Enfield (western minority; on abolition) and Wood Green (bulk of; on abolition)
Enfield Southgate is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created in 1950 as Southgate, and has been represented since 2017 by Bambos Charalambous, a member of the Labour Party.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to major boundary changes which will incorporate the Borough of Haringey district of Wood Green (comprising the wards of Bounds Green, Noel Park, White Hart Lane and Woodside), primarily transferred from the (to be abolished) constituency of Hornsey and Wood Green. As a consequence, it will be renamed Southgate and Wood Green, to be first contested at the next general election.[2]
History
From 1950 to the 1983 general election, this constituency was known as Southgate. The prefix of the seat's London Borough was added to some parts of the legislation, but not others, in 1974.
It was regarded as a safe seat for the Conservative party, but it gained national attention in the 1997 general election when Michael Portillo, Secretary of State for Defence was unexpectedly defeated on a massive swing - the 'Portillo moment'. Portillo had been widely expected to contest the Conservative leadership and his defeat the media took to epitomise the Labour landslide victory. The victorious candidate, Stephen Twigg, increased his majority at the following election. In the 2005 general election, Twigg's majority was the largest overturned, with a swing of 8.7% to the Conservative candidate David Burrowes.
The 2015 result gave the seat the 60th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority,[3] with Labour gaining the seat in the 2017 general election on a substantial 9.7% swing. Enfield Southgate is one of five constituencies, the others being Croydon Central, Leeds North West, Peterborough and Reading East, which elected Labour MPs in 2017 having not done so since 2001.
Constituency profile
This constituency is located in the western parts of the London Borough of Enfield. Less out-of-work benefits (7.4%) are claimed here than the average for London (8.4%, which compares to 6.4% nationally in April 2021) and among those aged 18 to 24 the percentage is 10.4% in the seat during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] For the year 2020, 71.3% of employees fell into the top three occupation groups of nine assessed by government, which is above the London and national average.[4] It has significant Jewish, Muslim and Cypriot communities.[n 1]
In recent years[when?], the south-eastern and southern wards of the constituency, including Bowes and Palmers Green have returned Labour local councillors, with some councillors also in Southgate Green and Winchmore Hill. These wards tend to give the bulk of the Labour vote. The remaining wards generally elect Conservative councillors.[5]
To the north, the seat is semi-rural taking in Trent Park and the former campus of Middlesex University, and the Cockfosters terminus of the Piccadilly line, stretching into the wealthy Hadley Wood area. Some areas (smaller than local government wards) in the south of the constituency have middle rankings of deprivation when placed in a complete list of wards (such as the 2000 Index of Multiple Deprivation), however all other output areas lack any significant deprivation.[6]
1974–1983: The London Borough of Enfield wards of Arnos, Bowes, Cockfosters, Grange, Highfield, Oakwood, Palmers Green, Southgate Green, West, and Winchmore Hill.
1983–2010: The London Borough of Enfield wards of Arnos, Bowes, Grange, Grovelands, Highfield, Merryhills, Oakwood, Palmers Green, Southgate Green, Trent, and Winchmore Hill.
2010–present: The London Borough of Enfield wards of Bowes, Cockfosters, Grange, Palmers Green, Southgate, Southgate Green, and Winchmore Hill.
Boundary review
5th Boundary review 2000–2007
Pre-2010 form of the seat, at centre. (Results shown: 2001)
The Boundary Commission for England recommended changes, which were approved, to the seat and effective from 2010. Part of Highlands ward went to Enfield North; part of Grange ward came in reverse. Parts of Grange; Bowes; and Palmers Green wards were added to the seat from Edmonton. Part of wards: Bush Hill Park and Upper Edmonton supplemented Edmonton.
^"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.
^"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – London | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
^"Conservative Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
^ ab"Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Labour Market Statistics".
^"Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^"Enfield Southgate Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^"Enfield Southgate parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
^"Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Election Results for Enfield Southgate, 7 May 2015". 7 May 2015.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1983-87 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
^"Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.