Kingston and Surbiton
Borough constituency for theHouse of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries since 2024
County	Greater London
Electorate	75,410 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Kingston (part),Surbiton andMalden
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Ed Davey (Liberal Democrats)
Created from	Surbiton andKingston (part)

Kingston and Surbiton (/ˈkɪŋstənəndˈsɜːrbɪtən/) is aconstituency^[a] inGreater London created in1997 and represented in theHouse of Commons of theUK Parliament^[b] since2017 byEd Davey, theLeader of the Liberal Democrats. Davey previously held the seat from 1997 until losing reelection in2015 toConservativeJames Berry.

Kingston and Surbiton has been considered amarginal seat, as well as a swing seat since2010, as the seat has changed hands twice since that year, while its winner's majority did not exceed 6.6% of the vote since the 13.2% majority won in 2010. In2019, Davey won a 17.2% majority and a majority of the votes cast; the seat is now regarded as a safe seat for the Liberal Democrats.

The constituency was created in 1997, when the number of seats covering the boroughs of Kingston upon Thames andRichmond upon Thames was reduced from four to three. It replaced the formerSurbiton constituency completely and also covers the south of the formerKingston constituency.

Political history

FormerChancellor of the ExchequerNorman Lamont represented Kingston froma by-election in 1972 until the1997 general election, when he was not selected as the Conservative candidate for either of its replacements. Instead, the incumbent Surbiton MPRichard Tracey was selected, while Lamont unsuccessfully contestedHarrogate and Knaresborough inNorth Yorkshire. In the event, Tracey was defeated by theLiberal Democrat candidateEd Davey by the very narrow margin of 56 votes.

Inthe 2011 referendum on whether the UK should adopt theAlternative Vote (AV) system, theRoyal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, which covers most of the constituency, voted against the proposal by 60.5%.^[2]

Davey held on to the seat until thegeneral election of 2015, when he was defeated by the ConservativeJames Berry during the national Liberal Democrat vote collapse. The 2015 result gave the seat the 26th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.^[3]

Inthe 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, the borough voted to remain in the European Union by 61.6%.^[4]

Davey, now knighted, regained the seat for the Liberal Democrats in the2017 general election with the eighth largest vote share increase for the party nationally.^[5]

Thelocal council, which covers most of the constituency, alternates between Liberal Democrat majority control (1994–1998 and 2002–2014) and no overall control (1986–1994 and 1998–2002). However, in 2014, it became a Conservative-majority council; the last Conservative administration was between 1964 and 1986. Traditionally, the southern wards vote for the Liberal Democrats, whereas the north and north-eastern wards vote for the Conservatives, with someLabour representation in the Norbiton ward.^[6]

In all seven elections since its establishment, Kingston and Surbiton has voted for a candidate from the same party as the neighbouring constituency ofTwickenham, which was established at the same time. Both seats have seen one Conservative win and six Liberal Democrat wins.

In December 2023, theLabour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable.^[7]

The seat is a majoritymiddle classsuburbia, much like its neighbouring constituencies ofWimbledon,Richmond Park andTwickenham. The area has a long-established large urban kernel inKingston town centre, where waves of public initiatives and spending have overhauled much of the area's cohort of ex-council housing and social housing. This is similar to the proportion of such housing stock in the London Boroughs ofMerton andSutton adjoining. The highly commercial town with ancient-founded markets and a public riverside by theRiver Thames has enjoyed continued economic diversity and prosperity and saw in 2007 a total retail spend of £23.71 billion, placing it 12th among UK towns and cities.^[8]

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

The constituency covers most of theRoyal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, covering the town ofSurbiton,Chessington,New Malden,Tolworth and the south ofKingston itself. The northern part of Kingston has remained since 1997 in theRichmond Park seat andOld Malden is now included inWimbledon.

1997–2010: The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Berrylands, Burlington, Chessington North, Chessington South, Grove, Hook, Malden Manor, Norbiton Park, Norbiton, St James, St Mark's, Surbiton Hill, Tolworth East, Tolworth South, and Tolworth West.

2010–2024: The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards of Alexandra, Berrylands, Beverley, Chessington North and Hook, Chessington South, Grove, Norbiton, Old Malden, St James, St Mark's, Surbiton Hill, and Tolworth and Hook Rise.

The new contents reflected the revision of ward names and boundaries which came into effect at the2002 local elections.

As part of itsFifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies, theBoundary Commission^[c] made minor changes to re-align the constituency boundaries with the boundaries of the local government divisions (wards); moving the entirety of the Beverley ward, which had been partly in Richmond Park, into Kingston and Surbiton. The associated public consultation received 11 submissions, of which 10 in support.^[9][10] The revisions came into effect at the 2010 general election.

2024–present: The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames wards ofAlexandra,Berrylands,Chessington South & Malden Rushett,Coombe Vale (part),Green Lane & St James (part),Hook & Chessington North,King George's & Sunray,Kingston Town,New Malden Village (part),Norbiton,St Mark's & Seething Wells,Surbiton Hill,Tolworth, andOld Malden (part).^[11]

Reduced to bring it in within the permitted electoral range by transferring the Old Malden and St James wards toWimbledon. In part compensation, the Coombe Vale ward was transferred in fromRichmond Park.^[12]

• parliamentary constituencies in London

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
• Kingston and Surbiton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) atMapIt UK
• Kingston and Surbiton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) atMapIt UK
• Kingston and Surbiton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) atMapIt UK

51°22′37″N0°17′28″W / 51.377°N 0.291°W /51.377; -0.291

• Parliamentary constituencies in London
• Politics of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
• Surbiton
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997
• Ed Davey

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