History
Battersea constituency was originally created in 1885. From 1892 to 1918 the seat was held by trade union leader John Burns, who would serve in the Liberal cabinets of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Herbert Asquith from 1905 until 1914. The constituency was split in 1918 into two constituencies, Battersea North and Battersea South. The two constituencies were rejoined in 1983, although some areas of Battersea South became part of the adjoining Tooting constituency. Alf Dubs, who had previously been MP for Battersea South, won the constituency for the Labour Party in 1983 and the Conservative candidate John Bowis won in 1987 and 1992. Martin Linton won it back for the Labour Party in 1997 and held the seat until 2010.
In the 2005 election, Linton's majority was reduced resulting in him having the fourth smallest Labour majority in the country at the time.
Read more about this topic: Battersea (UK Parliament Constituency)
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