Islington South and Finsbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Islington South and Finsbury
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Islington South and Finsbury in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	67,613 (December 2010)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of parliament	Emily Thornberry (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Islington South West, and Shoreditch and Finsbury
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Islington South and Finsbury /ˈɪzlɪŋtən saʊθ ənd fɪnzbri/ is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Emily Thornberry of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1974–1983: The London Borough of Islington wards of Barnsbury, Bunhill, Clerkenwell, Pentonville, St Mary's, St Peter's, and Thornhill.

1983–2010: The London Borough of Islington wards of Barnsbury, Bunhill, Canonbury East, Canonbury West, Clerkenwell, Hillmarton, Holloway, St Mary's, St Peter's, and Thornhill.

2010–present: The London Borough of Islington wards of Barnsbury, Bunhill, Caledonian, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Holloway, St Mary’s, and St Peter’s.

The seat covers the southern part of the London Borough of Islington, including Barnsbury, Canonbury, major parts of Holloway, Kings Cross and the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury, which includes Bunhill, Pentonville and Clerkenwell.

History

Islington South and Finsbury was created in 1974 from part of the former Islington South West and Shoreditch and Finsbury constituencies. In 1983 its boundaries changed when the Islington Central constituency was abolished and its area split between Islington South and Finsbury and Islington North.

Islington was an early stronghold for the Social Democratic Party in which all three sitting Labour MPs defected to the party together with a majority of the Borough Council.^{[n 3]} However in spite of their less radical position than the Labour Party of the era, they won only one seat to Labour's 59 in the 1982 Islington Council elections ^[2] and in the 1983 general election, Labour managed to retain the constituency narrowly. The new MP, Chris Smith was the first MP to come out as gay and was identified with the Labour left, and kept the seat with a slight increase in his majority in 1987. By 1992 the post-merged SDP, the Liberal Democrats, had locally faded and no longer had the former MP as a candidate and Smith managed to win a majority exceeding 10,000 votes.

The Liberal Democrat revival in local elections in Islington, which saw them take control of the council in 2000, began to translate to Parliamentary elections in 2001. In 2002, the Liberal Democrats won every council seat in Islington South and Finsbury, and Smith's subsequent retirement and the resultant loss of incumbency made the constituency vulnerable once again in 2005. However Smith's successor, Emily Thornberry, retained the seat with a narrow majority (484 votes) over the Liberal Democrat challenger, Barnsbury Councilor Bridget Fox.^[3] — the seat therefore became one of the ten most marginal in Britain. However, in the local council elections a year later, Labour made an almost full recovery locally and won a majority of the seats in Islington South and Finsbury, defeating both Bridget Fox and the then council leader Steve Hitchins.^[4] At the 2010 general election, Thornberry increased her majority over Fox. In 2014 in Liberal Democrats lost all their remaining seats on the Council.

Constituency profile

The constituency was in 2005 described as

'A part-grand, part-poor metaphor for New Labour; Tony Blair lived here prior to his election as prime minister. Its dinner tables are routinely maligned as the natural habitat of the hypocritical, well-off, ostensibly liberal "chattering classes".'^[5]

And in 2010 as "a seat sometimes seen as the citadel of constitutional reform."^[6]

Members of Parliament

	Member^[7]	Party
Feb 1974	George Cunningham	Labour
1982	George Cunningham	SDP
1983	Chris Smith	Labour
2005	Emily Thornberry	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2015: Islington South and Finsbury^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Emily Thornberry	22,547	50.9	+8.7
	Conservative	Dr Mark Lim	9,839	22.2	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	Terry Stacy	4,829	10.9	−23.2
	UKIP	Pete Muswell	3,375	7.6	+6.0
	Green	Charlie Kiss	3,371	7.6	+6.0
	CISTA	Jay Marvin Kirton	309	0.7	+0.7
Majority			12,708	28.7	+20.5
Turnout			44,270	65.0	+0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.0

