London Borough of Lambeth

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London Borough of Lambeth
Shown within Greater London
Geography
Status	London borough
Area — Total	Ranked 341st 26.82 km²
ONS code	00AY
Admin HQ	Brixton
Demographics
Population — Total (2005 est.) — Density	Ranked 30th (of 354) 269,100 10,034 / km²
Ethnicity	62.4% White 45.9% British 3.2% Irish 9.7% non-British 25.8% African-Caribbean 4.8% Mixed Race 4.6% South Asian 1.3% Chinese
Politics
Leadership	Leader & Cabinet
Mayor	Cllr Liz Atkinson
Executive	Labour
MPs	Keith Hill (Lab) Kate Hoey (Lab) Tessa Jowell (Lab)
London Assembly — Member	Lambeth and Southwark Valerie Shawcross (Lab)
Coat of Arms
Official website	http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Inner London.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Parks and green spaces 2.2 Landmarks 3 Arts 4 Civic affairs 4.1 Mayor 4.2 Executive and Opposition 4.3 Coat of arms 4.4 Twinning 5 Politics 5.1 Lambeth London Borough Council 5.2 Westminster Parliament 6 Transport 6.1 Bridges and tunnels 6.2 Railway stations 6.3 Lambeth areas 6.4 Tube stations 7 Individuals associated with Lambeth 8 Christmas controversy 9 External links

[edit] History

The London Borough of Lambeth was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and part of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth containing Streatham and Clapham.

[edit] Geography

Lambeth is a long, thin borough (approximately 3 miles wide and 7 miles long). It has no one single "town centre" as such. Great variety exists in the districts. The largest shopping areas are (in order of size) Streatham, Brixton, Vauxhall and Clapham.

According to the 2001 census, Lambeth has a population of 266,169. 62% of the borough is White, 12% Black Caribbean and 12% Black African. 37% of householders are owner–occupiers. Lambeth has the highest population density of the Inner London boroughs.

In the northern end of the borough are the Central London districts of the South Bank and Lambeth which have a developing tourist economy while at the very south of the borough are the leafy suburbs of Gipsy Hill, Tulse Hill, West Dulwich and West Norwood. In between the two are built-up and inner-city districts of Brixton, Brixton Hill, Clapham, Clapham Park, Herne Hill, Stockwell and Kennington which are each at different stages of gentrification and have elements of suburban and urban settlement while Vauxhall and South Lambeth are central districts being redeveloped with high density business and residential properties. Streatham sits somewhere between suburban London and inner-city Brixton with the partly suburban and partly built-up areas of Streatham, Streatham Hill and Streatham Vale.

[edit] Parks and green spaces

Lambeth is responsible for 64 parks and green spaces, in addition to 34 play areas and eight paddling pools, within its boundaries. The largest of them include:

• Agnes Riley Gardens, Atkins Road, SW12
• Archbishops Park, Carlisle Lane, SE1, adjacent to Lambeth Palace
• Brockwell Park, Norwood Road, SE24, includes Brockwell Lido (public swimming area)
• Clapham Common, Windmill Drive, SW4, wholly maintained by Lambeth Borough, although the western half is situated in Wandsworth Borough
• Hillside Gardens, Hillside Road, SW2
• Kennington Park, Kennington Park Road, SE11, a wooded area, although it has sports facilities and gardens
• Larkhall Park, Courland Grove, SW8
• Max Roach Park, Brixton Road, SW9
• Milkwood Community Park, Milkwood Road, SE24
• Mostyn, Olive Morris and Dan Leno Gardens, Myatt's Fields North housing estate, Akerman Road, SW9
• Myatt's Fields Park, Cormont Road, SE5
• Norwood Park,Crystal Palace, Salters Hill, SE19
• Rush Common, Brixton Hill, SW2
• Ruskin Park, Denmark Hill, SE5
• Spring Gardens, Tyers Street, SE11
• Streatham Common, Streatham High Road, SW16
• Streatham Vale Park, Abercairn Road, SW16
• The Rookery, Covington Way, SW16, with formal gardens and an open air theatre
• Vauxhall Park, Lawn Lane, SW8, near The Oval cricket ground

[edit] Landmarks

Along and around the South Bank a tourist area has developed around the former GLC headquarters of County Hall and the Royal Festival Hall and National Theatre. Also on the river is the London Eye and Hayward Gallery, to the east of which is the Oxo Tower wharf and adjacent areas redeveloped by the Coin Street Community Builders. Nearby and still in the north of the borough is St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace and the Florence Nightingale Museum.

Prominent Church buildings include:

• the four "Waterloo Churches" within the former Lambeth Parish:
  • St Matthew's, Brixton (now also home to Mass nightclub)
  • St Mark, Kennington
  • St Luke's, West Norwood
  • St John, Waterloo
• All Saints' Rosendale Road
• Trinity Rise, S.W.2
• St John the Divine, Vassall Road

The London borough has a high population density but there are open spaces and outdoor attractions including Brockwell Lido, Brixton Market, Clapham Common and the Oval cricket ground. There is also the Museum of Garden History on the South Bank as well as Streatham Common and West Norwood Cemetery in the south of the borough.

