Lewisham Deptford
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 19044 (55.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 5899 (17.2%)
Conservative: 4392 (12.8%)
Other: 4951 (14.4%)
Majority: 13146 (38.3%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 3773 (12.4%)
Labour: 16902 (55.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 5091 (16.8%)
Green: 3367 (11.1%)
UKIP: 518 (1.7%)
Other: 742 (2.4%)
Majority: 11811 (38.9%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 3622 (12.4%)
Labour: 18915 (65%)
Liberal Democrat: 3409 (11.7%)
Green: 1901 (6.5%)
Other: 1260 (4.3%)
Majority: 15293 (52.5%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 4949 (14.7%)
Labour: 23827 (70.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 3004 (8.9%)
Referendum: 868 (2.6%)
Other: 996 (3%)
Majority: 18878 (56.1%)
Boundary changes: Gains most of Lewisham Central from Lewisham East and part of Crofton Park from Lewisham West. Loses part of Rushey Green to Lewisham East.
Profile: Lewisham Deptford runs from the river Thames, through areas of inner city poverty to the beginnings of suburbia in the south. To the north Deptford and New Cross have a trendy arts and music scene and are popular with students and artists, but beyond that they are areas of desolate council housing and deprivation with a large black population. There are severe problems with housing and poverty – the Pepys estate here was recently the focus of the BBC documentary The Tower, chronicling the beginnings of regeneration in the area.
Further south areas like Brockley are beginning to follow the familar pattern of gentrification. Old victorian properties that had been divided up into flats and houses of multiple occupancy in the last century are now being bought up by young urban professionals attracted by cheap prices and the new transport links offered by the Docklands extention. For the time being though this is safe Labour territory, though there is substantial support for the Green party who managed their second strongest performance in the country here at the last election. Along with Brighton Pavillon and Norwich South it is one of the party’s three targetted seats for the next election.
Current MP: Joan Ruddock (Labour) born 1943, Pontypool. Educated at Pontypool Grammar and Imperial College. Former chair of CND. First elected as MP for Lewisham Deptford in 1987. Undersecretary of state at Defra since 2007. She is the partner of Frank Doran, the MP for Aberdeen North (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Darren Johnson (Green) born 1966 Educated at Goldsmiths College. Principle speaker for the Green party 2002. Contested London mayoral election 2000, 2004. List London Assembly member since 2000. Lewisham councillor since 2002 and leader of the Green group on Lewisham council.
Gemma Townsend (Conservative)
Tamara Longley (Liberal Democrat) Public affairs director
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 97252
Male: 48.6%
Female: 51.4%
Under 18: 23.4%
Over 60: 11.6%
Born outside UK: 30.1%
White: 57.2%
Black: 30.2%
Asian: 3.8%
Mixed: 4.5%
Other: 4.3%
Christian: 57.7%
Hindu: 1.5%
Muslim: 5.6%
Full time students: 9.6%
Graduates 16-74: 32.9%
No Qualifications 16-74: 22.9%
Owner-Occupied: 41.3%
Social Housing: 41.5% (Council: 30.3%, Housing Ass.: 11.2%)
Privately Rented: 15%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 10.7%
Interesting figures. That is a high vote for the Greens.
Possible to reduce the number of London Borough? There was a massive reduction in old boroughs in 1965/66 -
Here are my views -
City of London (annexes Tower Hamlets, historical boroughs of Holborne, Finsbury and Shoreditch) – I believe these little boroughs could fit well into the context of The City. The may also change the political balance to.
City of Westminster (annexes historical borough of Hampstead), as this naturally connects into St Johns Wood.
Kensington & Chelsea (annexes Hammersmith & Fulham) – Well H & F see themselves as K & C slumbing it.
Camden (historical Hampstead ommitted) merges with Islington (historical borough of Finsbury omitted), as Camden & Islington
Hackney (historical Shoreditch ommitted) merges with Tower Hamlets to form Hackney & Tower Hamlets. These boroughs were linked for Westminster purposes between 1955 and 1974. Bethnal Green (& Hackney South) and Hackney Central
Wandsworth annexes Clapham & Streatham from Lambeth to include all of the histirical Wansworth..
Lambeth (with Clapham & Streatham omitted) merges with Southwark – Lambeth & Southwark – with major focus on the Southbank.
Greenwich & Lewisham merge – Greenwich Creek & Newcross
Bexley and Bromley merge to form Bexley & Bromley
Croydon memains unchanged
Merton and Sutton merge to be Sutton & Merton
Kingston & Richmond merge to form The Royal Borough of Kingston & Richmond
Ealing and Hounslow merge to form Ealing & Hounslow
Hillingdon remains unchanged but is renamed Heathrow.
