Harrow West (UK Parliament constituency)

The area covers the largely Georgian conservation area on a stand-alone, partly park-lined hill which hosts the famous Harrow School; it also includes the urban Harrow town centre, as well as suburban streets of homes with good-sized gardens and well-kept small parklands. The seat has fast London Underground links to the city centre and rail services, few dual carriageways and few high speed roads.

Summary of results

The Labour Party have held the seat since 1997, with the Conservative Party second-placed in each election. The 2015 result made the seat the 215th safest of the party's 232 seats (by majority percentage), and thus the 18th most marginal seat.^[2] Thomas's majority has ranged from 2.3% in 1997 to 26.4% in 2017.

Unlike Harrow East, it had always been won by the Conservative Party until Labour's landslide in 1997, when a swing of 17.5% was the eighth-highest swing in that election; it was the safest Tory seat lost to Labour.^[3] Its electorate produced another better than average result for Labour in 2001, with a swing from the Conservatives to Labour of 5.4%, bettered in only four seats out of 650. The 2005 challenge by future Conservative MP Mike Freer produced a pro-Conservative swing of 4.5%.^[3]

The 2010 inceptive seat saw a notional swing to the Tories in line with that nationally of 5.7%; in overall outcome the incumbent Labour MP's swing increased. The Harrow West and East seats now present as less marginal than they were in previous decades.

After a 1.1% swing to the Tories in 2015, the seat swung to Labour in 2017 by around 11%, with a local record number of votes for their incumbent candidate. At 34.4%, the Conservative vote share was the lowest in the seat's history, but the party received more votes in 2017 than in 2001 and 2010.

Other parties

UKIP, Liberal Democrat and Green Party candidates won less than 5% of the vote in 2015 and 2017, therefore forfeiting their deposits.

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

The constituency was created for the 1945 general election when the Harrow constituency was split into the new seats of Harrow East and Harrow West. It was reduced in size for the 1950 general election, when a third Harrow seat, Harrow Central, was created. The Boundary Commission review before the 1983 general election saw the London Borough of Harrow contained in two seats, resulting in Harrow West gaining parts of the abolished Harrow Central.

Labour's union leader Tony McNulty lost the neighbouring Harrow East in 2010 to Blackman, who held on in 2015 and 2017. However, Harrow West's Gareth Thomas retained his seat with a reduced majority.

Reviewing such representation in North London, the Boundary Commission for England (de facto), as is custom agreed by Parliament, altered the area's limits to avoid malapportionment, as London's housing and rates of occupancy have altered. The western border district, town or neighbourhood of Pinner went to a new cross-Borough seat, Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, making its source, based on a ward breakdown of the last result, and mirrored by local election results, a stronger seat for Labour; this was coupled with the inclusion of Marlborough ward which had returned many Labour councillors since World War II.

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the London Borough of Harrow:

• Greenhill; Harrow on the Hill; Headstone; Marlborough; North Harrow; Rayners Lane; Roxbourne; Roxeth; Wealdstone North; Wealdstone South; West Harrow.^[4]

Wealdstone was transferred in from Harrow East. Other minor changes to align boundaries with new ward structure.

General election 2024: Harrow West ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Thomas	19,833	43.8	9.3
	Conservative	Abbas Merali	13,191	29.2	5.6
	Independent	Pamela Fitzpatrick	4,120	9.1	New
	Reform UK	Michael Beavis	2,639	5.8	4.0
	Green	Rupert George	2,438	5.4	3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Noyce	2,404	5.3	2.9
	Independent	Bharatkumar Patel	616	1.4	New
Majority			6,642	14.6	8.6
Turnout			45,241	56.6	10.6
Registered electors			79,902
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 2019: Harrow West^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Thomas	25,132	52.4	8.4
	Conservative	Anwara Ali	16,440	34.3	0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Lisa-Maria Bornemann	4,310	9.0	6.5
	Green	Rowan Langley	1,109	2.3	1.0
	Brexit Party	Richard Jones	931	1.9	New
Majority			8,692	18.1	8.3
Turnout			47,922	66.1	6.0
Registered electors			72,477
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	4.2

General election 2017: Harrow West^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Thomas	30,640	60.8	13.8
	Conservative	Hannah David	17,326	34.4	7.8
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Noyce	1,267	2.5	0.8
	Green	Rowan Langley	652	1.3	1.5
	UKIP	Rathy Alagaratnam	470	0.9	3.4
Majority			13,314	26.4	21.6
Turnout			50,355	72.1	5.2
Registered electors			68,797
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	10.8

General election 2015: Harrow West^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Thomas	21,885	47.0	3.4
	Conservative	Hannah David	19,677	42.2	5.4
	UKIP	Ali Bhatti	2,047	4.3	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Noyce	1,567	3.3	12.9
	Green	Rowan Langley	1,310	2.8	1.4
	Independent	Kailash Trivedi	117	0.2	New
Majority			2,208	4.8	2.0
Turnout			46,603	66.9	0.7
Registered electors			69,644
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	1.1

Note: From 2010 historically Conservative-strong Pinner formed part of the new seat Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner. The 2010 changes are not based on the 2005 result as the constituency underwent major changes.

General election 2010: Harrow West^[11][12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Thomas	20,111	43.6	−5.0
	Conservative	Rachel Joyce	16,968	36.8	+6.4
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Noyce	7,458	16.2	−2.5
	UKIP	Herbert Crossman	954	2.1	+0.8
	Green	Rowan Langley	625	1.4	New
Majority			3,143	6.8	+2.6
Turnout			46,116	67.6	+3.2
Registered electors			68,554
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−5.7 (nominal, instead seen, on new definition)

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• Harrow West UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Harrow West UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

51°35′06″N 0°21′50″W / 51.585°N 0.364°W / 51.585; -0.364