Bromley and Chislehurst
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 20066 (48.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 9436 (23%)
Labour: 9073 (22.1%)
Other: 2460 (6%)
Majority: 10630 (25.9%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 23583 (51.1%)
Labour: 10241 (22.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 9368 (20.3%)
Green: 1470 (3.2%)
UKIP: 1475 (3.2%)
Majority: 13342 (28.9%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 21412 (49.5%)
Labour: 12375 (28.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 8180 (18.9%)
UKIP: 1264 (2.9%)
Majority: 9037 (20.9%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 24428 (46.3%)
Labour: 13310 (25.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 12530 (23.8%)
Other: 2470 (4.7%)
Majority: 11118 (21.1%)
Boundary changes: the new Bromley seat is geographically much smaller, losing Bromley Common and Hayes Common to the South of the old constituency, along with Hayes and Keston. It also loses a small part of Shortlands ward while gaining Cray valley West ward (mainly consisting of St Paul`s Cray). The changes make the seat slightly less overwhelmingly Conservative.
Profile: Bromley is firmly in the Kentish part of London and, aside from a few housing estates in areas like Mottingham the seat consists of prosperous leafy suburbia. While normally one the safest Conservative seats in the country, the seat was only narrowly held in the 2006 by-election following the death of Eric Forth after an effective Liberal Democrat campaign focusing on the Conservative candidates` home outside the constituency and multiple roles as a barrister, London Assembly member and member of an NHS heath trust.
Current MP: Bob Neill (Con) born 1952. Educated at Abbs Cross Technical High School and the LSE. Practicing barrister, specialising in criminal law and company fraud. Former councillor in Havering and GLC member for Romford. Has been a member of the London Assembly for Bexley and Bromley since 2000. Contested Dagenham in 1983. Was elected to Parliament in the 2006 Bromey & Chislehurst by-election (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Sam Webber (Liberal Democrat) Educated at the University of East Anglia. Press and research officer.
Chris Kirby (Labour) born 1983.
Kim Gandy (English Democrats) Contested Basildon 2005.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 83751
Male: 47.6%
Female: 52.4%
Under 18: 22.2%
Over 60: 22.4%
Born outside UK: 10.5%
White: 92.1%
Black: 1.8%
Asian: 3%
Mixed: 1.7%
Other: 1.3%
Christian: 71%
Hindu: 1.3%
Muslim: 1.9%
Full time students: 3%
Graduates 16-74: 24.1%
No Qualifications 16-74: 23.2%
Owner-Occupied: 73.3%
Social Housing: 17.1% (Council: 1.8%, Housing Ass.: 15.3%)
Privately Rented: 7.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 5.2%
2006 By-election
The Bromley and Chislehurst by-election was held on 29th June 2006, following the death of Eric Forth MP. The seat had been expected to be an easy Conservative hold, the selection of Bob Neill initially attracted negative press attention since the selection of a white, middle-aged, pinstriped lawyer was implicitly seen as a rejection of David Cameron’s more inclusive “A-List” of candidates. The Liberal Democrat campaign targeted Neill for living outside of the borough, and his triple roles as a practicing barrister, London assembly member and role as a non-executive director of the North East London strategic health authority, labelling him as “three jobs Bob”. The Lib Dem campaign managed to bring them within a few hundred votes of success. Labour were pushed into fourth place behind Nigel Farage, who was shortly to become the leader of UKIP.
By-election result
Bob Neill (Conservative) 11621 (40.0%)
Ben Abbotts (Liberal Democrat) 10988 (37.8%)
Nigel Farage (UKIP) 2347 (8.1%)
Rachel Reeves (Labour) 1925 (6.6%)
Ann Garrett (Green) 811 (2.8%)
Paul Winnett (National Front) 476 (1.6%)
John Hemming-Clark (Independent) 442 (1.5%)
Steven Uncles (English Democrat) 212 (0.7%)
John Cartwright (Monster Raving Loony) 132 (0.5%)
Nick Hadziannis (Independent) 65 (0.2%)
Anne Belsey (Money Reform) 33 (0.1%)
Majority: 633 (2.2%)
By-election Candidates: Ben Abbotts (Liberal Democrat) born 1975, ?? North west?? . Educated at University of Bristol. Public affairs consultant. Bromley councillor since 2006. Contested Sevenoaks 2005.
Anne Belsey (Money Reform) self-employed maker of bespoke historical uniforms.
John Cartwright (Official Monster Raving Loony) born 1968. Educated at Trinity School and Royal Holloway College. Perennial candidate in Croydon local elections and by-elections. Contested Croydon Central 2005, 2001. OMRLP shadow minister for chocolate.
Nigel Farage (UKIP) born 1964, Farnborough. Educated at Dulwich College. Commodity broker. A former Conservative he was a founder member of UKIP in 1993. Contested Itchen, Test and Avon in 1994 European election. Member of the European Parliament for South-East England since 1999. Contested Eastleigh by-election 1994, Salisbury 1997, Bexhill and Battle 2001, South Thanet 2005.
Ann Garrett (Green) born 1942. Educated at Central School of Speech and Drama. Teacher and lecturer. Contested Bexley and Bromley in London assembly elections 2004. Contested Bromley and Chislehurst 2005.
Nick Hadziannis (Independent) born 1983. Educated at Darrick Wood School and Westminster university. PR assistant.
John Hemming-Clark (Independent) born 1960. Publisher.
Bob Neill (Conservative) born 1952. Educated at Abbs Cross Technical High School and the LSE. Practicing barrister, specialising in criminal law and company fraud. Former councillor in Havering and GLC member for Romford. Has been a member of the London Assembly for Bexley and Bromley since 2000. Contested Dagenham in 1983.
Rachel Reeves (Labour) born 1979. Educated at Cator Park School and Oxford University. Bank of England economist. Contested Bromley and Chislehurst 2005.
Steven Uncles (English Democrat) bron 1964. Educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. Interim manager. Contested South East region in 2004 European elections region.
Paul Winnett (National Front) Self employed. Contested North Southwark and Bermondsey 2005.
Indeed I think almost the whole of what is now Bromley LB was in the Sevenoaks division then except for Penge which was in Dulwich and a part of what is now the Cray Valley area which was in Dartford.
Bromley was split in 1974 with the north-eastern part (Bickley and Plaistow & Sundridge wards) being placed with Chislehurst and the remainder forming the new Ravensbourne seat with West Wickham from Beckenham (Biggin Hill and Darwen were added from Orpington in 1983)
Also, Beckenham constituency contains part of the western side of the town of Bromley, around Shortlands station.
The southern tip of Lewisham East constituency is also arguably part of what local people know as Bromley.
Indeed and Downham has a Bromley postal code, but these areas lie outside the boundary of the old Bromley municipal borough which is probably the best working definition of Bromley in this context
It’s always interesting to find out what local people regard as constituting a particular area rather than which seat, borough, etc, it happens to be in.
Was Chislehurst in Sevenoaks 1885-1918 (the same arrangements as Bromley in that period)?
Was Chislehurst in the Sevenoaks division 1885-1918 (the same arrangements as Bromley in that period)?