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Tonbridge And Malling (UK Parliament Constituency)
Tonbridge and Malling was a constituency in western Kent, in South East England, in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented for its entire creation since 1974 by members of the Conservative Party. Further to the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to moderate boundary changes, it will be reformed as Tonbridge, to be first contested at the 2024 general election. History The seat was created in 1974 from parts of the seats of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge. Boundaries 1974–1983: The Urban District of Tonbridge, the Rural District of Malling, and part of the Rural District of Tonbridge. 1983–1997: The District of Tonbridge and Malling. 1997–2010: The Borough of Tonbridge and Malling wards of Birling, Leybourne and Ryarsh, Borough Green, Cage Green, Castle, East Malling, East Peckham, Hadlow, Higham, Hildenborough, Ightham, Judd, Long Mill, Medway, Oast, Trench, Vauxhall, Wateringbury, West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sevenoaks (UK Parliament Constituency)
Sevenoaks is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 by Laura Trott (politician), Laura Trott, a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative who currently serves as Shadow Secretary of State for Education. She was Chief Secretary to the Treasury from November 2023 to July 2024. The seat was previously held by Michael Fallon, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017. History This constituency has existed since the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. With the exception of the one-year Parliament in 1923, the constituency has to date been a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative safe seat, stronghold. ;1885–1950 Sir Thomas Jewell Bennett before entering Parliament was a leader writer at ''The Standard'' and lived in India for many years, working at the ''Bombay Gazette'' before becom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safe Seat
A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing hands because of the political leanings of the electorate in the constituency concerned or the popularity of the incumbent member. This contrasts with a marginal seat in which a defeat for the seat holder is considered possible. In systems where candidates must first win the party's primary election or preselection, the phrase "tantamount to election" is often used to describe winning the dominant party's nomination for a safe seat. Definition There is a spectrum between safe and marginal seats. Supposedly safe seats can still change hands in a landslide election, such as Enfield Southgate being lost by the Conservatives (and then-potential future party leader Michael Portillo) to Labour at the 1997 UK general election, whilst oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Tugendhat
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (born 27 June 1973) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (UK), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge (UK Parliament constituency), Tonbridge, previously Tonbridge and Malling (UK Parliament constituency), Tonbridge and Malling, since 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, he previously served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet as Minister of State for Security from September 2022 to July 2024. Born in Westminster, Tugendhat attended St Paul's School, London, St Paul's School. He studied at the University of Bristol and went on to study at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He then briefly worked in Beirut as a journalist for ''The Daily Star (Lebanon), The Daily Star'', before becoming an officer in the British Army reserves, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army, in 2003; he served in both the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2015 United Kingdom General Election
The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister David Cameron, won an unexpected majority victory of ten seats; they had been leading a Cameron–Clegg coalition, coalition government with the Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats. It was the last general election to be held before the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) in June 2016. Opinion polls and political commentators had widely predicted that the election would result in a second consecutive hung parliament whose composition would be similar to the one elected at the 2010 United Kingdom general election, previous general election in 2010. Potential coalitions and agreements betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Stanley (Tonbridge And Malling MP)
Sir John Paul Stanley (born 19 January 1942) is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge and Malling from 1974 to 2015. Education Stanley was educated at two independent schools: at Copthorne Preparatory School near Crawley in West Sussex and Repton School in the village of Repton in Derbyshire, followed by Lincoln College at the University of Oxford, where he read Modern History. He also studied at Syracuse University. Early career Stanley was at the Institute for Strategic Studies from 1968 to 1969. He worked for Rio Tinto-Zinc Corp Ltd (RTZ) from 1969 to 1979. He is a Senior Network Member at the European Leadership Network (ELN). Parliamentary career Stanley contested the Newton seat in 1970. He was first elected to Parliament at the February 1974 election, prior to which he had worked for the Conservative Research Department as an advisor on housing policy. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Margaret That ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
February 1974 United Kingdom General Election
