Enfield Southgate (UK Parliament constituency)

Enfield Southgate was a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created in 1950 as Southgate.

Enfield Southgate
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Enfield Southgate in Greater London
County	Greater London
Electorate	64,932 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of Parliament	Bambos Charalambous (Labour)
Created from	Enfield (western minority; on abolition) and Wood Green (bulk of; on abolition)

In the 1997 United Kingdom general election, it returned a memorable result when prominent Conservative Michael Portillo lost the previously safe seat to Stephen Twigg of the Labour Party.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the majority of the seat was incorporated into the new constituency of Southgate and Wood Green.^[2]

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. In 1984, Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry who represented Enfield Southgate was killed in the Brighton hotel bombing by the Provisional IRA, triggering a by-election.

It was regarded as a safe seat for the Conservative party, but it gained national attention in the 1997 general election when Michael Portillo, Secretary of State for Defence was unexpectedly defeated on a massive swing - the 'Portillo moment'. 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, 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.

The 2015 result gave the seat the 60th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority,^[3] 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, Leeds North West, Peterborough and Reading East, which elected Labour MPs in 2017 having not done so since 2001.

Constituency profile

This constituency is located in the western parts of the London Borough of Enfield. 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 pandemic.^[4] 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.^[4] It has significant Jewish, Muslim and Cypriot communities.^{[n 1]}

In recent years^[when?], the south-eastern and southern wards of the constituency, including Bowes and Palmers Green 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.^[5]

To the north, the seat is semi-rural taking in Trent Park and the former campus of Middlesex University, and the Cockfosters terminus of the Piccadilly line, stretching into the wealthy Hadley Wood 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.^[6]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

1950–1974: The Municipal Borough of Southgate.

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.

2010–2024: The London Borough of Enfield wards of Bowes, Cockfosters, Grange, Palmers Green, Southgate, Southgate Green, and Winchmore Hill.

2007 boundary review

Pre-2010 form of the seat, at centre. (Results shown: 2001)

The Boundary Commission for England recommended changes to the seat, which were approved 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. Part of wards: Bush Hill Park and Upper Edmonton supplemented Edmonton.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Sir Beverley Baxter	Conservative
	1964	Sir Anthony Berry	Conservative
	1984 by-election	Michael Portillo	Conservative
	1997	Stephen Twigg	Labour
	2005	David Burrowes	Conservative
	2017	Bambos Charalambous	Labour
	2023		Independent
	2024		Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Enfield Southgate^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bambos Charalambous	22,923	48.5	−3.2
	Conservative	David Burrowes	18,473	39.1	−3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Wilson	4,344	9.2	+5.2
	Green	Luke Balnave	1,042	2.2	+0.6
	Brexit Party	Parag Shah	494	1.0	New
Majority			4,450	9.4	+0.4
Turnout			47,726	72.7	−1.4
Registered electors			65,055
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

General election 2017: Enfield Southgate^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bambos Charalambous	24,989	51.7	+12.7
	Conservative	David Burrowes	20,634	42.7	−6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Pippa Morgan	1,925	4.0	+0.7
	Green	David Flint	780	1.6	−2.1
Majority			4,355	9.0	N/A
Turnout			48,328	74.1	+3.6
Registered electors			65,210
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.7

General election 2015: Enfield Southgate^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Burrowes	22,624	49.4	0.0
	Labour	Bambos Charalambous	17,871	39.0	+6.8
	UKIP	David Schofield	2,109	4.6	+3.5
	Green	Jean Robertson-Molloy	1,690	3.7	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Smith	1,518	3.3	−10.5
Majority			4,753	10.4	−6.8
Turnout			45,812	70.5	+1.3
Registered electors			64,937
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.4

General election 2010: Enfield Southgate^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Burrowes	21,928	49.4	+5.7
	Labour	Bambos Charalambous	14,302	32.2	−8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Johar Khan	6,124	13.8	+2.7
	Green	Peter Krakowiak	632	1.4	−1.4
	UKIP	Bob Brock	505	1.1	−0.1
	Independent	Asit Mukhopadhyay	391	0.9	New
	Respect	Samad Billoo	174	0.4	New
	English Democrat	Ben Weald	173	0.4	New
	Independent	Mal 'the Warrior' Malakounides	88	0.2	New
	Better Britain Party	Jeremy Sturgess	35	0.1	New
Majority			7,626	17.2	+13.1
Turnout			44,352	69.2	+5.7
Registered electors			64,139
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Enfield Southgate^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Burrowes	18,830	44.6	+6.0
	Labour	Stephen Twigg	17,083	40.5	−11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ziz Kakoulakis	4,724	11.2	+4.2
	Green	Trevor Doughty	1,083	2.6	+1.0
	UKIP	Brian Hall	490	1.2	+0.5
Majority			1,747	4.1	N/A
Turnout			42,210	66.4	+2.9
Registered electors			63,720
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+8.7

