Politics
Fulham is part of the Chelsea and Fulham parliamentary seat which is currently held by Conservative Greg Hands. Fulham was formerly a part of the Hammersmith and Fulham parliamentary constituency which was dissolved in 2010 to form the current seat which is one of the most, if not the most, affluent and prestigious constituency seats in the United Kingdom.
Fulham has in the past been a politically significant part of the country, having been the scene of two major parliamentary by-elections in the 20th century. In 1933, the Fulham East by-election became known as the "peace by-election".
In 1986, Fulham experienced another by-election following the death of Conservative MP Martin Stevens. Labour's Nick Raynsford gained the constituency on a 10% swing — one of the first elections that heralded the slick, modern campaigning New Labour techniques that would become renowned. Posters announcing that "Nick Raynsford lives here" adorned thousands of windows in the constituency — a reference to the fact that Labour's candidate was a long-time local, while the Tory was resident outside of the constituency.
Fulham voters have, however, been leaning towards the Conservatives since the 1960s as the area underwent huge demographic change: the tightly-packed terraces which had housed working-class families employed in the heavy industry that dominated Fulham's riverside being rapidly replaced with young professionals.
In the 2005 General Election, Conservative Greg Hands won the Hammersmith and Fulham Parliamentary seat from Labour, polling 45.4% against Labour's 35.2%, a 7.3% swing.
In the 2010 General Election, Greg Hands stood and was elected for the newly-formed safe Conservative Chelsea and Fulham (UK Parliament constituency).
In 2006, the voters returned 33 Conservative and 13 Labour councillors. In 2010 the voters elected 31 Conservative and 15 Labour Councillors to represent them.
Read more about this topic: Fulham
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“There is a place where we are always alone with our own mortality, where we must simply have something greater than ourselves to hold onto—God or history or politics or literature or a belief in the healing power of love, or even righteous anger.... A reason to believe, a way to take the world by the throat and insist that there is more to this life than we have ever imagined.”
—Dorothy Allison (b. 1949)
“The word “revolution” itself has become not only a dead relic of Leftism, but a key to the deadendedness of male politics: the “revolution” of a wheel which returns in the end to the same place; the “revolving door” of a politics which has “liberated” women only to use them, and only within the limits of male tolerance.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“Social history might be defined negatively as the history of a people with the politics left out.”
—G.M. (George Macaulay)