Lewisham West and Penge is a cross-border constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London

South London

South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...

, the Boundary Commission for England created this new constituency with electoral wards from the London Borough

London borough

The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...

s of Bromley

London Borough of Bromley

The London Borough of Bromley is a London borough of south east London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in the borough is Bromley.-Geography:...

 and Lewisham

London Borough of Lewisham

The London Borough of Lewisham is a London borough in south-east London, England and forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham...

. It was contested for the first time in the 2010 general election.

Constituency Profile

The new seat comprises the South-Western portion of Lewisham borough (the strongest part of the borough for the Conservatives) with the North-Western tip of Bromley borough (the Tories weakest part of Bromley and Labour's strongest). Fittingly, this seat is therefore the Conservatives best chance of winning anywhere in Lewisham, and Labour's best hope in Bromley, though a strong Liberal Democrat challenge in 2010 edged the Tories into 3rd and ensured that Labour held on comfortably against divided opposition.

The seat includes some of the Crystal Palace area (the famous park and site of the palace itself is on the intersection of five boroughs) and the nearby areas of Penge, Forest Hill and Sydenham - all parts of South London which have progressively become less desirable places to live since the mid-19th century when they were the height of luxurious suburbia.

Boundaries

The electoral wards of Lewisham West and Penge constituency are from two London boroughs:

• From Bromley Borough Council: Clock House; Crystal Palace
  Crystal Palace, London
  Crystal Palace is a residential area in south London, England named from the former local landmark, The Crystal Palace, which occupied the area from 1854 to 1936. The area is located approximately 8 miles south east of Charing Cross, and offers impressive views over the capital...
  
  ; Penge
  Penge
  Penge is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Bromley. It is located south east of Charing Cross.-History:Penge was once a small town, which was recorded under the name Penceat in a Saxon deed dating from 957...
  
   and Cator
• From Lewisham Borough Council: Bellingham; Forest Hill; Perry Vale; Sydenham

Boundary review

To create the new constituency the Boundary Commission for England transferred Perry Vale ward, Bellingham ward, Forest Hill ward, and Sydenham ward from the former Lewisham West constituency. Clock House ward, Crystal Palace ward, and Penge and Cator ward were transferred from Beckenham

Beckenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Beckenham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Constituency profile:...

 constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Jim Dowd Jim Dowd (politician) James Patrick Dowd is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, first for Lewisham West and since 2010 for Lewisham West and Penge.-Early life:...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

Election results

* Served as MP for Lewisham West in the 2005–2010 Parliament

Swing percentages based on notional results following boundary changes

See also

• Lewisham West (UK Parliament constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London