Streatham

[greenhert]

Streatham has existed as a constituency since 1918, although since its incorporation into the London Borough of Lambeth in 1965 its boundaries have shifted eastwards.

Streatham comprises affluent suburbia in the southwestern corner of Lambeth; it was formerly part of the old borough of Wandsworth (the one that did not include Battersea). It also takes in parts of Clapham and Brixton in its northern reaches. The discovery of Streatham Wells was the primary motivator for expansion of the village into a Victorian retreat for City of London merchants. Like the rest of Lambeth it is ethnically diverse (58% white, 24% black) but not as much as Vauxhall. Due to house prices being so high, owner-occupation levels are as low as 39%, and private renters comprise 34% of the population. Streatham also has one of the highest proportion of degree holders in the country, at 46.6%, which is high even by Greater London standards. Not surprisingly it generated the highest Remain vote in the EU membership referendum of any UK parliamentary constituency, at 79.5%, beating even Bristol West.

Streatham was once a safe Conservative seat, and one of the few in the old County of London that was genuinely safely Conservative. Demographic change-yes, including the type that involved breaking up mansions into flats-and a substantial boundary change in 1983 that expanded it into parts of the abolished Lambeth Central constituency successively weakened the Conservatives' once solid hold, and in 1992 Keith Hill defeated Sir William (Bill) Shelton to become Streatham's first Labour MP. The Liberal Democrats became increasingly competitive and in 2010 reduced the Labour majority to just 3,259. The Liberal Democrats' time in coalition cost them dearly in seats like this and they dropped to 9% in 2015, barely ahead of the Greens' Jonathan Bartley. Notable moderate Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who at times was considered a potential future leader of the Labour Party, pushed the down the Liberal Democrat vote particularly heavily, and ironically he joined the Liberal Democrats himself after a brief time in Change UK. Mr Umunna made a valiant effort in the Cities of London & Westminster under his new colours but lost,and Bell Ribeiro-Addy became Labour MP in his place; in 2019 the Liberal Democrats made a substantial comeback and recovered second place but this remains a safe Labour seat for the foreseeable future. At a local level, most of the councillors here are Labour with the exception of a solitary Conservative councillor in Clapham Common and 3 Green councillors in St Leonard's (which incidentally has elected Labour councillors just once in its history); these Green councillors include the aforementioned Mr Bartley who has been Green Party co-leader since 2016, and Scott Ainslie, who served as Green MEP for London for 8 months until Britain exited the EU on 31 January 2020.

[akmd]

I had already offered to do all the Lambeth constituencies including this one in the initial thread but never mind. I’ll post my own profile at some point in the next few weeks.

[Merseymike]

Apr 26, 2020 22:31:56 GMT akmd said:

I had already offered to do all the Lambeth constituencies including this one in the initial thread but never mind. I’ll post my own profile at some point in the next few weeks.

Unfortunately at least one contributor takes no notice of this at all I'm sure you know the constituency and will provide something useful

[John Chanin]

The colonization of Streatham by black families has a lot to do with the political change here, as well as the general change in attitudes of younger better educated middle class people of all ethnic origins, who have dominated those moving into pleasant "halfway out" London suburbs for years. There has been considerable self-selection, according to social and political attitudes, as to where people move to, once they have a choice and can afford to do so. This is perhaps not quite so marked in London as it is in Birmingham, because of the skewed social and economic structure in London, but it is real.

[The Bishop]

"considered a potential future leader of the Labour party" - most of all, of course, by himself.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Chuka Umunna was the soft left, Compass, candidate when selected. Progress were backing Steve Reed.

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2020 9:46:31 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

Chuka Umunna was the soft left, Compass, candidate when selected. Progress were backing Steve Reed.

I can't remember if it was Owen Jones or Andrew Fisher but one of them wrote a brief story about the selection process. Chuka won on 2nd preferences I understand from the lefts candidate

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2020 11:41:16 GMT @barnabymarder said:

Apr 27, 2020 9:46:31 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

Chuka Umunna was the soft left, Compass, candidate when selected. Progress were backing Steve Reed.

that's actually correct. He backed Ed Miliband against his brother. His trajectory then went rightwards from about 2014 onwards. 

I'm currently rewatching coverage of 2012 locals he's fairly critical of Hollande, this is just after he was elected and introduced a wealth tax, etc. before his tournant de la rigueur

[Devil Wincarnate]

Apr 27, 2020 12:02:34 GMT @priceofdawn said:

Apr 27, 2020 11:41:16 GMT @barnabymarder said:

that's actually correct. He backed Ed Miliband against his brother. His trajectory then went rightwards from about 2014 onwards. 

I'm currently rewatching coverage of 2012 locals he's fairly critical of Hollande, this is just after he was elected and introduced a wealth tax, etc. before his tournant de la rigueur

God, to think of the days when people would tout Hollande.  When even a cursory look at his entire history should have put them off.  I remember a woman on Question Time ranting about how we needed to listen to "Francis Olandi", who I eventually worked out was Flanby himself.

