Islington South and Finsbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Islington South and Finsbury is a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Emily Thornberry of the Labour Party. Thornberry served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2016 until 2020 and as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales from 2021 to 2024.
Islington South and Finsbury | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
![]() Boundary of Islington South and Finsbury in Greater London | |
County | Greater London |
Electorate | 75,905 (2023)[1] |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1974 |
Member of Parliament | Emily Thornberry (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Islington South West, and Shoreditch and Finsbury |
Constituency profile
editThis densely populated seat covers Barnsbury, part of Highbury, Islington proper, and Clerkenwell and Finsbury adjoining the City. It contains many desirable apartments and townhouses as well as 20th century social housing developments.
The borough constituency has been described as "the natural habitat of the hypocritical, well-off, ostensibly liberal chattering classes"[2] including higher earners, leaders in the public sector, critics, entertainers, writers and former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson. Despite this reputation for liberal affluence there is also significant deprivation in the constituency and its neighbour Islington North.[3]
Boundaries
editHistoric
edit1974–1983: The London Borough of Islington wards of Barnsbury, Bunhill, Clerkenwell, Pentonville, St Mary, St Peter, and Thornhill.
1983–2010: As above, save that Pentonville was abolished and Canonbury East, Canonbury West, Hillmarton, Holloway were created or added to the seat.
2010–2024: The London Borough of Islington wards of Barnsbury, Bunhill, Caledonian, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Holloway, St Mary's and St Peter's.
Current
editFurther to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency comprises:
- The London Borough of Hackney ward of De Beauvoir.
- The London Borough of Islington wards of: Barnsbury; Bunhill; Caledonian; Canonbury; Clerkenwell; Holloway; Laycock; St. Mary’s & St. James’; St. Peter’s & Canalside.[4]
The seat was expanded to bring its electorate within the permitted range by adding the Borough of Hackney ward of De Beauvoir. The area within the Borough of Islington was unchanged, but following a review of local authority ward boundaries which came into effect on 4 May 2022, some of the ward names have been modified.
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. From 2024, it also includes the De Beauvoir Town neighbourhood in the Borough of Hackney.
History
editIslington 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 SDP. All three sitting Labour MPs defected to the party together with a majority of the borough council. 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. However, in spite of their less radical position than the Labour Party, they won only one seat to Labour's 59 in the 1982 Islington Council elections[5] and at the 1983 general election, Labour managed to narrowly retain the seat. The new MP, Chris Smith was the first MP to come out as gay and was aligned with the Labour left, and retained the seat with a slight increase in his majority in 1987. By 1992, the post-merged SDP, the Liberal Democrats, had faded locally, 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 cross over 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 of 484 votes over the Liberal Democrat challenger, Barnsbury councillor Bridget Fox.[6] — 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.[7] At the 2010 general election, Thornberry increased her majority over Fox. In 2014 the Liberal Democrats lost all their remaining seats on the council. The 2015 general election result made the seat the 93rd safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[8]
Members of Parliament
editElection | Member[9] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
Feb 1974 | George Cunningham | Labour | |
1982 | SDP | ||
1983 | Chris Smith | Labour | |
2005 | Emily Thornberry | Labour |
Election results
editElections in the 2020s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Emily Thornberry | 22,946 | 53.7 | −3.3 | |
Green | Carne Ross | 7,491 | 17.5 | +13.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Terry Stacy | 4,045 | 9.5 | −10.2 | |
Conservative | Imogen Sinclair | 3,584 | 8.4 | −7.9 | |
Reform UK | Max Nelson | 3,388 | 7.9 | +5.6 | |
Independent | Andrew Parry | 569 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Party of Women | Lesley Woodburn | 354 | 0.8 | N/A | |
