Esher and Walton

Constituency profile

Esher and Walton is a suburban constituency located in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey. It lies on the outskirts of Greater London and forms part of London's urban area. Settlements in the constituency include the towns of Esher and Walton-on-Thames and the villages of Molesey, Long Ditton, Hersham and Claygate. Esher and Walton-on-Thames are historic towns which house many London commuters; the area is well-connected to central London by the South West Main Line. The constituency is highly affluent with low levels of deprivation, and house prices are more than double the national average.

In general, residents of the constituency are well-educated and have very high levels of income and professional employment. White people made up 86% of the population at the 2021 census. At the local borough council, Walton-on-Thames is primarily represented by Liberal Democrats whilst Esher mostly elected councillors from a local residents' association. Conservatives and independents were elected at the county council. An estimated 59% of voters in the constituency supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the nationwide figure of 48%.

Boundaries

Historic

From the constituency's creation in 1997, until 2024, it consisted of the Borough of Elmbridge wards of Claygate, Cobham and Downside, Cobham Fairmile, Esher, Hersham North, Hersham South, Hinchley Wood, Long Ditton, Molesey East, Molesey North, Molesey South, Oxshott and Stoke D'Abernon, Thames Ditton, Walton Ambleside, Walton Central, Walton North, Walton South, Weston Green.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is now composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The Borough of Elmbridge wards of Claygate, Esher, Hersham Village, Hinchley Wood & Weston Green, Long Ditton, Molesey East, Molesey West, Oatlands & Burwood Park, Thames Ditton, Walton Central, Walton North, and Walton South. The electorate was reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring southern areas, including Cobham, to Runnymede and Weybridge, partly offset by moving the village of Oatlands in the opposite direction.

History

The last time a component of this area voted for an MP who was not Conservative before the 2024 general election was in 1906, when a Liberal MP served the four-year term to 1910 for Chertsey, representing the Walton-on-Thames part of the current seat.

Ian Taylor held the seat from 1997 to 2010, having held the previous Esher seat from 1987. Taylor stood down at the 2010 election, and Dominic Raab was elected as the new Conservative MP for this seat.

In the 2019 general election, 60 seats, including this seat, were written into the Remain Alliance, an agreement between the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru not to vie against one another in those seats. These were parties opposed to Britain's departure from the European Union. In consequence, Laura Harmour, who had been lined up to fight the seat for the Green Party, did not stand. Axel Thill, the candidate selected for the Brexit Party, was one of those withdrawn by party leader Nigel Farage before nominations closed, when Farage decided not to field candidates in Conservative-held seats. This was done to avoid the potential for pro-Remain parties winning seats and holding a People's Vote on Brexit.

The seat, long considered safe for the Conservatives, was heavily targeted by the Liberal Democrats, particularly because the incumbent Conservative, Dominic Raab, had campaigned for a Leave vote in the EU referendum. The constituency itself voted in favour of remaining in the EU and is socially similar to the two Greater London seats it borders, namely Twickenham and Kingston & Surbiton, which are both strongholds for the Lib Dems. This resulted in a large swing to the Liberal Democrats of 18.5%, reducing the seat's majority to make it a marginal for the first time since its creation.

Raab, who had served as deputy prime minister before resigning from that role in April 2023 due to bullying allegations, did not contest the 2024 election and a further swing of 13.8% resulted in the Liberal Democrat candidate Monica Harding winning the seat, becoming the first MP from a party other than the Conservatives to represent any part of the modern constituency since 1906.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

In 2019, Esher and Walton was one of five English seats (the others being Cheltenham, East Devon, Westmorland and Lonsdale, and Winchester) where the Labour candidate failed to get over 5% votes cast so lost the deposit.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes

References

Sources

• Election result, 2015 (BBC)
• Election result, 2010 (BBC)
• Election result, 2005 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997–2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997–2001 (Election Demon)

References

1. (2023-04-21). "Dominic Raab resigns as UK deputy prime minister over bullying claims". Financial Times.
2. "Constituency data: Deprivation in England".
3. "Seat Details - Esher and Walton".
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023".
5. Youngs, Frederic A Jr. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. {{ISBN. 0-901050-67-9.(1979) pp. 764–766
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
7. (November 7, 2019). "FULL LIST: All the seats being targeted by the cross-party anti-Brexit Unite to Remain group".
8. "General Election Candidates 2019 | Green Party".
9. "Home".
10. Ferguson, Emily. (November 11, 2019). "Election 2019 LIVE: Corbyn INVISIBLE on Labour leaflets -Leader's unpopularity hurts party".
11. {{Rayment-hc. e. 2. (March 2012)
12. "Esher and Walton results". [[BBC News]].
13. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". [[UK Parliament]].
14. (13 December 2019). "Election results 2019: Greens lose the most deposits". BBC News.
15. "Esher & Walton Parliamentary constituency". [[BBC News]].
16. "Esher and Walton Candidates".
17. "Election Data 2015". [[Electoral Calculus]].
18. "Election Data 2010". [[Electoral Calculus]].
19. "Election Data 2005". [[Electoral Calculus]].
20. "Election Data 2001". [[Electoral Calculus]].
21. "Election Data 1997". [[Electoral Calculus]].