Hornsey and Wood Green was a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

created in 1983 and represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

from 2015 until its abolition for the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

Catherine West Catherine Elizabeth West (born 14 September 1966) is an Australian-born British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Friern Barnet, previously Hornsey and Wood Green, since 2015. A member of the Labour Party ...

, of the Labour Party. Under the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, the majority of the constituency was incorporated into the newly created seat of

Hornsey and Friern Barnet Hornsey and Friern Barnet is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. Boundaries The con ...

, with the district of

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...

to be included in the new

Southgate and Wood Green Southgate and Wood Green is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament, created by the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. It was first contested at the 2024 general election. Boundaries The constituency is comp ...

constituency, and

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

ward in the re-established seat of

Hampstead and Highgate Hampstead and Highgate is a parliamentary constituency covering the northern half of the London Borough of Camden, and a small part of the London Borough of Haringey. It includes the villages of Hampstead and Highgate. It has been represented by ...

Boundaries

1983–2010: The London Borough of Haringey wards of Alexandra, Archway, Bowes Park, Crouch End, Fortis Green, Highgate, Hornsey Central, Hornsey Vale, Muswell Hill, Noel Park, South Hornsey, Woodside. 2010–2024: The London Borough of Haringey wards of Alexandra, Bounds Green, Crouch End, Fortis Green, Highgate, Hornsey, Muswell Hill, Noel Park, Stroud Green, Woodside.

Constituency profile

The constituency covered the western part of the

London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey ( , same as Harringay) is a London boroughs, London borough in north London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation ...

, stretching from

in the south west of the seat, through

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, England, from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described as one of "a new breed of urban villages" in London ...

and

in the north east corner of the seat. More out-of-work benefits reliance (8.9%) exists in the seat than the London average (8.4%, which is compares to 6.4% nationally in April 2021) and among those aged 18 to 24 the percentage is 12.7% in the seat during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic recovery. Women, living in the constituency, working full time at this time earned £102 per week more than men, earning 98% of the London average pay; whereas for men the figure was 79% of London's average pay and which was £50 below the national average. ;Political history The seat created in 1983 has had representation by the three largest English political parties at Westminster. The win from the incumbent

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

in 2015 by Labour Party's candidate was a strong swing and made the seat the 137th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. ;2016 EU Referendum In the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

, the constituency is estimated to have voted between 66% and 82% to Remain in the EU.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from the safe Conservative seat of

Hornsey Hornsey () is a district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood to the west and Alexand ...

and the more Labour-inclined

. In those boundary changes the Wood Green seat was broadly divided into two, with half being merged with Hornsey and the rest being transferred to the neighbouring constituency of

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, to the east — a very small part of the Hornsey seat was also transferred to Tottenham at the same time. This was a Conservative Party seat until 1992 but by 1997 swung so heavily it suggested a Labour Party

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

— Barbara Roche enjoyed a majority of over 20,000. The Liberal Democrats, however, supplanted those parties in the area, both at Parliamentary level where they won the seat in 2005 and held it until 2015; and in local terms. At the 2015 election this seat had the lowest combined Conservative and UKIP percentage in England (11.45%). The seat had a large swing to Labour of over 15% in the 2017 general election, similar to that of two years earlier, meaning it now has a history of political volatility; in five out of the last seven general elections, there have been swings to Labour or the Liberal Democrats of between 13 and 16%.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Notes

References

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards)

(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 51.590, -0.133, type:landmark_region:GB-HRY, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024 Politics of the London Borough of Haringey Hornsey Wood Green