Streatham (UK Parliament constituency)

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Streatham
Borough constituency
Streatham shown within Greater London
Created: 1918
MP: Keith Hill
Party: Labour
Type: House of Commons
County: Greater London
EP constituency: London

Streatham is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

Streatham is a long, thin constituency running down the western side of the London Borough of Lambeth.[1] The town of Streatham constitutes only the four wards in the southern half of the constituency.

At its north-western tip it includes half of Clapham Common, while in the north-east it takes in part of the district of Brixton which is also split between neighbouring Vauxhall and Dulwich and West Norwood.

The northern boundary follows Clapham Park Road, Acre Lane and Coldharbour Lane through Clapham and Brixton. The current eastern boundary is more complex, following the pre-2004 local government ward boundaries - roughly including those parts of Brixton west of Brockwell Park, veering east to include the areas around Tulse Hill station and then heading southwest along the railway line and then south along Leigham Court Road. The southern and western constituency boundaries follow Lambeth's borough boundaries with Croydon, Merton and Wandsworth.

[edit] Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England has made minor changes to the existing Streatham constituency.

The electoral wards used in the creation of the seat are:

[edit] History

The first 'Streatham' constituency was contested in 1918 and approximately followed the historic parish boundaries of Streatham, including a substantial part of Balham. The seat became a byword for solidly Tory suburbia.

The constituency was carved out of the former constituency of Wandsworth. The rest of the Wandsworth constituency was divided into Putney, Wandsworth Central and Tooting and Balham.

The 1918 boundaries of the Streatham constituency remained unchanged until the 1965 changes to Greater London local government were eventually reflected in the constituency boundaries fought at the February 1974 general election. This resulted in a net reduction in the size of the Streatham constituency . The western districts which were now in the London Borough of Wandsworth were divided between two new constituencies. The Balham wards became part of Battersea South while Streatham Park (location of the Streatham Conservative Club) and the remainder of Furzedown ward went into Tooting.

The rest of the constituency, including the town of Streatham was now in the London Borough of Lambeth, and Streatham became one of four Borough constituency divisions of Lambeth, along with 'Vauxhall', 'Norwood' and 'Lambeth Central'. The Clapham constituency was abolished as part of the 1974 changes. The Clapham Park area and Hyde Farm (commonly thought of as part of Balham) came into the Streatham seat, whereas the rest of Clapham went into the Vauxhall seat - a split which continues to the present.

With the abolition of Lambeth Central at the 1983 election, the constituency gained much of southern Brixton. Following further population decline, Lambeth was paired with Southwark in the next boundary review, and from the 1997 election, Streatham constituency gained areas around Tulse Hill from the former Norwood constituency, the remainder of which became part of Dulwich and West Norwood.

Even more than other similar seats in South London (such as Croydon North, Dulwich, Lewisham East and West), Streatham has swung extremely heavily against the Conservative Party over the past fifteen years. The seat was previously so safe that the Conservatives still won it in disastrous years for them such as 1945 and 1966. However, demographic and voting pattern changes combined with unfavourable boundary changes conspired to turn Streatham first into a marginal and then into a very safe Labour seat. Having lost Streatham in 1992, the Conservatives were beaten narrowly into third place by the Liberal Democrats in 2001, and in 2005 fell into an even more distant third place, with the Lib Dems achieving a 10% swing from Labour to make the seat the site of a genuine contest with the Liberal Democrats at the next general election. Redrawn constituency boundaries are also expected to make the constituency less safe for Labour.

[edit] Members of Parliament

The Rt Hon Keith Hill was first elected in the 1992 General Election and is the first Labour MP for the Streatham constituency.

Previous Conservative MPs for Streatham were:

The wartime by-election caused by Lane Mitchell's death was uncontested.

[edit] Next general election

Hill has announced that he will not be standing in the next general election.[2] Sadiq Khan, Labour MP for Tooting, has called for a black or minority ethnic Labour candidate to stand at the next election.[3]

Confirmed candidates for the next UK general election [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrat Chris Nicholson
Labour Chuka Umunna

