Brighton Pavilion is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Caroline Lucas of the Green Party. Boundaries 1950–1983: The County Borough of Brighton wards of Hollingbury, Montpelier, Patcham, Pavilion, Preston, Preston Park, Regency, St Nicholas, St Peter's, and West. 1983–1997: The Borough of Brighton wards of Hollingbury, Patcham, Preston, Regency, St Peter's, Seven Dials, Stanmer, and Westdene. 1997–2010: The Borough of Brighton wards of Hanover, Hollingbury, Patcham, Preston, Regency, St Peter's, Seven Dials, Stanmer, and Westdene. 2010–present: The City of Brighton and Hove wards of Hanover and Elm Grove, Hollingdean and Stanmer (called Hollingbury and Stanmer before 2011), Patcham, Preston Park, Regency, St Peter's and North Laine, and Withdean. Constituency history and profile The constituency was created in 1950 from the former two-member constituency of Brighton (one of the last remaining multi-member constituencies), for which Brighton Pavilion's first Member of Parliament, Sir William Teeling, had previously been the joint representative. The present name is derived from the Royal Pavilion. On current boundaries, the pavilion itself is right on the South-Eastern border of the seat – the opposite side of the road is Brighton Kemptown which includes the Gay Village of St James Street, Brighton Pier and the beach eastwards. Brighton Pavilion encompasses the heart of the city, including the Georgian and Regency alleyway properties of The Lanes and the Bohemian North Laine shopping area. The developed centre of the promenade above the central pebbled beach has major entertainment venues and the city's largest hotels including the Grand Hotel and Hilton Brighton Metropole. It is a relatively affluent constituency, since average income is higher than the UK average (based upon 2001 statistics) and the unemployment rate is lower than average. From 1950 to 1997 the seat elected Conservative MPs. In 1997, David Lepper of the Labour Party, aided by somewhat notionally favourable minor boundary changes before the 1997 general election, began service as MP for thirteen years by winning the two subsequent elections. The Conservatives' share of the vote has declined at every election there since 1979. In July 2007, the Green Party selected Caroline Lucas to contest the seat, at which point she was a Member of the European Parliament for the South East England constituency. In November 2009, Charlotte Vere was selected as the Conservative Party candidate at an open primary attended by local Conservative Party members and residents. In January