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> United Kingdom > England > London > London
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| Established | July 05, 1945 |
| Disbanded | Still Active |
| Contributor | RP |
| Last Modified | RBH August 29, 2020 03:13pm |
| Description |
This seat is part of the band of constituencies in south-west London which delivered five Conservative MPs in 1992 - but returned five Liberal Democrats in 1997. It has a history of Liberalism, however. Graham (Lord) Tope won a famous by-election here in 1972. (He still sits on the local council.) Much of it is typical 1930s suburbia, although both Sutton and Cheam have their distinct identities. Cheam is rather more affluent than Sutton, despite its association with Tony Hancock and 2 Railway Cuttings. For many years, however, Sir Harry Secombe lived here and the town's theatre bears his name. Next to Cheam is a smaller suburb called Worcester Park where, in Longfellow Road, the young John Major spent the first few years of his life. Cheam also has some historic, Tudor buildings. Both parts of the constituency have large numbers of commuters and Sutton's railway station links to central London in less than half an hour. Reed Business Publishing and the Crown Agents are based here. Sutton town centre is now beginning to rival those of Kingston and Croydon. Sutton council is well under the control of the Liberal Democrats' 43 to eight Conservatives and three Labour. The majority of wards in the Sutton and Cheam constituency have Lib Dem councillors, except the more affluent parts of Cheam. The last three general elections saw the former deputy leader of the council, Liberal Democrat Paul Burstow, pitted against the former Conservative MP and gossip-columnist, Lady Olga Maitland. Having taken the seat in 1997 on a swing of almost 13%, Mr Burstow held on four years later with a doubling of his majority.
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