Richmond (Surrey) (UK Parliament constituency) facts for kids

Richmond was an area that elected a Member of Parliament (MP) to the UK Parliament. This special area, called a constituency, existed from 1918 to 1983. It was mainly focused on the town of Richmond.

For its first 47 years, the Richmond area was part of Surrey county. Then, for its last 18 years, it became part of the new Greater London area. Every time an election was held in Richmond, the person who won was from the Conservative Party or its earlier version, the Unionist Party.

People often called it the Richmond constituency. To avoid confusion with another place called Richmond in Yorkshire, national newspapers sometimes added "Surrey" to its name.

What is a Parliamentary Constituency?

A parliamentary constituency is like a special voting district. In the UK, each constituency elects one person, called a Member of Parliament (MP), to represent them in the House of Commons. The MP's job is to speak up for the people in their constituency and help make laws for the country.

How the Richmond Constituency Began

The Richmond constituency was created by a law called the Representation of the People Act 1918. This happened just before the general election in 1918. Before this, the area was part of a larger constituency called Kingston.

Richmond's Changing Location

When it was first created in 1918, Richmond was a "borough constituency" in the county of Surrey. It was located in the northwest part of Surrey, right next to the River Thames. The area included the town of Richmond, plus places like Kew, Petersham, Barnes, and Ham.

Over time, some of these local areas changed their status. For example, Barnes became a municipal borough in 1932. Also, most of Ham joined the Municipal Borough of Richmond in 1933. These were changes to how local areas were managed, but they didn't change the parliamentary constituency much at first.

In 1950, there were some small updates to the constituency's boundaries. It was officially defined as including the Municipal Boroughs of Barnes and Richmond.

Becoming Part of Greater London

A big change happened in April 1965. The Richmond constituency became part of Greater London, a new larger county area. It made up the eastern part of the new London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

In 1969, the official name of the constituency was slightly changed to 'Richmond upon Thames, Richmond'. This was done to match the name of the new London borough. However, this long name was rarely used by people or in the news. The actual boundaries of the constituency didn't change at this time.

When Richmond Constituency Ended

The Richmond constituency was officially ended for the general election in 1983. Its area was then mostly replaced by a new constituency called Richmond and Barnes. This new area also included a small part of what used to be Middlesex county.

People Who Represented Richmond

The table below shows the Members of Parliament (MPs) who represented the Richmond constituency from 1918 until it was abolished in 1983. All of them were from the Unionist or Conservative Party.

Images for kids

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  Margery Corbett Ashby, a Liberal Party candidate in the 1920s.

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  Sir Newton Moore, an MP for Richmond from 1924.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London