TUSC | Ethan Saunders | 215 | 0.5 | N/A | |
SDP | Jake Painter | 162 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 15,455 | 36.2 | –1.1 | ||
Turnout | 42,754 | 57.7 | −11.0 | ||
Registered electors | 74,122 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | −8.3 |
Elections in the 2010s
edit2019 notional result[11] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Vote | % | |
Labour | 29,728 | 57.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | 10,270 | 19.7 | |
Conservative | 8,518 | 16.3 | |
Green | 2,252 | 4.3 | |
Brexit Party | 1,193 | 2.3 | |
Others | 182 | 0.3 | |
Turnout | 52,143 | 68.7 | |
Electorate | 75,905 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Emily Thornberry | 26,897 | 56.3 | −6.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Kate Pothalingam | 9,569 | 20.0 | +7.9 | |
Conservative | Jason Charalambous | 8,045 | 16.8 | −3.9 | |
Green | Talia Hussain | 1,987 | 4.2 | +1.7 | |
Brexit Party | Paddy Hannam | 1,136 | 2.4 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Sandys of Bunhill | 182 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 17,328 | 36.3 | −5.8 | ||
Turnout | 47,816 | 67.8 | −1.3 | ||
Registered electors | 70,489 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | -7.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Emily Thornberry | 30,188 | 62.8 | +11.9 | |
Conservative | Jason Charalambous | 9,925 | 20.7 | −1.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Alain Desmier | 5,809 | 12.1 | +1.2 | |
Green | Benali Hamdache | 1,198 | 2.5 | −5.1 | |
UKIP | Pete Muswell | 929 | 1.9 | −5.7 | |
Majority | 20,263 | 42.1 | +13.4 | ||
Turnout | 48,049 | 69.1 | +4.1 | ||
Registered electors | 69,536 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +6.7 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Emily Thornberry | 22,547 | 50.9 | +8.7 | |
Conservative | Mark Lim | 9,839 | 22.2 | +2.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | 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 Kirton | 309 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 12,708 | 28.7 | +20.5 | ||
Turnout | 44,270 | 65.0 | +0.6 | ||
Registered electors | 68,127 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +3.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Emily Thornberry | 18,407 | 42.3 | +2.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Bridget Fox | 14,838 | 34.1 | −4.2 | |
Conservative | Antonia Cox | 8,449 | 19.4 | +4.6 | |
Green | James Humphreys | 710 | 1.6 | −3.2 | |
UKIP | Rose-Marie McDonald | 701 | 1.6 | +0.1 | |
English Democrat | John Dodds | 301 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Animal Welfare | Richard Deboo | 149 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 3,569 | 8.2 | +6.6 | ||
Turnout | 43,555 | 64.4 | +10.8 | ||
Registered electors | 67,650 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +3.3 |
Elections in the 2000s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Emily Thornberry | 12,345 | 39.9 | −14.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Bridget Fox | 11,861 | 38.3 | +10.2 | |
Conservative | Melanie McLean | 4,594 | 14.8 | +1.1 | |
Green | James Humphreys | 1,471 | 4.8 | N/A | |
UKIP | Patricia Theophanides | 470 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Andy "the Hat" Gardner | 189 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Independent | Chris Gidden | 31 | 0.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 484 | 1.6 | −24.2 | ||
Turnout | 30,961 | 53.6 | +6.2 | ||
Registered electors | 57,748 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | −12.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Smith | 15,217 | 53.9 | −8.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Keith Sharp | 7,937 | 28.1 | +6.8 | |
Conservative | Nicky Morgan | 3,860 | 13.7 | +0.7 | |
Socialist Alliance | Janine Booth | 817 | 2.9 | N/A | |
Independent | Thomas McCarthy | 276 | 1.0 | +0.5 | |
Stuckist Party | Charles Thomson | 108 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 7,280 | 25.8 | −15.4 | ||
Turnout | 28,215 | 47.4 | −16.3 | ||
Registered electors | 59,516 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | -7.7 |
Elections in the 1990s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Smith | 22,079 | 62.5 | +11.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Sarah Ludford | 7,516 | 21.3 | −2.0 | |
Conservative | David Berens | 4,587 | 13.0 | −11.7 | |
Referendum | Jane Bryett | 741 | 2.1 | N/A | |
Independent | Alan Laws | 171 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Natural Law | Martin Creese | 121 | 0.3 | +0.09 | |
Independent | Erol Basarik | 101 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 14,563 | 41.2 | +14.76 | ||
