Tunbridge Wells is a parliamentary 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 returns 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), elected under the first-past-the-post

First-past-the-post

First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...

 voting system.

Boundaries

It is located in the west of the county of Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 in south eastern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and covers the area of Tunbridge Wells

Tunbridge Wells (borough)

Tunbridge Wells is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells.The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the municipal borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells along with Southborough urban district, Cranbrook Rural...

 borough.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Kent, the Boundary Commission for England has made major changes to the existing constituency arrangement as a consequence of population changes across the county.

The electoral wards used in the formation of the modified Tunbridge Wells constituency are;

• Brenchley and Horsmonden, Broadwater, Capel, Culverden, Goudhurst and Lamberhurst, Hawkhurst and Sandhurst, Paddock Wood East, Paddock Wood West, Pantiles and St Mark’s, Park, Pembury, Rusthall, St James’, St John’s, Sherwood, Southborough and High Brooms, Southborough North, and Speldhurst and Bidborough

History

The constituency was created in 1974 from parts of the seats of Tonbridge

Tonbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Tonbridge was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, centred on the town of Tonbridge. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 & Ashford

Ashford (UK Parliament constituency)

Ashford 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 voting system.-Boundaries:...

, and was originally named "Royal Tunbridge Wells". It consisted of the following areas of the administrative county

Administrative county

An administrative county was an administrative division in England and Wales and Ireland used for the purposes of local government. They are now abolished, although in Northern Ireland their former areas are used as the basis for lieutenancy....

 of Kent:

• The borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells;
• The urban district
  Urban district
  In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
  
   of Southborough;
• The rural district of Cranbrook;
• Part of the rural district of Tonbridge (the parishes
  Civil parish
  In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
  
   of Bidborough, Brenchley, Capel, Horsmonden, Lamberhurst, Paddock Wood, Pembury and Speldhurst)

Except for Cranbrook Rural District (previously part of the Ashford

Ashford (UK Parliament constituency)

Ashford 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 voting system.-Boundaries:...

 constituency) the area had formed part of the constituency of Tonbridge

Tonbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Tonbridge was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, centred on the town of Tonbridge. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 prior to 1974.

In 1983 the "Royal" prefix was removed, and the boundaries of the constituency were realigned to coincide with the Borough of Tunbridge Wells

Tunbridge Wells (borough)

Tunbridge Wells is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells.The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the municipal borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells along with Southborough urban district, Cranbrook Rural...

 created by the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

.

The area is rural with strong Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 support although there is a degree of light engineering too and many locals commute to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. In 1994 the Conservative group in the council surprisingly lost control but has since regained it.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	Feb. 1974 United Kingdom general election, February 1974 The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...	Patrick Mayhew Patrick Mayhew Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden, PC is a British barrister, and Conservative Party politician.He was educated at Tonbridge School and Balliol College, Oxford...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...	Archie Norman Archie Norman Archibald John Norman is a British businessman and politician. He is at present the only FTSE 100 chairman to have sat in the House of Commons. On 18 November 2009, Norman was announced as the new chairman of ITV plc...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....	Greg Clark Greg Clark Rt. Hon. Gregory David Clark is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Tunbridge Wells since 2005. Clark is currently a Minister of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government, with responsibility for overseeing decentralisation, a key...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s