Enfield Southgate is a constituency 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 ...

. It was created in 1950 as Southgate, and has been represented since 2017 by

Bambos Charalambous Charalambos "Bambos" Charalambous (born 2 December 1967) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate since 2017, and the Shadow Minister for the Middle East and North Africa since 2021. ...

, a member of the Labour Party.

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 Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo (; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as '' Great British Railway Journeys'' and '' Great Continental Railway Jour ...

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...

was unexpectedly defeated on a massive swing - the '

Portillo moment The Portillo moment was the dramatic declaration of the result for the Enfield Southgate constituency in the 1997 UK general election, at around 3:10 am on 2 May 1997. The Labour candidate Stephen Twigg defeated the sitting MP, Conservative ca ...

'. 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 Stephen Twigg (born 25 December 1966) is a British Labour Co-op politician who was Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, and for Liverpool West Derby from 2010 to 2019. He came to national prominence in 1997 by winning ...

, 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 David John Barrington Burrowes (born 12 June 1969) is a British politician. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 2005 to 2017, is the co-founder of the Conservative Christian Fellowship. He has been the Chai ...

. The 2015 result gave the seat the 60th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority, 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 Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

, Leeds North West,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and Reading East, which elected Labour MPs in 2017 having not done so since 2001. Bambos Charalambous in 2019 became the first Labour MP in Enfield Southgate to be re-elected with a reduced share of the vote.

Constituency profile

This constituency is located in the western parts 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 ...

. 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 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic. 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. It has significant Jewish, Muslim and Cypriot communities. In recent years, the south-eastern and southern wards of the constituency, including Bowes and

Palmers Green Palmers Green is a suburban area and electoral ward in North London, England, within the London Borough of Enfield. It is located within the N13 postcode district, around north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cy ...

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. To the north, the seat is semi-rural taking in Trent Park and the former campus of Middlesex University, and the

Cockfosters Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the London Borough of Enfield and partly in the London Borough of Barnet. Before 1965, it was in the counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Origins ...

terminus of the Piccadilly line, stretching into the wealthy

Hadley Wood Hadley Wood is an affluent suburb in the north of Greater London, close to the border with Hertfordshire. It appears to be a stand-alone village surrounded by Green Belt land, however, under the Local Government Act 1972 it is part of the ...

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.

Boundaries

Final Middlesex constituencies (1955-74)

1950–1974: The

Municipal Borough of Southgate Southgate was a local government district of Middlesex from 1881 to 1965. It was part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District. Incorporation and development The area was historically part of the parish of Edmonton, which ...

. 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

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 ...

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 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 ...

. Part of wards: Bush Hill Park and Upper Edmonton supplemented Edmonton.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Graphical representation

Notes

References

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Enfield Southgate (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in London Politics of the London Borough of Enfield Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Southgate, London