Turnout | 35,316 | 63.7 | −8.82 | ||
Registered electors | 55,468 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +6.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Smith | 20,586 | 51.1 | +11.0 | |
Conservative | Mark Jones | 9,934 | 24.7 | +4.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Christopher Pryce | 9,387 | 23.3 | −14.8 | |
Justice From British Rail | Rhona Hersey | 149 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Marie Avino | 142 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Natural Law | Michael Spinks | 83 | 0.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,652 | 26.4 | +24.4 | ||
Turnout | 40,281 | 72.5 | +1.3 | ||
Registered electors | 55,541 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1980s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Smith | 16,511 | 40.1 | +3.8 | |
SDP | George Cunningham | 15,706 | 38.1 | +2.8 | |
Conservative | Andrew Mitchell | 8,482 | 20.6 | −6.1 | |
Green | Peter Powell | 382 | 0.9 | N/A | |
Socialist (GB) | Stephen Dowsett | 81 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |
Humanist | Judith Early | 56 | 0.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 805 | 2.0 | +1.0 | ||
Turnout | 41,218 | 71.2 | +9.2 | ||
Registered electors | 57,910 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +0.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Smith | 13,460 | 36.3 | −15.7 | |
SDP | George Cunningham | 13,097 | 35.3 | N/A | |
Conservative | Arthur Johnston | 9,894 | 26.7 | −7.4 | |
National Front | John Donegan | 341 | 0.9 | −2.5 | |
Islington and Finsbury Party | J. Murphy | 102 | 0.3 | N/A | |
BNP | D. Stentiford | 94 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Socialist (GB) | Clifford Slapper | 85 | 0.2 | −0.1 | |
Majority | 363 | 1.0 | −17.0 | ||
Turnout | 37,073 | 62.0 | −0.9 | ||
Registered electors | 59,795 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1970s
editParty | 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 | −22.56 | ||
Turnout | 24,177 | 62.92 | +6.9 | ||
Registered electors | 38,427 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Cunningham | 14,544 | 61.45 | +7.1 | |
Conservative | P. Hodgson | 3,951 | 20.92 | −2.4 | |
Liberal | R. Adams | 3,661 | 15.47 | −4.1 | |
Communist | Marie Betteridge | 512 | 2.2 | +0.4 | |
Majority | 9,593 | 40.5 | +9.6 | ||
Turnout | 22,668 | 56.0 | −10.1 | ||
Registered electors | 42,251 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
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 | 27,737 | 66.06 | |||
Registered electors | 41,988 | ||||
Labour win (new seat) |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – London". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Constituency Profile" 2005, The Guardian.[dead link]
- ^ Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Islington+South+and+Finsbury
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 3 London region.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) pp. 40–41. - ^ Bridget Fox Archived 2009-06-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ LDA website document 488 Archived 2006-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "I"
- ^ "Statement of Person Nominated and Notice of Poll: Islington South and Finsbury Constituency". Islington Council. 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Statement of persons nominated, notice of poll and situation of polling stations. Election of a Member of Parliament for Islington South and Finsbury" (PDF). London Borough of Islington. 14 November 2019.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "Islington South & Finsbury parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "General Elections Results 2015". London Borough of Islington. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated, Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations" (PDF). London Borough of Islington. 9 April 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Statement as to persons nominated and notice of poll for Parliamentary Election, Thursday 6 May 2010: Islington South and Finsbury constituency" (PDF). London Borough of Islington. 20 April 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ "Islington South & Finsbury — Election 2010". BBC News Online. 7 May 2010.
- ^ "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.
External links
edit- Politics Resources (election results from 1922 onwards)
- Electoral Calculus (election results from 1955 onwards)
- Islington South and Finsbury UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Islington South and Finsbury UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Islington South and Finsbury UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK