Bermondsey and Old Southwark (UK Parliament constituency)

Bermondsey and Old Southwark is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament represented by Neil Coyle of the Labour Party since 2015.^{[n 2]}

History and boundaries

The seat was created for the 2010 general election, almost identical to North Southwark and Bermondsey seat held by Simon Hughes since the 1997 General Election, on a review of parliamentary representation in London by the Boundary Commission for England facing very minor boundary changes.

The constituency lies within the London Borough of Southwark, which contains the Old Southwark area of the former Metropolitan Borough of Southwark and the neighbourhoods of Borough, London Bridge and Bankside. Within the constituency are Elephant and Castle, Walworth and Newington which were part of the old Metropolitan Borough. The eastern half of the seat includes Bermondsey and Rotherhithe which were part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey, and which had been a separate constituency also. This seat is based on the 1997–2010 North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency. Following the 2002 redrawing of ward boundaries, parts of Faraday and Livesey wards that were part of North Southwark and Bermondsey transferred to Camberwell and Peckham. This successor seat is made from the following electoral wards within the London Borough of Southwark: Cathedrals, Chaucer, East Walworth, Grange, Newington, Riverside, Rotherhithe, South Bermondsey, Surrey Docks.

Constituency profile

Comprising the northern part of the London Borough of Southwark, the seat lies immediately to the south of the City of London.

The southern halves of the Thames crossings London Bridge and Tower Bridge are in the seat, as is the historic Southwark area, with its cathedral, the Globe Theatre and Borough Market. There is also extensive commercial development that has spilled over the river from the City, notably the Shard London Bridge.

To the east, the seat also includes the Rotherhithe peninsula, where contemporary housing now replaces former industrial areas, particularly around Canada Water and the neighbourhood of Bermondsey.

At its southern end, the seat includes parts of Walworth. Here the seat adjoins Camberwell and Peckham, one of the safest Labour seats in London.

The seat had remained a rare example of an inner London Liberal Democrat seat since Simon Hughes first won it in 1983 until 2015.

Members of Parliament

The former Member of Parliament for Bermondsey and Old Southwark was the Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes who had sat for the various Bermondsey seats since a by-election in 1983, as a Liberal MP until 1988 and as a Liberal Democrat since then. He was defeated in 2015 by Labour's Neil Coyle.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London
• Southwark local elections

Notes and references

Notes

References

Coordinates: 51°29′N 0°04′W / 51.49°N 0.07°W / 51.49; -0.07