Chelsea and Fulham is a constituency represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

since its

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

creation. It is currently represented by Greg Hands of the Conservative Party. He was the MP for the former neighbouring constituency of Hammersmith and Fulham from 2005 to 2010 before it was abolished. He is currently a minister in the

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and ...

Boundaries

Chelsea and Fulham constituency is made up of the following electoral wards: *From the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The boro ...

: Fulham Broadway; Munster; Palace Riverside; Parsons Green and Walham; Sands End; Town. *From the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London, Inner London boroughs, London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the second smallest Districts of ...

: Brompton and Hans Town; Chelsea Riverside; Redcliffe; Royal Hospital; Stanley.

2010 boundary change

Following the review of parliamentary representation in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham were paired for constituency allocation purposes and allocated three seats between them. This broke the previous pairings of Kensington and Chelsea with the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

, and of

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

and Fulham with the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London boroughs, London borough in West London. It comprises seven major towns: Acton, London, Acton (W3), Ealing (W5, W13, NW10), Greenford (UB6), Hanwell (W7), Northolt (UB5), Perivale (UB6) and Southall (U ...

, and therefore abolished the mainstay but not comprehensive seats Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea with their "spillover" cross-boundary seats of Regents Park and Kensington North and Ealing Acton and Shepherds Bush. The historical constituency of Kensington was recreated, and the

seat was also revived.

Political history

The constituency includes affluent areas and opulent private housing. The small amount of social housing in the constituency is concentrated in the smaller than ward-size Worlds End Estate. This is the safest urban Conservative seat in the country based on length of tenure and size of majorities. An alternative in-depth analysis, of local elections, confirms one ward has seen opposition members in elections since the 1980s, of 11 wards forming the seat. At the 2010 election, only five other constituencies voted more strongly for the Conservative Party: Richmond (Yorkshire),

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

, Windsor (

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

), Hampshire North East and Chesham and Amersham also in Buckinghamshire. Somewhat surprisingly, however, in the

2017 United Kingdom general election The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing Co ...

the Conservative majority in Chelsea and Fulham was almost halved from 16,022 to 8,188, making it only the eighth-safest Conservative seat in Greater London (with several other seats such as

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

and

Bexleyheath and Crayford Bexleyheath and Crayford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by David Evennett, a Conservative. It was created in 1997 from parts of the former seats of Bexleyheath and Erith & Crayford. Bound ...

proving safer for the Tories despite previously electing Labour MPs in the Blair era, whilst Chelsea never did). In the early 1960s the Chelsea Labour Party (old boundaries) created the National Campaign for the Young Chronic Sick, led by constituency member (Mr) Marsh Dickson, which generated national TV and newspaper coverage leading to the

Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes provision with respect to the welfare of chronically sick and disabled persons. The Act, often shortened to ′CSDPA′, was given Roya ...

promoted as a Private Members Bill by

Alf Morris Alfred Morris, Baron Morris of Manchester, (23 March 1928 – 12 August 2012) was a British Labour Co-operative politician and disability rights campaigner. Political career Morris served as Member of Parliament for Manchester Wythenshawe fro ...

MP.

Proposed boundary expansion

To return to a reduced the number of MPs (600 nationally) it was proposed that the Chelsea and Fulham constituency would be abolished and merged into two constituencies of Hammersmith & Fulham, a notional Labour seat, and Kensington & Chelsea, a notional Conservative seat.

Constituency profile

The football grounds at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium) ...

and

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...

are in the seat, which is the chosen home of many of London's elite footballers, as well as other wealthy celebrities. The constituency includes the fashionable

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

thoroughfare, a key destination for shopping and culture.

Members of Parliament

Elections

For results of predecessor seats, see Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham.

Elections in the 2010s

:* ''Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament'' The new seat of Chelsea and Fulham was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election, when it had a notional

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

majority of over 10,000 based on 2005 election results.Times Online guide to the Chelsea and Fulham constituency

References

External links

nomis Constituency Profile for Chelsea and Fulham
— presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chelsea And Fulham (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Parliamentary constituencies in London Chelsea and Fulham Fulham Chelsea, London