Vauxhall

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.

Current 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.

2010 election 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.
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.
Jose Navarro (English Democrat)
Larna Martin (Christian Party)
Jeremy Drinkall (Anticapitalists – Workers Power) Teaching assistant.
James Kapetanos (Animal Protection)
Daniel Lambert (Socialist)