This was one of the five Lib Dem gains in south west London in 1997.
A very middle class constituency, it has the fifth highest proportion of non manual workers in the country (78.9% of its workforce) and over a third of its adult population possess higher educational qualifications, compared with a national average of 13% (according to the 1991 census). Richmond was the top Local Education Authority (after the Isles of Scilly and the City of London which have very small numbers of schools) for primary school performance in 1999.
The constituency contains wards from both the London boroughs of Richmond Upon Thames and Kingston Upon Thames, all of which border onto Richmond Park- the largest open space in London and home to the lower school of the Royal Ballet. In the May 1998 borough elections, 20 of the 35 councillors representing wards in the constituency were Lib Dem, 10 were Conservative and 5 Labour. The Conservatives performed strongest in the Kingston wards.