Post by John Chanin on Apr 6, 2020 12:44:51 GMT
Walthamstow sits to the east of the river Lea, south (mostly) of the North Circular Road and north of the Lea Bridge Road which forms (mostly) the boundary with Leyton. It climbs up the hill from the Lea to the wooded ridge which separates the Lea Valley from the Roding valley, and forms the boundary with Woodford. The seat is divided in two by the busy east-west Forest Road on which sits Waltham Forest’s grand Town Hall, a listed building. The Lea Valley contains a large number of reservoirs and a wildlife sanctuary, with an ice rink on the Walthamstow marshes to the south. South of Forest Road is Walthamstow High Street, famous for its street market, although this is not as long or as thriving as it used to be. The High Street is still highly cosmopolitan, with Turkish, Pakistani, Polish, Lithuanian, and Romanian shops, as well as a more conventional mall. The south-west part of the seat is very similar to Leyton with its 2-storey terraced housing divided into flats, with some council housing south of the Lea Bridge Road, and is the poorest part of the seat with the highest ethnic minority population. In the centre is “Walthamstow village”, a trendy area with restaurants and real ale pubs, on top of a hill, but surrounded by council estates, many quite run down. There are larger houses, and a more middle-class population in upper Walthamstow rising to the ridge. On Forest Road is Walthamstow’s other attraction, William Morris old house, now a museum, after whom a ward is named. North of Forest Road, there is a smaller Asian population and a larger black population. Chapel End is more up market, with a higher proportion of owner-occupiers. In the far north west is the fairly isolated area of Higham Hill, with a lot of mostly terraced council housing.
Overall the seat is fairly representative of London, with less than half households owner-occupiers, and high levels of both social and private rented housing. The proportion of white households is also fairly typical, but there is a higher black than asian population, unusual for this part of London, and the asian population is not as mixed, being mostly Pakistani (16th highest in England & Wales). The black population also has a majority of the longer settled Caribbean descent, rather than African - also unusual for London. As in other east London seats the elderly population is very small, and educational qualifications accordingly surprisingly high, for what is basically a working class seat.
Politically there was once a Conservative vote north of the Forest Road and in upper Walthamstow , but this has now entirely disappeared. The Liberal Democrats long won Chapel End ward, before splitting, and had local strength elsewhere, but this disappeared with the coalition , and all councillors in this seat are now Labour. This is now the 9th safest Labour seat in Britain, and it is astonishing to think that the Conservatives won here in 1987. Current MP since 2010 is Stella Creasy, who stood for deputy leader in 2015. The most famous former MP is Clement Attlee who represented the West seat from 1950 to 1955 after his previous seat in Limehouse was abolished.
Although the borough of Waltham Forest is exactly the right size for two parliamentary seats, the Boundary Commission have decided to retain the present pattern of seats with two seats crossing the boundary between Waltham Forest and Redbridge. This is therefore the only seat to be entirely within the borough. Since it was within the acceptable range for a seat, the Commission has left it entirely unchanged.
Census data: owner-occupied 47% (530/573 in England & Wales), private rented 28% (43rd), social rented 24% (103rd).
:White 47%, Black 19%, Sth Asian 17%, Mixed 6%, Other 11%
: Managerial & professional 36% (272nd), Routine & Semi-routine 27% (348th)
: Degree 31% (138th), Minimal qualifications 32% (414th)
: Students 8% (88th), Over 65: 8% (557th)
Overall the seat is fairly representative of London, with less than half households owner-occupiers, and high levels of both social and private rented housing. The proportion of white households is also fairly typical, but there is a higher black than asian population, unusual for this part of London, and the asian population is not as mixed, being mostly Pakistani (16th highest in England & Wales). The black population also has a majority of the longer settled Caribbean descent, rather than African - also unusual for London. As in other east London seats the elderly population is very small, and educational qualifications accordingly surprisingly high, for what is basically a working class seat.
Politically there was once a Conservative vote north of the Forest Road and in upper Walthamstow , but this has now entirely disappeared. The Liberal Democrats long won Chapel End ward, before splitting, and had local strength elsewhere, but this disappeared with the coalition , and all councillors in this seat are now Labour. This is now the 9th safest Labour seat in Britain, and it is astonishing to think that the Conservatives won here in 1987. Current MP since 2010 is Stella Creasy, who stood for deputy leader in 2015. The most famous former MP is Clement Attlee who represented the West seat from 1950 to 1955 after his previous seat in Limehouse was abolished.
Although the borough of Waltham Forest is exactly the right size for two parliamentary seats, the Boundary Commission have decided to retain the present pattern of seats with two seats crossing the boundary between Waltham Forest and Redbridge. This is therefore the only seat to be entirely within the borough. Since it was within the acceptable range for a seat, the Commission has left it entirely unchanged.
Census data: owner-occupied 47% (530/573 in England & Wales), private rented 28% (43rd), social rented 24% (103rd).
:White 47%, Black 19%, Sth Asian 17%, Mixed 6%, Other 11%
: Managerial & professional 36% (272nd), Routine & Semi-routine 27% (348th)
: Degree 31% (138th), Minimal qualifications 32% (414th)
: Students 8% (88th), Over 65: 8% (557th)
2010 | % | 2015 | % | 2017 | % | 2019 | % | |
Labour | 21,252 | 51.8% | 28,779 | 68.9% | 38,793 | 80.6% | 36,784 | 76.1% |
Conservative | 5,734 | 14.0% | 5,584 | 13.4% | 6,776 | 14.1% | 5,922 | 12.3% |
Liberal Democrat | 11,774 | 28.7% | 1,661 | 4.0% | 1,384 | 2.9% | 2,874 | 5.9% |
UKIP/Brexit | 823 | 2.0% | 2,507 | 6.0% | 768 | 1.6% | ||
Green | 767 | 1.9% | 2,661 | 6.4% | 1,190 | 2.5% | 1,733 | 3.6% |
Others | 644 | 1.6% | 604 | 1.4% | 254 | 0.5% | ||
Majority | 9,478 | 23.1% | 23,195 | 55.5% | 32,017 | 66.5% | 30,862 | 63.9% |
