Victorian dual-member constituency 1832–1885 The 13th century-created, dual-member
constituency for the county took in over a third of today's
Greater London and its population far exceeded the average for a county. It was recognised as needing or meriting four MPs, so division, under the
Reform Act 1832. The territory was incepted and absorbed two of Surrey's three
rotten boroughs:
Bletchingley and
Gatton, which were abolished under the act. It overlapped the
boroughs of: •
Reigate (its double representation halved, which kept a narrow franchise and completely abolished 1868). •
Lambeth, to be subdivided in 1885. •
Southwark, to be subdivided in 1885. Often known as the
Eastern Division of Surrey or
Surrey Eastern, its enfranchised adult male property owners elected two MPs by
bloc vote (a voter has a vote for each current vacancy). Notable outer reaches, clockwise from north, were Southwark, Rotherhithe, Addington,
Lingfield,
Charlwood,
Buckland, Surrey,
Cheam,
Kingston upon Thames and
Richmond (see map, top right). The area was split in two, doubling representation, under the
Second Reform Act, starting from the
1868 general election; the area was still
under-represented, as shown by the setting up of a net increase of 14 metropolitan seats in 1885. The
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 went much further than the 1832 Act towards equal representation around the country. It here reflected growth in the county's population. Thus for elections from 1885 dual-member West,
Mid Surrey and East Surrey dissipated to allow the creation of 16 rather than just 2 metropolitan Surrey seats (Lambeth and Southwark which saw subdivision) and these "county" seats: • The
North-Western or Chertsey Division (usually recorded as Chertsey, Surrey N.W. or North-West) – included Woking and Egham • The
South-Western or Guildford Division (as style shown above) – included Godalming, Farnham and surrounds • The
South-Eastern or Reigate Division (as style shown above) – included Dorking sessional division save for two parishes in No. 4. • The
Mid or Epsom Division (as style shown above) – included Kingston's southern and eastern sessional division components • The
Kingston Division (invariably Kingston or Kingston-upon-Thames) – included Richmond • The
North-Eastern or Wimbledon Division (as style shown above) – included sessional division of Croydon except its core and north in the Metropolis; plus Caterham, Chelsham, Farley, Warlingham.
Seat created in 1918 In 1918 the constituency was re-established in dwarf form, taking rural and nascent very suburban parts of South East Surrey ("Reigate") and North East Surrey ("Wimbledon"), and for the first time electing only one MP. It covered from the south of
Croydon to the
Kent and
West Sussex borders. It was to remain centred on Lingfield,
Oxted,
Limpsfield,
Godstone,
Caterham and
Woldingham. In 1950 East Surrey lost
Addington parish on the eastern fringe of Croydon to the 1918-formed
Croydon South seat, and its southern half to
Reigate. In 1974 the north-west of the area became part of
Croydon South, reflecting the 1965 transfer of
Purley and
Coulsdon to the
London Borough of Croydon in the new
Greater London which then replaced the
London County Council. The seat regained essentially the same land as it had lost to Reigate in 1950. Its MP until 1974,
William Clark, won the new Croydon South in that year's February election. Clark's successor,
Geoffrey Howe, later became
Chancellor of the Exchequer and
Foreign Secretary in
Margaret Thatcher's cabinet. ==Members of Parliament==