Bermondsey - Governance

Governance

Southwark London Borough Council has divided the borough into a number of community council areas. The wards of Grange, Riverside and South Bermondsey form the Bermondsey Community Council area.

Bermondsey's parliamentary representation has fluctuated with its population. Since at least the 13th century, it had formed part of the Southwark constituency. From 1885 to 1918, a separate Bermondsey constituency existed, which included part of the older Southwark constituency. 1918 saw the seat split between two new constituencies: Rotherhithe and Bermondsey West, both of which were in place until the 1950 general election when the old Bermondsey seat was recreated.

In 1983, the area played host to the famous Bermondsey by-election in which Labour's Peter Tatchell lost the previously safe Labour seat to the Liberal Simon Hughes on a swing of 44%. Hughes has represented the area ever since, although parliamentary boundaries (and constituency names) have changed since then. At the 1983 general election (which took place several months after the by-election), a new Southwark and Bermondsey constituency was created, becoming North Southwark and Bermondsey in 1997, and in 2010 Bermondsey and Old Southwark, (although a small part of south east Bermondsey is transferred to Camberwell and Peckham in the 2010 changes).