Post by John Chanin on Aug 23, 2023 13:37:51 GMT
Walthamstow sits to the east of the river Lea, south 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 river 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, where there is a remnant of Epping Forest. On Forest Road is Walthamstow’s other attraction, William Morris old house, now a museum, after whom a ward is named. In the far north west is the fairly isolated area of Higham Hill, with a lot of mostly terraced council housing, and a little socially down market.
Overall the seat is fairly representative of London, and internally uniform, with less than half households owner-occupiers, and high levels of both social and private rented housing. Chapel End curiously has the highest level of owner-occupation, but the lowest level of educational qualifications. The white population is only 50%, but there is a higher black than asian population, except for the Lea Valley area in the west, unusual for this part of London, and the asian population is not as mixed, being mostly Pakistani (33rd highest in England & Wales). 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. What is very unusual though is that the white population has actually increased here between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, and the seat has leapt up the list of those with degrees and in managerial occupations. Walthamstow has seemingly become a favoured area for white households moving into the city, or looking to move on from shared housing, with its good connections on the London Underground, and relatively cheap housing. There has not been anything like the increase in private renting generally seen in the city.
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, and the new ward boundaries do not cross the old seat, the Commission has left it entirely unchanged.
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, with the Greens generally providing the local opposition. This was the 9th safest Labour seat in Britain in 2019, and it is astonishing to think that the Conservatives won here in 1987. The 2024 election saw a big boost to the Greens, typical of neighbouring seats, but it remains very safe. Current MP since 2010 is Stella Creasy, a former Spad, who stood for deputy leader in 2015. The most famous former MP is Clement Attlee who represented the Walthamstow West seat from 1950 to 1955 after his previous seat in Limehouse was abolished.
Census data: Owner-occupied 47% (522/575 in England & Wales), private rented 30% (68th), social rented 22% (104th).
: White 50%(533rd), Black 15%(28th), South Asian 16%(56th), Mixed 7%(25th), Other 11%(53rd)
: Managerial & professional 45% (129th), Routine & Semi-routine 23% (429th)
: Degree 47% (51st), Minimal qualifications 26% (367th)
: Students 9% (125th), Over 65: 8% (562nd)
: Muslim 23%(30th)
Boundaries : This seat is unchanged
Overall the seat is fairly representative of London, and internally uniform, with less than half households owner-occupiers, and high levels of both social and private rented housing. Chapel End curiously has the highest level of owner-occupation, but the lowest level of educational qualifications. The white population is only 50%, but there is a higher black than asian population, except for the Lea Valley area in the west, unusual for this part of London, and the asian population is not as mixed, being mostly Pakistani (33rd highest in England & Wales). 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. What is very unusual though is that the white population has actually increased here between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, and the seat has leapt up the list of those with degrees and in managerial occupations. Walthamstow has seemingly become a favoured area for white households moving into the city, or looking to move on from shared housing, with its good connections on the London Underground, and relatively cheap housing. There has not been anything like the increase in private renting generally seen in the city.
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, and the new ward boundaries do not cross the old seat, the Commission has left it entirely unchanged.
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, with the Greens generally providing the local opposition. This was the 9th safest Labour seat in Britain in 2019, and it is astonishing to think that the Conservatives won here in 1987. The 2024 election saw a big boost to the Greens, typical of neighbouring seats, but it remains very safe. Current MP since 2010 is Stella Creasy, a former Spad, who stood for deputy leader in 2015. The most famous former MP is Clement Attlee who represented the Walthamstow West seat from 1950 to 1955 after his previous seat in Limehouse was abolished.
Census data: Owner-occupied 47% (522/575 in England & Wales), private rented 30% (68th), social rented 22% (104th).
: White 50%(533rd), Black 15%(28th), South Asian 16%(56th), Mixed 7%(25th), Other 11%(53rd)
: Managerial & professional 45% (129th), Routine & Semi-routine 23% (429th)
: Degree 47% (51st), Minimal qualifications 26% (367th)
: Students 9% (125th), Over 65: 8% (562nd)
: Muslim 23%(30th)
Boundaries : This seat is unchanged
| 2017 | % | 2019 | % | 2024 | % | |
| Labour | 38,793 | 80.6 | 36,784 | 76.1 | 27,172 | 59.3 |
| Conservative | 6,776 | 14.1 | 5,922 | 12.3 | 2,353 | 5.1 |
| Liberal Democrat | 1,384 | 2.9 | 2,874 | 5.9 | 1,736 | 3.8 |
| Brexit/Reform | 768 | 1.6 | 1,836 | 4.0 | ||
| Green | 1,190 | 2.5 | 1,733 | 3.6 | 9,176 | 20.0 |
| Workers | 1,535 | 3.3 | ||||
| Other | 254 | 0.5 | 2,051 | 4.5 | ||
| Majority | 32,017 | 66.5 | 30,682 | 63.9 | 17,996 | 39.2 |