court judge - persuaded them to retain it, though its future is once again in doubt. But Purley is less upscale than many outsiders assume, and those who visit by train may be surprised to see their vista dominated by the heaviest of heavy industries - aggregates and concrete - and a 'quarry' that could double for a 1970s Doctor Who location.
From Purley the A22 and A23 take you out of the Borough of Croydon, into Surrey and onwards towards Gatwick Airport, Brighton and the South Coast. The green-belty spaces to the south of the seat include smaller settlements such as villagey Old Coulsdon and Kenley with its aerodrome, right on the Surrey border. Sanderstead and Riddlesdown are quiet but fairly desireable commuter suburbs - despite a lack of pubs due to the one-time existence of ancient bylaws - and one thing these areas all have in common is that they all elect a full slate of Tory Councillors in all but the worst years.
The seat has been a vague 'outside target' for Labour for a while, and has many characteristics that - on paper at least - should make it fertile territory for the Lib Dems, but it would likely require both a national landslide and a degree of tactical voting for the Conservatives to actually lose it.
Happily South Croydon ward has been retained in the South Croydon seat, and South Croydon railway station is actually in South Croydon (ward and constituency) - a rare example of a name that doesn't throw up an horrendous bunch of anomalies!
Liberal Democrats and Liberal-SDP Alliance that preceded them, the Conservative majority has only dipped below 10,000 on one occasion, in 2001, and while support for opposition parties is divided, the seat looks like a fairly distant prospect for either of them.
Current MP Chris Philp has a healthy majority of 12,339 and in 2015 it was even bigger - over 17,000 - when he fended off the spirited challenge of Labour's Emily Benn who failed to replicate the electoral success of her grandfather. Like many Outer London seats it became overpopulated and has been slightly reduced in size in the latest boundary review, but should remain relatively safe for Mr Philp who has become a well-regarded local MP in a relatively short period of time. He is now a junior minister within the Home Office.
The effects of the changes remove run-down Waddon, Labour's strongest area in the old seat, and most of Selsdon (home to the eponymous 'Man') which has elected Conservatives at local level for decades. In exchange the seat gains Park Hill & Whitgift ward which takes it dangerously close to Croydon Town Centre where the modern tramlink system provides decent transport connections and makes use of disused rail infrastructure. Combined with new green spaces, this has regenerated the area in recent years.
You might expect the aforementioned ward to contain the famous Whitgift school, and the (currently under redevelopment) Whitgift shopping centre, but it does not. Neither are even in this constituency. So much for the lack of naming anomalies...
The best-known part of the seat is probably Purley ('Say no more!') where commuter trains divide and passengers who want to go to Tattenham Corner hurriedly extricate themselves from the front five coaches. When JD Wetherspoon announced plans to sell off their Purley pub, the Foxley Hatch, a campaign by locals - reportedly including a high court judge - persuaded them to retain it, though its future is once again in doubt. But Purley is less upscale than many outsiders assume, and those who visit by train may be surprised to see their vista dominated by the heaviest of heavy industries - aggregates and concrete - and a 'quarry' that could double for a 1970s Doctor Who location.
From Purley the A22 and A23 take you out of the Borough of Croydon, into Surrey and onwards towards Gatwick Airport, Brighton and the South Coast. The green-belty spaces to the south of the seat include smaller settlements such as villagey Old Coulsdon and Kenley with its aerodrome, right on the Surrey border. Sanderstead and Riddlesdown are quiet but fairly desireable commuter suburbs - despite a lack of pubs due to the one-time existence of ancient bylaws - and one thing these areas all have in common is that they all elect a full slate of Tory Councillors in all but the worst years.
The seat has been a vague 'outside target' for Labour for a while, and has many characteristics that - on paper at least - should make it fertile territory for the Lib Dems, but it would likely require both a national landslide and a degree of tactical voting for the Conservatives to actually lose it.