General election 2010: Islington South and Finsbury^[11]^[12]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Emily Thornberry	18,407	42.3	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs Bridget C. Fox	14,838	34.1	−4.2
	Conservative	Antonia Cox	8,449	19.4	+4.6
	Green	James Humphreys	710	1.6	−3.1
	UKIP	Rose-Marie McDonald	701	1.6	+0.1
	English Democrat	John Dodds	301	0.7	N/A
	Animals Count	Richard Deboo	149	0.3	N/A
Majority			3,569	8.2
Turnout			43,555	64.4	+10.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Islington South and Finsbury^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Emily Thornberry	12,345	39.9	−14.0
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs Bridget C. Fox	11,861	38.3	+10.2
	Conservative	Miss Melanie L. McLean	4,594	14.8	+1.1
	Green	James Humphreys	1,471	4.8	N/A
	UKIP	Miss Patricia T. Theophanides	470	1.5	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Andy "the Hat" J. E. Gardner	189	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Chris Gidden	31	0.1	N/A
Majority			484	1.6
Turnout			30,961	53.6	+6.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−12.1

General election 2001: Islington South and Finsbury^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Christopher Robert Smith	15,217	53.9	−8.6
	Liberal Democrat	Keith Sharp	7,937	28.1	+6.8
	Conservative	Nicola Ann Morgan	3,860	13.7	+0.7
	Socialist Alliance	Miss Janine Sandra Booth	817	2.9	N/A
	Independent	Thomas John McCarthy	276	1.0	+0.5
	Stuckist Party	Charles Geoffrey Thomson	108	0.4	N/A
Majority			7,280	25.8
Turnout			28,215	47.4	−16.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Islington South and Finsbury^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Christopher Robert Smith	22,079	62.5
	Liberal Democrat	Sarah Ludford	7,516	21.3
	Conservative	David Berens	4,587	13.00
	Referendum	Jane Bryett	741	2.10
	Independent	Alan Laws	171	0.5
	Natural Law	Martin Creese	121	0.3
	Independent	Erol Basarik	101	0.29
Majority			14,563	41.2
Turnout			35,316	63.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1992: Islington South and Finsbury^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Christopher Robert Smith	20,586	51.1	+11.0
	Conservative	Mark V. Jones	9,934	24.7	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher J. Pryce	9,387	23.3	−
	Justice From British Rail	Ms. Rhona Hersey	149	0.37
	Monster Raving Loony	Marie Avino	142	0.35
	Natural Law	Michael Avino	83	0.21
Majority			10,652	26.44
Turnout			40,281	72.52
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Islington South and Finsbury^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Christopher Robert Smith	16,511	40.06
	Social Democratic	George Cunningham	15,706	38.10
	Conservative	Andrew Mitchell	8,482	20.58
	Green	Peter Carlton Powell	382	0.93
	Socialist (GB)	Stephen Dowsett	81	0.20
	Humanist	Judith Helen Early	56	0.14
Majority			805	1.95
Turnout			41,218	71.18
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1983: Islington South and Finsbury^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Christopher Robert Smith	13,460	36.31
	Social Democratic	George Cunningham	13,097	35.33
	Conservative	Arthur Johnston	9,894	26.69
	National Front	John B. Donegan	341	0.92
	Islington and Finsbury Party	J. Murphy	102	0.28
	BNP	D. Stentiford	94	0.25
	Socialist (GB)	Clifford Slapper	85	0.23
Majority			363	0.98
Turnout			37,073	62.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Islington South and Finsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Cunningham	12,581	52.04	-9.41
	Conservative	Nigel Waterson	8,237	34.07	+13.15
	Liberal	Antony Dean	1,991	8.24	-7.23
	National Front	Paul Kavanagh	824	3.41	N/A
	Communist	Marie Betteridge	330	1.36	-0.80
	New Britain	Dennis Delderfield	136	0.56	N/A
	Socialist (GB)	Ralph Critchfield	78	0.32	N/A
Majority			4,344	17.97
Turnout				62.92
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Islington South and Finsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Cunningham	14,544	61.45	+7.14
	Conservative	P. Hodgson	3,951	20.92	-2.42
	Liberal	R. Adams	3,661	15.47	-4.05
	Communist	Marie Betteridge	512	2.16	+0.39
Majority			9,593	40.53
Turnout				56.02
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Islington South and Finsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	George Cunningham	15,064	54.31
	Conservative	J. Szemerey	6,473	23.34
	Liberal	R. Adams	5,415	19.52
	Communist	Marie Betteridge	492	1.77
	Independent	A. Lomas	293	1.06
Majority			8,591	30.97
Turnout				66.06
	Labour hold		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
↑ This was at the time when the Labour Party voted for in Conference leaving the EEC (Common Market) and abolishing nuclear weapons during the Cold War which largely triggered the split.