[edit] Arts

• South London Theatre a busy community theatre in the South of the borough

[edit] Civic affairs

[edit] Mayor

The Mayor of Lambeth for 2006 is Cllr Liz Atkinson (Vassall ward). Lambeth is perhaps unusual in that since 1994 the Mayor is elected unanimously by their fellow councillors with each of the three political parties supplying a candidate in rotation. This underlines the apolitical nature of the Mayor’s role and enables them to represent all the citizens of the borough.

[edit] Executive and Opposition

The council is run by a Leader and Cabinet, chaired by council leader Steve Reed. All members of the Cabinet are from the ruling Labour Party. The Leader of the Opposition is Ashley Lumsden (Liberal Democrat) and the Leader of the Conservative Opposition is John Whelan.

[edit] Coat of arms

The coat of arms is that of the former Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth with the addition of two gold stars to indicate Clapham and Streatham. The motto is Spectemur Agendo.

[edit] Twinning

The former Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and its successor have been twinned with the Vincennes district of Paris in France since 1955. Lambeth also has twinning arrangements with Bluefields in Nicaragua; Moskvoretsky in Russia (although this is abeyance since changes to the city government of Moscow); Shinjuku in Japan; and Spanish Town in Jamaica.

[edit] Politics

[edit] Lambeth London Borough Council

Main article: Lambeth local elections

Summary of council election results:

	Overall control	Labour	Lib Dem	Conservative	Others
2006	Labour	39	17	6	1
2002	No overall control	28	28	7	-
1998	Labour	41	18	5	-
1994	No overall control	-	-	-	-
1990	Labour	-	-	-	-
1986	Labour	-	-	-	-
1982	No overall control	-	-	-	-
1978	Labour	-	-	-	-
1974	Labour	-	-	-	-
1971	Labour	-	-	-	-
1968	Conservative	-	-	-	-
1964	Labour	-	-	-	-

[edit] Westminster Parliament

The borough is covered by three parliamentary constituencies:

• Dulwich and West Norwood (shared with London Borough of Southwark)
• Streatham
• Vauxhall

[edit] Transport

[edit] Bridges and tunnels

• Waterloo Bridge incorperating the NFT
• Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges
• Lambeth Bridge
• Westminster Bridge
• Vauxhall Bridge

[edit] Railway stations

• Brixton railway station
• Clapham High Street railway station
• Gipsy Hill railway station
• Herne Hill railway station
• Loughborough Junction railway station
• Streatham railway station
• Streatham Common railway station
• Streatham Hill railway station
• Tulse Hill railway station
• Vauxhall station
• Waterloo station
• Wandsworth Road railway station
• West Norwood railway station

[edit] Lambeth areas

• Brixton
• Clapham
• Crystal Palace
• Gipsy Hill
• Herne Hill
• Kennington
• Norwood
• Oval
• Stockwell
• Streatham
• Streatham Hill
• Tulse Hill
• Vauxhall
• Waterloo
• West Dulwich
• West Norwood

[edit] Tube stations

• Brixton tube station
• Clapham Common tube station
• Clapham North tube station
• Clapham South tube station
• Kennington tube station
• Lambeth North tube station
• Oval tube station
• Stockwell tube station
• Vauxhall station
• Waterloo station

[edit] Individuals associated with Lambeth

• Dianne Abbott or Diane Abbott (politician, television personality)
• Jeffrey Archer (politician, author)
• Linda Bellos (politician)
• William Blake
• Paul Boateng (politician and former civil rights lawyer)
• David Bowie (musician and actor)
• Charlie Chaplin (actor and director)
• Naomi Campbell (former supermodel)
• Dillinja (drum and bass DJ)
• Jo Guest (page 3 model, television presenter)
• Jeremy Hardy (alternative comedian)
• Keith Hill (politician)
• Kate Hoey (politician)
• Eddie Izzard (alternative comedian)
• Basement Jaxx (dance music act)
• Tessa Jowell (politician)
• Ken Livingstone (politician)
• John Major (former Prime Minister)
• Paul Merton (alternative comedian)
• Roger Moore (actor)
• John R. Pinniger (former councillor)
• John Scarlett (head of MI6)
• Henry Tate (sugar refiner and benefactor)

[edit] Christmas controversy

In November 2005, Lambeth London Borough Council became the centre of a controversy over the naming of the Christmas lights used in the annual festival "winter lights", and "Celebrity lights" [1]. This was interpreted by many as an overzealous attempt at political correctness, and was reported in several national newspapers, including the Daily Mail as an attempt to "ban Christmas". A spokesperson for the council, however, announced that "It was a junior-level decision and it happened to go into print which was an error."

[edit] External links

• Lambeth.gov.uk London Borough of Lambeth Official Website
• electionmemory.com Independent Lambeth Council Elections Forum
• General information on parks and green spaces

Coordinates: 51°25′N 0°08′W