Camberwell and Peckham (UK Parliament constituency)

Camberwell and Peckham is a constituency^{[n 1][n 2]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 creation by Harriet Harman of the Labour Party. Harman had served for the previous constituency of Peckham since 1982. She is a former cabinet minister and the "Mother of the House of Commons", having the longest record of continuous service of any female MP.

Camberwell and Peckham
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Camberwell and Peckham in Greater London
County	Greater London
Population	125,226 (2011 census)^[1]
Electorate	78,605 (December 2010)^[2]
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Harriet Harman (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Peckham

Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency will be subject to major boundary changes, including the loss of the Camberwell Green ward to Vauxhall. Accordingly, its name will revert to Peckham, to be first contested at the next general election.^[3]

Constituency profile

 

Peckham

The constituency is very ethnically diverse, and has the highest proportion of black, African, and Afro-Caribbean residents of all constituencies in England and Wales, according to Office for National Statistics 2011 Census figures, at 37.4%. This includes 22.4% being African (highest), 9.3% being Caribbean and 5.7% being of any other black background (highest). More than two-fifths (40.8%) of residents were born outside of the UK.

With 50.6% of all residential properties being social housing, it also has the highest proportion of social housing of any parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. More than three in 10 residents are single parents.

The area is also socially diverse with fine Georgian houses in parts of Camberwell, while Nunhead to the east has experienced considerable regeneration in recent years.

At least two conservation area groupings exist containing pockets of upmarket housing stock, principally Camberwell Grove and Camberwell Green.^[4] The housing stock has expanded in the early-21st century due to major increases in Central London property prices, which has led to new private sector-funded housing initiatives. As such, rents across the private rented sector have multiplied, affecting its long-term communities who have entrenched high reliance overall on the rented sector, pushing residents away by eviction or further away from owning their own homes near to their communities.^[5]

King's College Hospital, one of London's largest teaching hospitals, and the Maudsley Hospital are major employers in the constituency. One in seven residents are employed in human health and social work.

Camberwell and Peckham
Racial makeup (2021)^[6]
• White	44.8%
• Black	33.5%
• Asian	7.7%
• Mixed	7.5%
• Other	6.5%

Boundaries

 

Map of present boundaries

1997–2010: The London Borough of Southwark wards of Barset, Brunswick, Consort, Faraday, Friary, Liddle, St Giles, The Lane, and Waverley.

2010–present: The London Borough of Southwark wards of Brunswick Park, Camberwell Green, Faraday, Livesey, Nunhead, Peckham, Peckham Rye, South Camberwell, and The Lane.

The constituency incorporates the areas of Camberwell, Peckham and Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark, together with parts of its other districts of Walworth, East Dulwich, South Bermondsey and Rotherhithe.

Political history

The constituency was created in 1997. All results since 1997 have been strong Labour Party majorities of 36.8% of the vote or greater. As the predecessor seats were Labour (in this instance the length of party tenure can be dated to 1936) and council wards tend to have strong majorities for the party, the seat has the three main hallmarks of a safe seat.

Its only MP to date is Harriet Harman, a former Cabinet minister and former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, twice its acting leader during leadership elections in 2010 and 2015, and former Shadow Culture Secretary. She had been the MP for the preceding constituency of Peckham since a by-election in 1982.

Members of Parliament

 

Harriet Harman, Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham

Election		Member^[7]	Party
	1997	Harriet Harman	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Camberwell and Peckham^[8][9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Harman	40,258	71.3	–6.5
	Conservative	Peter Quentin	6,478	11.5	–1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Ogiehor	5,087	9.0	+3.1
	Green	Claire Sheppard	3,501	6.2	+3.4
	Brexit Party	Claude Cass-Horne	1,041	1.8	New
	Workers Revolutionary	Joshua Ogunleye	127	0.2	0.0
Majority			33,780	59.8	–5.2
Turnout			56,492	63.4	–3.7
Registered electors			89,042
	Labour hold		Swing	–2.6

General election 2017: Camberwell and Peckham^[11][12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Harman	44,665	77.8	+14.5
	Conservative	Ben Spencer	7,349	12.8	–0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Bukola	3,413	5.9	+0.9
	Green	Eleanor Margolies	1,627	2.8	–7.3
	CPA	Ray Towey	227	0.4	New
	Workers Revolutionary	Sellu Aminata	131	0.2	New
Majority			37,316	65.0	+14.9
Turnout			57,412	67.1	+4.8
Registered electors			85,613
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.5

