Editing Norman Lamont (section)

===1997 election===
In boundary changes enacted for the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], Lamont's constituency of Kingston upon Thames was split up. The northern parts were merged with Richmond and Barnes to form [[Richmond Park (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond Park]], and the southern parts merged with the larger [[Surbiton]] to form [[Kingston and Surbiton]]. Lamont lost the contest for the candidacy for the new seat to the incumbent Surbiton MP [[Richard Tracey]]. He then embarked on a high-profile search for a new constituency and was eventually adopted as the Conservative candidate for the new seat of [[Harrogate and Knaresborough]] in Yorkshire. The move was seen as an attempt to parachute in an outsider, with Lamont seeming like an opportunist next to the Liberal Democrat candidate, [[Phil Willis]], a local teacher and long-time local politician. When the general election came, his unpopularity, and that of the Conservatives in general, led a massive tactical voting campaign in the constituency and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] won the seat. He was not recommended for a peerage in John Major's [[resignation honours]], but the following year [[William Hague]] recommended him, and Lamont was made a [[life peer]] as '''Baron Lamont of Lerwick''', of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, on 24 July 1998.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=55210 |date=30 July 1998 |page=8287}}</ref>