Lewisham Deptford
2010 Results:
Conservative: 5551 (13.47%)
Labour: 22132 (53.69%)
Liberal Democrat: 9633 (23.37%)
Green: 2772 (6.72%)
Others: 1132 (2.75%)
Majority: 12499 (30.32%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 19044 (55.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 5899 (17.2%)
Conservative: 4392 (12.8%)
Other: 4951 (14.4%)
Majority: 13146 (38.3%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 3773 (12.4%)
Labour: 16902 (55.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 5091 (16.8%)
Green: 3367 (11.1%)
UKIP: 518 (1.7%)
Other: 742 (2.4%)
Majority: 11811 (38.9%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 3622 (12.4%)
Labour: 18915 (65%)
Liberal Democrat: 3409 (11.7%)
Green: 1901 (6.5%)
Other: 1260 (4.3%)
Majority: 15293 (52.5%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 4949 (14.7%)
Labour: 23827 (70.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 3004 (8.9%)
Referendum: 868 (2.6%)
Other: 996 (3%)
Majority: 18878 (56.1%)
Boundary changes: Gains most of Lewisham Central from Lewisham East and part of Crofton Park from Lewisham West. Loses part of Rushey Green to Lewisham East.
Profile: Lewisham Deptford runs from the river Thames, through areas of inner city poverty to the beginnings of suburbia in the south. To the north Deptford and New Cross have a trendy arts and music scene and are popular with students and artists, but beyond that they are areas of desolate council housing and deprivation with a large black population. There are severe problems with housing and poverty – the Pepys estate here was recently the focus of the BBC documentary The Tower, chronicling the beginnings of regeneration in the area.
Further south areas like Brockley are beginning to follow the familar pattern of gentrification. Old victorian properties that had been divided up into flats and houses of multiple occupancy in the last century are now being bought up by young urban professionals attracted by cheap prices and the new transport links offered by the Docklands extention. For the time being though this is safe Labour territory, though there is substantial support for the Green party who managed their second strongest performance in the country here at the last election. Along with Brighton Pavillon and Norwich South it is one of the party`s three targetted seats for the next election.
Current MP: Joan Ruddock(Labour) born 1943, Pontypool. Educated at Pontypool Grammar and Imperial College. Former chair of CND. First elected as MP for Lewisham Deptford in 1987. Undersecretary of state at Defra since 2007. She is the partner of Frank Doran, the MP for Aberdeen North (more information at They work for you)
Gemma Townsend (Conservative) Joan Ruddock(Labour) born 1943, Pontypool. Educated at Pontypool Grammar and Imperial College. Former chair of CND. First elected as MP for Lewisham Deptford in 1987. Undersecretary of state at Defra since 2007. She is the partner of Frank Doran, the MP for Aberdeen North (more information at They work for you)
Tamora Langley (Liberal Democrat) Public affairs director
Darren Johnson (Green) born 1966 Educated at Goldsmiths College. Principle speaker for the Green party 2002. Contested London mayoral election 2000, 2004. List London Assembly member since 2000. Lewisham councillor since 2002 and leader of the Green group on Lewisham council. 
Malcolm Martin (CPA) Ian Page (Socialist Alternative)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 97252
Male: 48.6%
Female: 51.4%
Under 18: 23.4%
Over 60: 11.6%
Born outside UK: 30.1%
White: 57.2%
Black: 30.2%
Asian: 3.8%
Mixed: 4.5%
Other: 4.3%
Christian: 57.7%
Hindu: 1.5%
Muslim: 5.6%
Full time students: 9.6%
Graduates 16-74: 32.9%
No Qualifications 16-74: 22.9%
Owner-Occupied: 41.3%
Social Housing: 41.5% (Council: 30.3%, Housing Ass.: 11.2%)
Privately Rented: 15%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 10.7%
Lab hold 5000 over Green
Another seat I had to mix my model around for
LAB HOLD
A disaster for the Greens. I hate to say this, because I know the guy (I sat alongside him in Lewisham Council when I was a LibDem councillor there), but the Greens in London really do need to consider why they’ve pushed Darren Johnson as their front man when he clearly seems out of his depth. He’s had the advantage of his Borough and GLA seats, but has not been able to work on that. This could have been another Brighton Pavilion but it was not, and I have to say in my opinion that’s because Darren lacks the political skills that Caroline Lucas has.
That may be so, but the demography of the 2 seats is very different indeed. It may just be that this seat is too naturally Labour to be a genuine target for the Greens. I’d have thought a more collegiate seat (as Brighton Pavilion is for example) would be more fruitful.
The Greens were badly squeezed in most places and their vote rose only in a few places – Brighton obviously, Norwich and Cambridge. They did do especially badly in London seats where they had performed well before such as the Hackney and Islington seats where many of their erstwhile voters must have returned to their natural home (Labour).
Darren Johnson did do well in one respect at least in holding onto his council seat when very few councillors from parties outside the big three (plus some Independents/Residents) did. The BNP lost all their seats in London, Respect lost all bar one, the CPA lost their seats in Newham and the Socialists lost their seats in this very constituency. The Greens lost their seats in Hackney, Islington, Lambeth and Southwark and 5 out of 6 seats they held here. The only other seat they held was one in HIghgate ward of Camden. This was an almost inevitable consequence of having the local elections in London on the same day as the general election which brought out a larger pool of voters who inevitably voted largely in line with their national voting preference (which in an area like Brockley and the rest of this seat would be Labour)
Greens did a lot worse than I thought they would. Have to remember this was the sort of election where the smaller parties get squeezed and the debates would have amplified that effect.
The snowy winter won’t have helped either
Pete – do you by any chance know where the 2 only successful BNP candidates this year were elected? Thanks.
One was in Pendle not sure about the other
Oh the other was in bradford – Queensbury ward. Surprised about that actually thought the Tories would gain it
[...] Despite us saying the idea of a Green win in Lewisham Deptford wasn’t completely ludicrous, Darren Johnson dropped 595 votes – but for a real idea of what happened to the small parties, we need to [...]