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Streatham
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Streatham in Greater London
County	Greater London
Electorate	71,913 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Clapham Common, Streatham Hill, Brixton Hill, Streatham South
1918–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Wandsworth
Replaced by	Clapham and Brixton Hill, Streatham and Croydon North

Streatham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.

In the 2016 EU referendum, Streatham was estimated to have voted to remain in the European Union by 79%. This was the second highest remain vote in the United Kingdom, behind Vauxhall.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. The four southern wards, comprising the town of Streatham, were included in the new constituency of Streatham and Croydon North. Northern areas (Brixton Hill, Clapham Common, Thornton, and Tulse Hill) form part of the new constituency of Clapham and Brixton Hill.

Boundaries

1918–1974: The Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth ward of Streatham.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Lambeth wards of Clapham Park, St Leonard's, Streatham Hill, Streatham South, Streatham Wells, and Thornton.

1983–1997: As above plus Town Hall ward.

1997–2010: As above, plus St Martin's and Tulse Hill wards.

2010–2024: The London Borough of Lambeth wards of Brixton Hill, Clapham Common, St Leonard's, Streatham Hill, Streatham South, Streatham Wells, Thornton, and Tulse Hill.

Streatham was a long constituency comprising the south-west portion of the London Borough of Lambeth. The town of Streatham constituted the four wards in the southern half of the constituency. At its north-western tip the seat included half of Clapham Common; the north-east takes in part of Brixton which was shared with neighbouring Vauxhall and Dulwich and West Norwood.

The northern boundary followed Clapham Park Road, Acre Lane, and Coldharbour Lane through Clapham and Brixton to Lambeth Town Hall. The north-eastern boundary generally followed Effra Road and Tulse Hill, but ran east of the main road to include the part of the Tulse Hill estate and the Cressingham Gardens estate west of Brockwell Park. The boundary skirted the Tulse Hill district centre, following Hardel Rise, Christchurch Road and Norwood Road, and then ran along Leigham Vale and Leigham Court Road. The southern and western constituency boundaries followed Lambeth's borough boundaries with Croydon, Merton and Wandsworth.

History

Local government results

The constituency shared boundaries with the Streatham electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981.

The local government wards in the constituency are currently represented by 20 Labour councillors, 1 Conservative councillor and 3 Green councillors, including Jonathan Bartley, the leader of the opposition on Lambeth Council, and former London MEP Scott Ainslie.

Nine Liberal Democrat councillors represented the wards of Streatham Hill, Streatham Wells and St Leonard's, with one additional councillor elected at Clapham Common in 2010. All Streatham wards had been represented by the Liberal Democrats from 1990 to 2014 before Labour subsequently gained seven seats from them at the 2014 council elections. The Liberal Democrats were unsuccessful in gaining any seats back at the 2018 local elections. In a 2019 Thornton Ward by-election, the Lib Dems came within 19 votes of winning the seat.

In 2018, the Conservatives held one seat and lost two to Labour in Clapham Common by a very narrow margin, whilst the Greens took the other two seats from Labour in St Leonard's.

Political history

Streatham was for a few decades solidly Tory suburbia overall: the Conservatives won Streatham when Labour gained large majorities in 1945 and 1966, and it was the only seat in the former LCC area (Inner London) apart from the Chelsea/Kensington/Westminster/City central core to remain consistently Conservative. More recently, demographic and voting pattern changes combined with unfavourable boundary changes converted Streatham into a marginal seat, then into a mid-ranking safe Labour seat.

Streatham has modestly swung against the Conservative Party since the 1980s, even more than other similar seats in South London (such as Croydon North, Dulwich and West Norwood, Lewisham East and West).

The Conservative Party lost Streatham in 1992, despite winning the general election that year with a small majority, having held it since 1918. The Conservative candidate was beaten into third place by a Liberal Democrat in 2001, and there were swings from Labour to the Liberal Democrats at the two subsequent general elections. In 2010, when the Labour incumbent, Keith Hill, retired and Chuka Umunna stood for the party, there was a serious Liberal Democrat campaign resulting in their best showing to date in the seat, but there was also a marginal increase in the Conservative vote share and Umunna was elected. The 2015 result was the re-election of Umunna, which made the seat the 96th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.

In 2015 the Conservatives moved into second place with a sharp increase in numerical vote share, and remained there in 2017. However, in 2019, they reverted to third place behind the Liberal Democrats.

Historic boundaries

The constituency of Streatham was contested under this name at the 1918 general election, when it approximately followed the historic parish boundaries of Streatham, including a substantial part of Balham, a 19th-century founded and primarily urban parish by that time.

The constituency was carved out of the former constituency of Wandsworth in the same way as Putney, Wandsworth Central and Balham and Tooting under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the fourth major UK reform, that settled upon single member constituencies, and roughly equal electorates.

The 1918 boundaries remained unchanged until the 1965 changes to Greater London local government became reflected in the parliamentary constituencies, at the February 1974 general election. This resulted in a net reduction in the size of the area. The western district Streatham Park (location of the Streatham Conservative Club) and the remainder of Furzedown ward went into the Tooting seat.

The rest of the constituency, including the town of Streatham has since 1965 been in the London Borough of Lambeth. Three other constituencies covered Lambeth from 1974, 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 creating an enduring split.

On 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 rest of which became part of Dulwich and West Norwood.

2016 European Union Referendum

In the 2016 referendum on European Union membership, Streatham is estimated to have posted the highest proportion of support for Remain of any constituency, at 79.5%.

Constituency profile

Among the most ethnically diverse constituencies, Streatham - which covered parts of Clapham, Brixton, Tulse Hill and Streatham itself - was in the south London borough of Lambeth. Only 58.2% of residents were white and it had among the most mixed race and black residents in the country, according to the 2011 Census. It also had Polish, Portuguese and Hispanic communities.

The bulk of residents were aged 25–44, with relatively few pensioners. Although it is a residential area, it is more popular with young workers than families, having good transport links into central London. Many residents rent, and there is a large social housing sector. Commercially, Streatham High Road is home to over 400 businesses, whilst a £26m ice rink and leisure centre opened in November 2013, part of continuing investment. The population is highly qualified and a high percentage are in full-time work.

At just over 6% of the population, Streatham, (which is located in the London Borough of Lambeth) has the largest proportion of LGBT+ people in the country.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

17% was the largest vote share increase in a Labour held seat for the Liberal Democrats at the 2019 general election.

NB Percentage comparisons in the table above are against the notional result on the new constituency boundaries.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "London borough emerges as 'Europhile's elysium'". Evening Standard. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
3. "Revised estimates of leave vote in Westminster constituencies". Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
4. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – London | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
5. Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, Political Reference Publications 1972
6. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
7. "State of the Borough 2016" (PDF). London Borough of Lambeth. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
8. Elliott, Francis (13 June 2019). "It's all change again as Chuka Umunna joins Lib Dems". The Times. Times Newspapers. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.(subscription required)
9. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
10. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
11. "Election results for Streatham". lambeth.gov.uk. London Borough of Lambeth. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
12. "Streatham parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
13. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 . Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Election results for Streatham, 7 May 2015". moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
16. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. ^ Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 17. ISBN 0102374805.
24. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)

External links

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• Streatham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Streatham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

51°26′20″N 0°07′30″W / 51.439°N 0.125°W / 51.439; -0.125

• Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic)
• Politics of the London Borough of Lambeth
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024
• Streatham