[edit] Election results

General Election 2005: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Hill 18,950 46.7 −10.2
Liberal Democrat Darren Sanders 11,484 28.3 +10.0
Conservative James Sproule 7,238 17.8 −1.0
Green Shane Collins 2,245 5.5 +1.1
UK Independence Trevor Gittings 396 1.0 N/A
Workers' Revolutionary Billy Colvill 127 0.3 N/A
Independent Philippa Stone 100 0.2 N/A
Independent Robert West 40 0.1 N/A
Independent Sarah Acheng 35 0.1 N/A
Majority 7,466 18.4
Turnout 40,615 51.3 +2.6
Labour hold Swing −10.1
General Election 2001: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Hill 21,401 57.3 -5.5
Liberal Democrat Roger O'Brien 6,771 18.1 +4.6
Conservative Stephen Hocking 6,639 17.8 -4.0
Green Mohammed Sajid 1,641 4.4 N/A
Socialist Alliance Greg Tucker 906 2.4 N/A
Majority 14,630 39.2
Turnout 37,358 49.1 -11.0
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1997: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Hill 28,181 62.8 +13.4
Conservative E. G. Noad 9,758 21.7 -16.7
Liberal Democrat Roger O'Brien 6,082 13.6 +3.6
Referendum Party J. J. Wall 864 1.9 N/A
Majority 18,423 41.1
Turnout 44,885 60.2
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1992: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Hill 18,925 47.0
Conservative Sir William Shelton 16,608 41.3
Liberal Democrat M. J. Pindar 3,858 9.6
Green R. C. L. Baker 443 1.1
Islamic Party A. Hakin 154 0.4
Rainbow Dream Ticket Cynthia Payne 145 0.4
Natural Law J. V. Parsons 97 0.2
Majority 2,317 5.7
Turnout 40,230 70.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election 1987: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative W. J. M. Shelton 18,916 45.0
Labour Mrs. E. A. Tapsall 16,509 39.2
Liberal M. W. Tuffrey 6,663 15.8
Majority 2,407 5.8
Turnout 42,088 69.5
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative W. J. M. Shelton 18,264 46.5
Labour Miss M. M. Long 12,362 31.5
Liberal P. H. Billenness 8,321 21.2
National Front K. D. Handy 321 0.8
Majority 5,902 15.0
Turnout 39,268 65.4
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1979: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative W. J. M. Shelton 19,630 51.44
Labour T. P. C. Daniel 14,130 37.02
Liberal J. S. Pincham 3,779 9.9
National Front G. W. Bryant 523 1.37
Providers Through Care A. J. Hollander 102 0.27
Majority 5,500 14.41
Turnout 38,164 71.54
Conservative hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative W. J. M. Shelton 16,515 45.65
Labour J. Gaffin 13,648 37.73
Liberal R. Silver 4,987 13.79
National Front T. Lamb 817 2.26
Independent Miss T. E. Moore 210 0.58
Majority 2,867 7.92
Turnout 36,177 64.08
Conservative hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative W. J. M. Shelton 18,457 45.15
Labour J. Gaffin 13,982 34.21
Liberal R. Silver 7,456 18.24
National Front T. Lamb 937 2.29
Independent Bill Boaks 45 0.11
Majority 4,475 10.95
Turnout 40,877 72.78
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1966: Streatham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative D. E. Sandys 19,872 54.63
Labour J. L. Walker 16,505 45.37
Majority 3,367 9.26
Turnout 36,377 70.41
Conservative hold Swing

[edit] References

  1. ^ Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, Political Reference Publications 1972
  2. ^ Keith Hill to retire, keithhillmp.org.uk
  3. ^ MP calls for BME candidate in South London, Operation Black Vote
  4. ^ Streatham, UKPollingReport

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Constituencies in Greater London by holding party
Labour

Barking · Battersea · Brent North · Brent South · Brentford and Isleworth · Camberwell and Peckham · Croydon North · Dagenham · Dulwich and West Norwood · Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush · Ealing North · Ealing Southall · East Ham · Edmonton · Eltham · Enfield North · Erith and Thamesmead · Feltham and Heston · Finchley and Golders Green · Greenwich and Woolwich · Hackney North and Stoke Newington · Hackney South and Shoreditch · Hampstead and Highgate · Harrow East · Harrow West · Hayes and Harlington · Hendon · Holborn and St. Pancras · Ilford South · Islington North · Islington South and Finsbury · Lewisham Deptford · Lewisham East · Lewisham West · Leyton and Wanstead · Mitcham and Morden · Poplar and Canning Town · Regent's Park and Kensington North · Streatham · Tooting · Tottenham · Vauxhall · Walthamstow · West Ham
Conservative
Liberal Democrat
Respect
Independent
Conservative
London European constituency
Conservatives 3 · Labour 3 · Liberal Democrats 1 · UKIP 1 · Green 1