References

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ http://data.london.gov.uk/documents/LBCE_1982-5-6.pdf pp.40-41
↑ Personal Website of Bridget Fox
↑ LDA website document 488
↑ Constituency Profile written in 2005
↑ Wintour, Patrick (25 November 2010). "Labour big beasts say no to voting reform". The Guardian.
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "I"
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ http://www.islington.gov.uk/involved/involvedvoting/votingelection/general-election-2015/Pages/general-elections-results.aspx
↑ http://www.islington.gov.uk/publicrecords/library/Democracy/Publicity/Public-notices/2015-2016/(2015-04-09)-Statement-of-Persons-Nominated-South.pdf
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ http://www.islington.gov.uk/DownloadableDocuments/CouncilandDemocracy/Pdf/electoral/sopn_south.pdf
↑ BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/c37.stm. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Constituencies in London (73)

Labour (45)	Barking Bermondsey and Old Southwark Bethnal Green and Bow Brent Central Brentford and Isleworth Brent North Camberwell and Peckham Croydon North Dagenham and Rainham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing Central and Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hampstead and Kilburn Holborn and St. Pancras Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West and Penge Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden Poplar and Limehouse Streatham Tooting Tottenham Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Westminster North

Conservative (26)	Battersea Beckenham Bexleyheath and Crayford Bromley and Chislehurst Chelsea and Fulham Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon South Enfield Southgate Finchley and Golders Green Harrow East Hendon Hornchurch and Upminster Kensington Kingston and Surbiton Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Putney Romford Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Sutton and Cheam Twickenham Uxbridge and South Ruislip Wimbledon

Liberal Democrats (2)	Carshalton and Wallington Richmond Park

London European constituency: Labour (4) Conservative (2) Green (1) UKIP (1)

Historic constituencies in London

1974	Acton Barking Battersea North Battersea South Beckenham Bermondsey Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing North Edmonton Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith North Hampstead Harrow Central Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras South Hornchurch Hornsey Ilford North Ilford South Islington Central Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lambeth Central Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Orpington Paddington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond Romford Ruislip-Northwood St Marylebone St Pancras North Sidcup Southall Stepney and Poplar Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Wimbledon Wood Green Woolwich East Woolwich West

1983	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Stepney Bexleyheath Bow and Poplar Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton and Wallington Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond and Barnes Romford Ruislip-Northwood Southwark and Bermondsey Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Westminster North Wimbledon Woolwich

1997	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath and Crayford Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Bromley and Chislehurst Camberwell and Peckham Carshalton and Wallington Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon North Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Finchley and Golders Green Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith and Fulham Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington and Chelsea Kingston and Surbiton Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden North Southwark and Bermondsey Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Poplar and Canning Town Putney Regent's Park and Kensington North Richmond Park Romford Ruislip-Northwood Streatham Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Wimbledon

Coordinates: 51°32′17″N 0°06′22″W / 51.538°N 0.106°W / 51.538; -0.106

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