General election 2015: Camberwell and Peckham^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Harman	32,614	63.3	+4.1
	Conservative	Naomi Newstead	6,790	13.2	+0.2
	Green	Amelia Womack	5,187	10.1	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Yahaya Kiyingi	2,580	5.0	–17.4
	UKIP	David Kurten	2,413	4.7	New
	All People's Party	Prem Goyal	829	1.6	New
	NHA	Rebecca Fox	466	0.9	New
	TUSC	Nick Wrack	292	0.6	New
	CISTA	Alex Robertson	197	0.4	New
	Workers Revolutionary	Joshua Ogunleye	107	0.2	–0.3
	Whig	Felicity Anscomb	86	0.2	New
Majority			25,824	50.1	+11.3
Turnout			51,561	62.3	+3.0
Registered electors			82,746
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 2010: Camberwell and Peckham^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Harman	27,619	59.2	–4.1
	Liberal Democrats	Columba Blango	10,432	22.4	+1.9
	Conservative	Andrew Stranack	6,080	13.0	+4.2
	Green	Jenny Jones	1,361	2.9	–1.7
	English Democrat	Yohara Munilla	435	0.9	New
	Workers Revolutionary	Joshua Ogunleye	211	0.5	+0.2
	Socialist Labour	Margaret M. Sharkey	184	0.4	–0.1
	Independent	Decima Francis	93	0.2	New
	Independent	Steven Robbins	87	0.2	New
	No description	Patricia Knox	82	0.2	New
	Alliance for Workers' Liberty	Jill Mountford	75	0.2	New
Majority			17,187	36.8	–9.7
Turnout			46,659	59.3	+7.3
Registered electors			78,627
	Labour hold		Swing	–3.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Camberwell and Peckham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Harman	18,933	65.3	–4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Richard J. Porter	5,450	18.8	+5.5
	Conservative	Jessica Lee	2,841	9.8	–1.1
	Green	Paul M. Ingram	1,172	4.0	+0.8
	UKIP	Derek Penhallow	350	1.2	New
	Socialist Labour	Margaret M. Sharkey	132	0.5	–0.2
	Workers Revolutionary	Sanjay M. Kulkarni	113	0.4	+0.1
Majority			13,483	46.5	–9.8
Turnout			28,991	52.0	+5.2
Registered electors			57,079
	Labour hold		Swing	–4.9

General election 2001: Camberwell and Peckham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Harman	17,473	69.6	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Donnachadh McCarthy	3,350	13.3	+2.1
	Conservative	Jonathan Morgan	2,740	10.9	–0.7
	Green	Störm Poorun	805	3.2	New
	Socialist Alliance	John Mulrenan	478	1.9	New
	Socialist Labour	Robert Adams	188	0.7	–1.7
	Workers Revolutionary	Frank Sweeney	70	0.3	–0.1
Majority			14,123	56.3	–1.6
Turnout			25,104	46.8	–8.5
Registered electors			53,687
	Labour hold		Swing	–1.0

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Camberwell and Peckham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harriet Harman	19,734	69.5
	Conservative	Kim Humphreys	3,283	11.6
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel P. Williams	3,198	11.2
	Referendum	Nicholas A. China	692	2.4
	Socialist Labour	Angela M. Ruddock	685	2.4
	Liberal	Gerry A. Williams	443	1.6
	Socialist Alternative	Joan Barker	233	0.8
	Workers Revolutionary	Christopher Eames	106	0.4
Majority			16,451	57.9
Turnout			28,374	55.3
Registered electors			51,313
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London
• Southwark local elections

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Camberwell and Peckham: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
2. . 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. "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.
4. Conservation Area Appraisals 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine Southwark Council. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
5. Poverty and wealth across Britain 1968 to 2005 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 16 July 2007.
6. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/topic/home-affairs/communities/demography/census/
8. "UK Parliamentary General Election 2019". Southwark Council. from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
9. "Camberwell & Peckham Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
10. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
11. "Camberwell & Peckham parliamentary constituency". BBC News. from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
12. "Camberwell & Peckham general election results 2017". BBC News. from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
13. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
14. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. Election of a Member of Parliament - Camberwell and Peckham Constituency 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine London Borough of Southwark, 20 April 2010

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Camberwell and Peckham — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
• UK General Elections since 1832 Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources
• (election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (election results from 1955 onwards)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Witney	Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition 11 May – 25 September 2010	Succeeded by Doncaster North
Preceded by Doncaster North	Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition 8 May – 12 September 2015	Succeeded by Islington North

51°28′30″N 0°04′12″W / 51.475°N 0.070°W / 51.475; -0.070