The February 1974 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 28 February 1974. The Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, gained 14 seats (301 total) but was seventeen short of an overall majority. The Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Edward Heath, lost 28 seats (though it polled a higher share of the vote than Labour). That resulted in a hung parliament, the first since 1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929. Heath sought a coalition with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals, but the two parties failed to come to an agreement and so Wilson became prime minister for a second time, his first with a minority government. Wilson called another early election in September, October 1974 United Kingdom general election, which was held in October and resulted in a Labour majority. The February election was also the first general election to be held with the United Kingdom as a member state of the European C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre, the clay "Low Weald" periphery and the Greensand Ridge, which stretches around the north and west of the Weald and includes its highest points. The Weald once was covered with forest and its name, Old English in origin, signifies "woodland". The term is still used, as scattered farms and villages sometimes refer to the Weald in their names. Etymology The name "Weald" is derived from the Old English ', meaning "forest" (cognate of German ''Wald'', but unrelated to English "wood"). This comes from a Germanic root of the same meaning, and ultimately from Indo-European. ''Weald'' is specifically a West Saxon form; '' wold'' is the Anglian form of the word. The Middle English form of the word is ''wēld'', and the modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oast House
An oast, oast house (or oasthouse) or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, and are often good examples of agricultural vernacular architecture. Many redundant oast houses have been converted into houses. The names "oast" and "oast house" are used interchangeably in Kent and Sussex, but in Surrey, Hampshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire they are called "hop kilns". An oast house consists of a rectangular one- or two-storey building (the "stowage") and one or more kilns in which the hops were spread out to be dried by hot air rising from a wood or charcoal fire below. The drying floors were thin and perforated to permit the heat to pass through and escape through a cowl in the roof which turned with the wind. The freshly picked hops from the fields were raked in to dry and then raked out to cool before being bagged up and sent to the brewery. The Ke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonbridge Castle
Tonbridge Castle is a 13th century castle situated in Tonbridge, Kent, England. Early history Following the Norman Conquest, Richard Fitz Gilbert was granted land in Kent to guard the crossing of the River Medway. He erected a simple Motte-and-bailey castle on the site. To dig the moat and erect the motte 50,000 tonnes of earth were moved. In 1088, the de Clare family (descendants of Fitz Gilbert) rebelled against King William II. His army besieged the castle. After holding for two days the castle fell and as punishment the king had both the castle and the town of Tonbridge burnt to the ground. Before 1100, the de Clares replaced the wooden castle with a stone shell keep. This was reinforced during the thirteenth century, and in 1295 a stone wall was built around the town. The twin-towered gatehouse was built by Richard de Clare, third Earl of Hertford or his son Gilbert. Construction of the gatehouse took 30 years, being completed in 1260. The gatehouse shares many simila ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penshurst Place
Penshurst Place is a historic building near Penshurst, Kent, south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poets and courtiers, siblings Mary Sidney and Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete surviving examples of 14th-century domestic architecture in England. Part of the house and its gardens are open for public viewing. Many TV shows and movies have been filmed at Penshurst. History Penshurst Place was built as a hall house in 1341 for Sir John de Pulteney, a London merchant and four times Lord Mayor of London who wanted a country residence within easy distance of London. This was at the time when such properties ceased to be castles: they were more dwellings that could be defended in an emergency. When Henry IV's third son, John, Duke of Bedford, occupied Penshurst, the second hall, known as the Buckingham Building, was built: so called after the subsequen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiddingstone Castle
Chiddingstone Castle is situated in the village of Chiddingstone, near Edenbridge, Kent, England, south-southeast of London and in the upper valley of the River Medway. The castle was built by the Streatfeild family and served as their seat from the early 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century when the family left the castle. The Streatfeilds sold the castle to John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, Lord Astor in 1938. Since 1977, the castle and its of grounds have been held in trust for the nation by the Denys Eyre Bower Bequest, and both are open to the public. Much of the current structure dates from the early 19th century, but incorporates elements of the earlier buildings on the same site. History High Street House The first significant building to occupy the site of the castle was a timber-framed dwelling, inhabited from the early 16th century by Richard Streatfeild, an iron master and wool merchant. Little remains of this first structure as, in 1679 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hever Castle
Hever Castle ( ) is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally 'Bullen') family. Anne Boleyn, the second queen consort of King Henry VIII of England, spent her early youth there after her father, Thomas Boleyn, inherited it in 1505. The castle passed to him upon the death of his father, Sir William Boleyn. It later came into the possession of King Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The Grade I listed castle is now owned by the Guthrie family's Broadland Properties. History There have been three main periods in the construction of this historic castle. The castle's oldest part dates to 1270 and consisted of the gatehouse and a walled bailey. It was then owned by James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele. The second period was when the castle, then in need of repair, was converted into a manor in 1462 by Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
