History
Famous as the birthplace of American-raised comedian and Hollywood film star Bob Hope, and more infamously, where the black youth Stephen Lawrence was murdered, the seat was held by high profile Tory Peter Bottomley for over two decades (as Woolwich West and then Eltham) before Labour gained the seat in 1997. After fairly comfortable victories then and in 2001, the Labour majority decreased quite significnatly in 2005, though Labour were able to resist the national swing against them in 2010 to hold the seat then.
The Eltham Conservative Association became the first in London to select a candidate, David Gold, by means of an open primary election where any voter on the electoral roll was entitled to attend and vote at a meeting chaired by Michael Portillo on 31 July 2006 at the Bob Hope Theatre.
Read more about this topic: Eltham (UK Parliament Constituency)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)
“To history therefore I must refer for answer, in which it would be an unhappy passage indeed, which should shew by what fatal indulgence of subordinate views and passions, a contest for an atom had defeated well founded prospects of giving liberty to half the globe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)