The placeConstituency · South East · Electorate 74,042 · 2023 boundaries

Esher and Walton.

Liberal Democrats MP Monica Harding holds the seat on 52.5% of the vote.

Member of ParliamentMonica Harding · Liberal Democrats
CouncilElmbridge
Boundary set2023
ONS codeE14001230
Electorate · 2024
74.0k
Registered to vote
2024 GE — winner
52.5%
Liberal Democrats · +22.3pp over Con
Settlements
5
Largest: West Molesey
Crime · per 1k pop · 3mo
12.8
data.police.uk · 12mo rolling
Dispatch
3 Jun 2026

On the assisted dying bill, Harding broke from her party four times in a single day. Her rebel votes show a more cautious approach to safeguards than the Liberal Democrat mainstream -- she backed amendments to block voluntary starvation as a route to eligibility and supported procedural provisions that her party voted against, while opposing one amendment her party backed. Those deviations place her noticeably to the right of her party on assisted dying access, though she is more sympathetic to end-of-life autonomy overall than the Lib Dem average. Beyond that, she voted to refer Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson appointment and consistently backed Lords amendments to the English Devolution Bill -- both standard Lib Dem positions.

At 67%, her voting participation sits below the Commons average of roughly 75--80%, though newer MPs sometimes face a settling-in period. She is a near-perfect party-line voter in what votes she does cast -- 96% alignment -- with the assisted dying cluster as the clear outlier. Her speeches span defence, the economy, social care and health, with 242 contributions across 184 debates since 2024. She scores strongly on parliamentary and Lords scrutiny alignment, and shows above-party-average enthusiasm for opposition amendments.

News coverage paints a picture of active local casework: she secured South Western Railway service improvements, backed a pharmacy application in Thames Ditton, and raised water safety in Parliament following local drowning deaths. These issues -- transport, health access, river pollution -- match the priorities she set out in her maiden speech. She sits on the International Development Committee. The 90-day news sentiment data covers 41 articles but carries no usable sentiment scores, so local opinion cannot be assessed from that source.

52.5%
LD vote · 2024 GE
1
Council overlapping the seat
12
Wards · 12 councillors
§ 01The local picture — wards.12 wards · 12 councillors

Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line.

WardLatest winnerVotesCouncilLast cycle
Claygate Mary Marshall1,020Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Esher Simon Jonathan Leifer1,102Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Hersham Village John O'Reilly1,029Elmbridge LDOct 2024
Hinchley Wood Weston Green Gill Coates1,627Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Long Ditton Jez Langham1,493Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Molesey East Kevin Malcolm Whincup1,291Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Molesey West Pat Gormley1,032Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Oatlands Burwood Park John Cope1,259Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Thames Ditton Alex Batchelor1,344Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Walton Central Stanley Francis Winston Luker1,055Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Walton North Joshua Noah Lambert1,206Elmbridge LDMay 2024
Walton South Alistair William Price1,389Elmbridge LDMay 2024

Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

§ 02Settlements.5 named places

The seat’s population is concentrated in West Molesey (47,902), with Walton-on-Thames (26,291) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 102,513.

large-town 74,193town 28,320

Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021

SettlementPop.Class
West Molesey47,902large town
Walton-on-Thames26,291large town
Hersham12,364town
Esher9,259town
Weybridge6,697town
§ 03Demographics.Census 2021 · vs national avg

Headline indicators.

IndicatorLocalNationalΔ
Employment rate62.5%57.1%+10%
Owner-occupied73.2%63.1%+16%
Private rented16.1%20.0%-19%
Social rented10.7%16.8%-37%

Ethnicity.

White86.2%
Asian6.6%
Black1.2%
Mixed4.1%
Other1.9%

Source · Census 2021

Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Male 48.4% Female 51.6% Median seat
MaleAgeFemale
85+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
16-19
10-15
5-9
0-4

Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band

§ 04Local economy.Income · tax · businesses · schools
Median income
£43,300
HMRC SPI · 2024
Mean income
£84,200
HMRC SPI · 2024
Businesses
5,495
VAT/PAYE-registered
Schools
38
22 primary · 4 secondary
GCSE pass
73.0%
Attainment 8: 49.9

Income tax contribution.

Total income tax£1330m
Taxpayers57,000
Median per taxpayer£5,170
Mean per taxpayer£23,500

Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence

Where the money flows back in.

For council finance & suppliers

This constituency is served by Elmbridge. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.

For household tax breakdown

Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.

§ 05Recorded crime.data.police.uk · 12-month rolling

Headline rate.

Per 1k pop · 3mo
12.8
-38% vs national
Monthly avg / 1k
4.3
12-month rolling
Top category
Violence & sexual offences
40% of recorded crime

By category.

Violence & sexual offences5.1
Anti-social behaviour1.4
Public order1.1
Other theft1.0
Vehicle crime0.9
Criminal damage & arson0.9
Drugs0.6

Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop

Showing 7 of 15·All 15 categories — full monthly trend & settlement breakdown
§ 06Election history.5 contests · created on 2023 boundaries

2024 — full result.

CandidateVotes%
Monica HardingWONLD28,31552.5
John CopeCon16,31230.3
Alastair GrayRef4,7778.9
Yoel GordonLab2,8465.3
Maciej PawlikGrn1,3962.6
Richard BatesonInd2340.4

Turnout 53,880

Prior contests.

YearWinner%
2019Dominic RaabCon49.4
2017Dominic RaabCon58.6
2015Dominic RaabCon62.9
2010Raab, DominicCon58.9
Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
BoundariesONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundary review
Wards & councilsLGBCE · Democracy Club
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SettlementsONS Built-Up Areas
Census 2021
DemographicsONS · Nomis · Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
Income & taxHMRC SPI
±8% confidence
SchoolsDfE · attainment data
Crimedata.police.uk
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo
ElectionsElectoral Commission