Vauxhall
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 17666 (51.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 9132 (26.8%)
Conservative: 5065 (14.9%)
Other: 2194 (6.4%)
Majority: 8534 (25.1%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 5405 (14.5%)
Labour: 19744 (52.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 9767 (26.1%)
Green: 1705 (4.6%)
UKIP: 271 (0.7%)
Other: 461 (1.2%)
Majority: 9977 (26.7%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 4489 (13.4%)
Labour: 19738 (59.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 6720 (20.1%)
Green: 1485 (4.4%)
Other: 960 (2.9%)
Majority: 13018 (39%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 5942 (15.2%)
Labour: 24920 (63.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 6260 (16%)
Other: 1944 (5%)
Majority: 18660 (47.8%)
Boundary changes: Loses part of Coldharbour and Herne Hill to Dulwich and West Norwood.
Profile: An inner-city seat in Lambeth that faces Westminster across the river Thames. It includes Waterloo, Kennington, North Clapham, Vauxhall, Stockwell and parts of Brixton. The north of the seat is dominated by well known landmarks like the London Eye, St Thomas`s hospital, the redeveloped South Bank complex, County Hall, the Imperial War Museum and Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Close to the river at Vauxhall itself and the Oval at Kennington there is some gentrification due to the proximity to Westminster (it is a popular place for MPs and civil servants to live), but the majority of the seat is far more troubled – crime ridden council estates and grim terraces that struggle with crime and drugs problems. Over a quarter of the population is afro-carribean and there is also a large Portuguese community in the seat, largely around Stockwell.
The Liberal Democrats had advanced in this seat at a local level after 1994, however it swung back towards Labour in 2006. At a Parliamentary level it is solidly Labour having returned Labour MPs since its creation in 1950.
Outgoing MP: Kate Hoey(Labour) born 1946, County Antrim. Educated at Belfast Royal Academy and Ulster College of Physical Education. Contested Dulwich 1983, 1987. First elected as MP for Vauxhall in 1989 by-election. PPS to Frank Field 1997-1998, junior minister in the home office 1998-1999, sports minister 1999-2001. Hoey started out as a left winger – she supported Tony Benn in the 1981 Deputy Leadership election. In more recent years she – along with her former boss Frank Field – is invariably citied as a favourite Labour MP by Conservative activists, she is a euro-sceptic who supports grammar schools in Northern Ireland, supports fox hunting, opposes ID cards and the congestion charge and is a regular rebel against the Labour whip. Chairman of the Countryside Alliance since 2005 (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: 
Glyn Chambers (Conservative) Contested Belfast East in 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
Candidates: Glyn Chambers (Conservative) Contested Belfast East in 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
Kate Hoey(Labour) born 1946, County Antrim. Educated at Belfast Royal Academy and Ulster College of Physical Education. Contested Dulwich 1983, 1987. First elected as MP for Vauxhall in 1989 by-election. PPS to Frank Field 1997-1998, junior minister in the home office 1998-1999, sports minister 1999-2001. Hoey started out as a left winger – she supported Tony Benn in the 1981 Deputy Leadership election. In more recent years she – along with her former boss Frank Field – is invariably citied as a favourite Labour MP by Conservative activists, she is a euro-sceptic who supports grammar schools in Northern Ireland, supports fox hunting, opposes ID cards and the congestion charge and is a regular rebel against the Labour whip. Chairman of the Countryside Alliance since 2005 (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Glyn Chambers (Conservative) Contested Belfast East in 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat) born 1972. Educated at Thornden Secondary School and University of Wales Aberystwyth. Former political researcher. Southwark councillor since 1998. Contested Dulwich and West Norwood 2001. GLA candidate in Lambeth and Southwark 2004. Londonwide member of the GLA since 2008.
Joseph Healy (Green) born Dublin. Contested London in 2004, 2009 European elections.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 99537
Male: 49.9%
Female: 50.1%
Under 18: 20.8%
Over 60: 12.1%
Born outside UK: 34.2%
White: 61.1%
Black: 28.2%
Asian: 3.1%
Mixed: 4.5%
Other: 3.1%
Christian: 60.7%
Hindu: 0.6%
Muslim: 5.3%
Full time students: 8%
Graduates 16-74: 41.3%
No Qualifications 16-74: 21.2%
Owner-Occupied: 28.3%
Social Housing: 50.8% (Council: 36.3%, Housing Ass.: 14.5%)
Privately Rented: 17%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 10.7%
I think the African family unit is still very much in tact and respect for parents is ingrained in the children. Most Nigerian and Ghanaian families are also still church-going and the children regard this as normal, whereas I imagine church attendance has tailed off amongst younger Caribbean-origin people.
There is evidence that some black African youth is succombing to street culture, but I think still less so thanother ethnic groups. This may well change in the future, as their roots in the country go deeper and and the (extended) family unit perhaps plays a reduced role. But, don’t forget, African children are quite high achievers at school and may well move seamlessly into the middle-classes of the future.
In short, I think Africans and Caribbeans are probably two quite different demographics except with some exceptions in the melting pot of the extreme inner city.
Am I right in thinking that Lambeth Palace was in the former constituency of Lambeth North for the whole of its existence and Vauxhall since? The ward which currently includes it is appropriately named Bishop’s!
Pretty sure yes. There was a bit of a surprise when it was reported that Robert Runcie had voted in a General Election some years ago. Conventionally a bishop with a seat in the House of Lords would not vote in a Westminster election.
Which seats have contained present-day Clapham Town ward, again were they Lambeth N and then this one?
Clapham Town would have been in Wandsworth Clapham until Feb 1974, then Lambeth Central from 1974 – 1983. It would then have been in Vauxhall from 1983.
http://greenmpforvauxhall.blogspot.com/
Here’s the Green candidate Joseph Healy’s blog.
Not quite sure why you haven’t picked up yet that the Socialist Party is contesting this seat again as in 2005. Here’s the candidate’s (Danny Lambert) blog : http://spgb.blogspot.com/
Am I right in thinking that Lambeth Palace and Bishop’s ward were in Lambeth North for the whole of that seat’s existence and Vauxhall since? I think Barnaby said yes upthread, but could Pete confirm this?
I’m learning all the time.. never realised there was a specific Portugese community in London.
Now I come to think of it, it does sort of add if with the poor Brazilian guy who was shot at Stockwell tube station, and why he would have been living there
Yes that is correct.
George Strauss was MP for both seats – first elected for Lambeth North in 1929 and retired as MP for Vauxhall in 1979. He was father of the House in the 1974-79 parliament, although he had an interregnum from 1931 to 1934. He was also the father of an extremely attractive daughter, according to my own father who IIRC was a contemporary of hers at the LSE.