Walthamstow ( Contemp. and Cons. RP: , Est. Eng.: //) is a constituency created in 1974 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 2010 by Stella Creasy, a member of the Labour Co-op party. An earlier version of the constituency existed covering a significantly different area (1885–1918) and was among the vast majority by that time returning one member to the House of Commons.

Boundaries

1885–1918

The South-Western or Walthamstow Division of the parliamentary county of Essex was created by the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, when the existing seat of South Essex was divided into three single-member constituencies. The constituency consisted of the three

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

es of

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

, Wanstead and Walthamstow. The area lay on the periphery of the London conurbation and became increasingly suburban over its existence. The seat was abolished under the Representation of the People Act 1918. Two new constituencies were created with

Walthamstow Urban District Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South ...

divided between Walthamstow East and Walthamstow West.

1974 – date

1974–1983: The London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of Higham Hill, High Street, Hoe Street, St James Street, and Wood Street. 1983–1997: As above plus Lloyd Park. 1997–2010: As above plus Chapel End and Lea Bridge. 2010–present: The London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of Chapel End, Higham Hill, High Street, Hoe Street, Lea Bridge, Markhouse, William Morris, and Wood Street.

History

The seat has been represented by the Labour Party since 1992, before which it was won on a marginal majority in 1987 by a

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 ...

, having until then (since its 1974 recreation as a seat) been served by one Labour MP,

Eric Deakins Eric Petro Deakins (born 7 October 1932) is a British Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Walthamstow West from 1970 to February 1974, and Walthamstow from that election until 1987. He has also worked as an internation ...

. In 2015, Creasy's re-election saw Walthamstow become Labours' second-safest London seat, and tenth-safest nationally.

Prominent frontbenchers

Stella Creasy, the present member, was the Shadow Minister for Crime Prevention.

Constituency profile

The seat is the part of

Outer London Outer London is the name for the group of London boroughs that form a ring around Inner London. Together, the inner and outer boroughs form London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. These were areas that were not part of the County of Londo ...

closest to Stratford, with its international rail connections, major city shopping centre and London's Olympic Park. To the East the seat borders Walthamstow Forest and Gilbert's Slade, thin sections of

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

, and to the West, 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 ...

. The eponymous district had as its open space feature a greyhound racing track, which has been redeveloped into a modernist housing and green space scheme. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly higher than the national average of 3.8% and Greater London average of 4%, at 7.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.Unemployment claimants by constituency
''

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

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; *Liberal:

Emslie Horniman Emslie John Horniman (1863 – 11 July 1932) was a British anthropologist, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician. The son of Frederick Horniman, sometime Liberal member of parliament for Penryn and Falmouth, Horniman was educated priv ...

*Unionist: Stanley Johnson

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

Notes

References

;Specific ;General *

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Walthamstow (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of the London Borough of Waltham Forest Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 Walthamstow