Harrow and Brent merge as Wembly & Harrow
Barnet merges with Enfield (Edmonton omitted) to form Barnet & Enfield
Haringey merges with the historical Edmonton borough to form Haringey & Edmonton (Edmonton is becomming more and more like Tottenham)
Barking & Dagenham merges with Havering to be Barking & Upminster
Redbridge mergers with Waltham Forest to form Redbridge & Waltham Forest
I don’t see the point of Peter’s post. It may or may not be an interesting debate; this isn’t the place for it.
Was Brockley in Deptford constituency from 1885 to 1974 and in Lewisham Deptford since then? As a sidenote, apparently Peter Sellers had ‘a little flat in Brockley’ (or at least he said so in one of the ‘Goon Shows’…)
The Lib Dems have selected Tamora Langley here
“Possible to reduce the number of London Borough?”
London expanded
City of Westminster-no changes
Kensington-Kensington and Chelsea plus Fulham
Hammersmith-Gains Acton and Chiswick
Camden merges with Islington South and gains whole of Highgate (loses Hampstead part of borough)
Hampstead and Kilburn-New Borough containing Hampstead, Kilburn, Brent except (Wembley and Kingsbury) and The wards of Childs Hill, Golders Green and Garden Suburb from Barnet.
Hackney loses Shoreditch and gains Islington North
Tower Hamlets gains Shoreditch and City of London
Wandsworth loses Tooting to Merton and Battersea forms a new Borough of Southwark and Battersea and gains Richmond borough (south Thames)
Southwark and Battersea-Battersea, Clapham, Lambeth (North), Southwark, (London Bridge and Bermondsey) and Peckham
Norwood- New Borough merged with the south of Lambeth and South of Southwark.
Greenwich gains Thamesmead East ward from Bexley and Blackheath ward from Lewisham
Lewisham gains Penge and Crystal Palace from Bromley.
Bromley gains Sidcup
Dartford- Old Dartford UD with Bexleyheath, Erith, Crayford and Welling
Croydon loses Upper Norwood to the new borough of Norwood.
Merton gains Tooting
Sutton and Epsom-Sutton merged with Epsom and Ewell and Banstead
Kingston upon Thames-Expanded to gain Elmbridge.
Spelthorne – gains Feltham and Hanworth from Hounslow and Twickenham
Ealing and Hounslow-The remaining wards of each district merge to form a borough
Hillingdon remains unchanged but is renamed Heathrow.
Harrow and Wembley merge as Harrow and Wembley but Harrow loses Stanmore to the new borough of Edgware.
Edgware-Old Middlesex part of Barnet and Stanmore. Golders Green lost to Hampstead and Kilburn.
Watford-Watford,Three Rivers, Hertsmere (except Potters Bar) and Barnet (old Barnet and East Barnet MB)
Haringey merges with the historical Edmonton borough and renamed Tottenham
Enfield loses Edmonton and gains Potters Bar
Barking-Barking & Dagenham merged with Hornchurch
Ilford-Ilford North and South consitiuncies
Walthamstow -Wathamstow and Leyton and Wanstead constitunces
Romford-Romford, Upminster, Chigwell, Loughton, Epping and Chingford.
Not sure how many that is but I designed them so as they don’t cross old county boundaries.
Now that London has a regional-level body, it would be possible for some of the larger “county” scale powers to be transferred to the GLA and for the boroughs to become smaller and focussed more on London’s local communities. Some of the London borough’s are just ridiculously unwieldy conglomerations and there are many boundaries that divide natural communities and conjoin others with much less in common.
Specifically, I would support a “London City Council” covering the City, the West End and areas such as Holborn and Clerkenwell. The Northern reaches of Westminster would work far better if linked with Kilburn or Brent and the remaining boroughs of Camden and Islington would also be much more coherent.
Journalist Simon Jenkins has always been very critical of the reduction in London Boroughs in 1965. I seem to remember he criticised boroughs like Brent which were named after places or landmarks that many people in London weren’t particularly familiar with instead of names they knew well such as Wembley.
Comparison of census figures from 1981 and 2001 for Lewisham Deptford, with 1981 figures in brackets:
Owner occupied: 41.3% (28.8%)
Local authority: 41.5% (49.0%)
Non-white: 42.8% (23.4%)
Can you people take this discussion about reducing the number of boroughs elsewhere so we can concentrate on the electoral contest in Lewisham D? thanks.