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2020 13:33:22 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

Apr 27, 2020 12:02:34 GMT @priceofdawn said:

I'm currently rewatching coverage of 2012 locals he's fairly critical of Hollande, this is just after he was elected and introduced a wealth tax, etc. before his tournant de la rigueur

God, to think of the days when people would tout Hollande.  When even a cursory look at his entire history should have put them off.  I remember a woman on Question Time ranting about how we needed to listen to "Francis Olandi", who I eventually worked out was Flanby himself.

there was an article in the guardian i think when Hollande was elected which said Ed Miliband can look to France where another left wing wonk could give him hope

[finsobruce]

Apr 27, 2020 13:57:24 GMT @priceofdawn said:

Apr 27, 2020 13:33:22 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

God, to think of the days when people would tout Hollande.  When even a cursory look at his entire history should have put them off.  I remember a woman on Question Time ranting about how we needed to listen to "Francis Olandi", who I eventually worked out was Flanby himself.

there was an article in the guardian i think when Hollande was elected which said Ed Miliband can look to France where another left wing wonk could give him hope

Don't try saying that fast after too many pints.

[Robert Waller]

2011 Census

Age 65+ 7.9% 636/650
Owner-occupied 39.4% 620/650
Private rented 31.6% 28/650
Social rented 26.8% 87/650
White 58.2% 607/650
Black 24.3% 12/650
Asian 7.7% 159/650
Managerial & professional 42.3%
Routine & Semi-routine 16.2%
Economically active 78.0% 3/650
Degree level 46.6% 23/650
No qualifications 13.5% 631/650
Students 9.1% 176/650


2021 Census

Owner occupied 41.1% 543/573
Private rented 33.4% 42/573
Social rented 25.5% 64/573
White 57.2%
Black 21.1%
Asian 7.9%
Managerial & professional 46.3% 26/573
Routine & Semi-routine 16.2% 504/573
Degree level 56.7% 15/573
No qualifications 12.9% 523/573





General Election 2019: Streatham

Party Candidate Votes % ±%

Labour Bell Ribeiro-Addy 30,976 54.8 -13.7
Liberal Democrats Helen Thompson 13,286 23.5 +17.0
Conservative Rory O’Broin 9,060 16.0 -5.3
Green Scott Ainslie 2,567 4.5 +1.5
Brexit Party Penelope Becker 624 1.1 N/A

Lab Majority 17,690 31.3 -15.8

Turnout 56,513 66.7 -4.2

Registered electors 84,783

Labour hold

Swing Lab to LD 15.3

[jacoblamsden]

Feb 8, 2021 19:38:32 GMT Robert Waller said:

2011 Census

Owner-occupied 39.4% 620/650
Private rented 31.6% 28/650
Social rented 26.8% 87/650
White 58.2% 607/650
Black 24.3% 12/650
Asian 7.7% 159/650
Managerial & professional 42.3%
Routine & Semi-routine 16.2%
Economically active 78.0% 3/650
Degree level 46.6% 23/650
No qualifications 13.5% 631/650
Students 9.1% 176/650
Age 65+ 7.9% 636/650


General Election 2019: Streatham

Party Candidate Votes % ±%

Labour Bell Ribeiro-Addy 30,976 54.8 -13.7
Liberal Democrats Helen Thompson 13,286 23.5 +17.0
Conservative Rory O’Broin 9,060 16.0 -5.3
Green Scott Ainslie 2,567 4.5 +1.5
Brexit Party Penelope Becker 624 1.1 N/A

Lab Majority 17,690 31.3 -15.8

Turnout 56,513 66.7 -4.2

Registered electors 84,783

Labour hold

Swing Lab to LD 15.3

I expected the level of private renting to be high, but Streatham being 87th out of 650 seats for social rented does surprise me - when it was a safe Tory seat it surely cannot have been so high up the order. A legacy of Lambeth not encouraging Right to Buy in the 80s/90s I presume? 

[Davıd Boothroyd]

In the 1971 Census, the number of Streatham households by tenure:

Owner occupied 2,767
Rented from council 461
Private rented, unfurnished 6,629
Private rented, furnished 10,493
Not stated 210

[Pete Whitehead]

Streatham is one of two seats in London (the other being West Ham) that can claim to be the antecedent of two constituencies if the revised proposals go ahead. This was not the case in the initial review which mostly kept Streatham intact, removing the Clapham Common and Thornton wards and adding Thurlow Park (the boundary commision were required to use the 'old' ward in Lambeth).
A new seat was to be created including Clapham Common and Thornton with wards from Vauxhall and Dulwich & West Norwood. This was to be called Clapham & Brixton although it excluded the Brixton Hill and Tulse Hill wards and the largest donor to that seat would have been Vauxhall.

This seat in the centre of Lambeth does survive the revised proposals but takes in Brixton Hill and Tulse Hill rather than Coldharbour and Herne Hill. Presumably because it excludes Coldharbour and therefore much of the centre of Brixton, the Clapham & Brixton name is felt to be unsuitable and the more prosaic 'Lambeth Central' is adopted (it is quite similar to a previous seat of that name which enjoyed a brief existance from 1974 to 1983). The majority of voters of this seat come from Streatham with a minority from Vauxhall. Additionally it does take the majority of Streatham's voters with it (41,000 of 80,000) and therefore while it neither looks nor sounds like it, this is the true succssor seat to Streatham.
The minority of this constituency, covering the four Streatham wards is linked with four North Croydon wards in a new constituency of 'Streatham & Norbury' but this constituency also provides the majority of voters to that seat.
As with the split of West Ham, a clear gain for Labour from the new boundaries.

2019 Notional results

Lambeth Central

Lab	29207	56.7%
LD	10137	19.7%
Con	9333	18.1%
Grn	2294	4.5%
BxP	450	0.9%
Oth	54
Majority	19070	37.0%

Streatham & Norbury

Lab	27372	56.5%
LD	9340	19.3%
Con	8942	18.4%
Grn	2002	4.1%
BxP	683	1.4%
Oth	132
Majority	18032	37.2%

Remarkably similar..