Enfield North is a peripheral Greater London constituency created in 1974 and represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. T ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

since 2019 by

Feryal Clark Feryal Demirci Clark (; ' Demirci; born 6 January 1979) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield North since 2019. Early life Clark was born in Turkey to Alevi Kurdish parents with roots in ...

of the Labour Party.

Constituency profile

The northernmost seat in Greater London, Enfield North is deeply suburban, almost village-like in parts, particularly its rolling terrain, including Gordon Hill and Carterhatch. Green belt legislation has kept housing development at bay, and the area has much in common with the adjoining county of Hertfordshire. The tree-lined avenues of

Enfield Chase Enfield Chase is an area of Enfield that is named for a former royal hunting ground. Much of the former area of the Chase has been developed, but a large part survives between Cockfosters in the west and Enfield in the east as Trent Country ...

are also quiet and affluent. However, much of the eastern part of the constituency is in the

Lea Valley The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, in ...

industrial area, and includes some small areas with significant levels of multiple deprivation.

History

The seat was created for the February 1974 election from the former seats of Enfield West and Enfield East. The former was a safe

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

seat, at one point represented by Iain Macleod, whereas the latter was a secure

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

seat. From its creation up until 2015, Enfield North was somewhat a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

of the national result; it elected Labour MPs at both the 1974 elections, was taken by the Conservatives and held by comfortable margins in every election from 1979 to 1992, before being won back by Labour in 1997 (albeit with relatively narrow majorities throughout the party's time in government) and narrowly going to the Conservatives in 2010 in an election which nationally saw a

hung Parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...

. In 2015, however, the Conservatives lost the seat to Labour in an election which nationally saw them win an overall majority. Boundary alterations based on an increased population within the existing area made the seat notionally Conservative before the 6 May 2010 election, and Nick de Bois won the seat. However, the former Labour MP Joan Ryan, who sat for the constituency from 1997 to 2010, regained it in 2015. The 2015 result gave the seat the 13th most marginal majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. De Bois and Ryan stood against each other in this seat over five general elections, between 2001 and 2017, with Ryan winning four of those five.

Boundaries

1974–1983: The London Borough of Enfield wards of Bullsmoor, Bush Hill, Cambridge Road, Chase, Enfield Wash, Green Street, Ordnance, Ponders End, Town, and Willow. 1983–2010: The London Borough of Enfield wards of Bullsmoor, Chase, Enfield Lock, Enfield Wash, Green Street, Hoe Lane, Ponders End, Southbury, Town, Willow, and Worcesters. 2010–present: The London Borough of Enfield wards of Chase, Enfield Highway, Enfield Lock, Highlands, Southbury, Town, and Turkey Street. The constituency is set in the northern third of the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London borough in North London. It borders the London boroughs of Barnet to the west, Haringey to the south, and Waltham Forest to the southeast. To the north are the districts of Hertsmere, Welwyn Hat ...

, stretching from

in the west, and the

King George V Reservoir The King George V Reservoir, also known as King George's Reservoir, is located in the London Borough of Enfield and is part of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain that supplies London with drinking water. The storage reservoir is bordered by Sewardsto ...

in the east, incorporating

Brimsdown Brimsdown is a neighbourhood of eastern Enfield in the London Borough of Enfield, north London, on the west side of the mid-to-lower Lea Valley. Geography The east of Brimsdown, that is, east of the eastern Lea Valley line is one of the borough ...

Enfield Lock Enfield Lock is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. It is approximately located east of the Hertford Road between Turkey Street and the Holmesdale Tunnel overpass, and extends to the River Lee Navigation, including the Enfi ...

, and the M25 motorway interchange at the boundary with the borough of

Broxbourne Broxbourne is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Hoddesdon, in the Broxbourne district, in Hertfordshire, England, north of London, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 I ...

to the north.

Boundary review

Following its review of parliamentary representation in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

, the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for ...

made boundary changes to Enfield North for the 2010 general election. Part of Highlands ward was transferred to Enfield North from the constituency of Enfield, Southgate. Part of Grange ward was transferred to Enfield, Southgate. Ponders End ward was transferred to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, and part of Southbury ward was transferred from

to Enfield North.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Notes

References

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Enfield North (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of the London Borough of Enfield Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974