General election 2001: Enfield Southgate^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Twigg	21,727	51.8	+7.6
	Conservative	John Flack	16,181	38.6	−2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Wayne Hoban	2,935	7.0	−3.7
	Green	Elaine Graham-Leigh	662	1.6	New
	UKIP	Roy Freshwater	298	0.7	New
	Independent	Andrew Malakouna	105	0.3	−0.2
Majority			5,546	13.2	+10.1
Turnout			41,908	63.5	−7.1
Registered electors			65,957
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.1

Elections in the 1990s

Main article: Enfield Southgate in the 1997 general election

General election 1997: Enfield Southgate^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Twigg	20,570	44.2	+18.0
	Conservative	Michael Portillo	19,137	41.1	−16.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jeremy Browne	4,966	10.7	−3.8
	Referendum	Nicholas Luard	1,342	2.9	New
	Christian Democrat	Alan Storkey	289	0.6	New
	Mal – Voice of the People	Andrew Malakouna	229	0.5	New
Majority			1,433	3.1	N/A
Turnout			46,533	70.6	−5.7
Registered electors			65,887
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.4

General election 1992: Enfield Southgate^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Portillo	28,422	58.0	−0.8
	Labour	Karen Livney	12,859	26.2	+7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Keane	7,080	11.2	−6.7
	Green	Marghanita Hollands	696	1.4	0.0
Majority			15,563	31.8	−6.1
Turnout			49,057	76.3	+3.7
Registered electors			64,311
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Enfield Southgate^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Portillo	28,445	58.8	+0.7
	Liberal	Nick Harvey	10,100	20.9	−2.4
	Labour	Allan Course	9,114	18.9	+1.0
	Green	Stephen Rooney	696	1.4	New
Majority			18,345	37.9	+3.2
Turnout			48,355	72.6	+3.0
Registered electors			66,600
	Conservative hold		Swing

1984 Enfield Southgate by-election^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Portillo	16,684	49.6	−8.5
	Liberal	Timothy Slack	11,973	35.6	+12.3
	Labour	Peter Hamid	4,000	11.9	−6.0
	Turkish Troops Out of Cyprus	Andreas Polydrou	687	2.0	New
	Nationalist Party	James Kershaw	80	0.2	New
	English National	Raymond Shenton	78	0.2	New
	Abolish Greater London, Restore Middlesex	Iain Burgess	50	0.2	New
	Captain Rainbow's Universal Party	George Weiss	48	0.2	New
	Death off Roads: Freight on Rail	Helen Anscomb	45	0.1	New
Majority			4,711	14.0	−20.7
Turnout			33,645	50.6	−19.0
Registered electors			66,473
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.3

General election 1983: Enfield; Southgate^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Berry	26,451	58.1	−3.5
	Liberal	David Morgan	10,632	23.3	+9.3
	Labour	Mary Honeyball	8,132	17.9	−4.7
	BNP	M Braithwaite	318	0.7	New
Majority			15,819	34.8	−4.3
Turnout			51,365	69.6	−6.7
Registered electors			65,438
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979:Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Berry	31,663	61.64	+7.74
	Labour	Ian Wilson[21]	11,584	22.55	−0.28
	Liberal	Anthony Baker[21]	7,223	14.06	−6.60
	National Front	Royston Pert[21]	895	1.74	−0.87
Majority			20,079	39.09	+8.02
Turnout			51,365	76.26	+8.55
Registered electors			67,355
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974:Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Berry	25,888	53.90	+1.76
	Labour	J P Sheppard	10,966	22.83	+2.64
	Liberal	George J Bridge	9,922	20.66	−4.81
	National Front	B W Pell	1,255	2.61	+0.41
Majority			14,922	31.07	+4.40
Turnout			48,031	67.71	−9.31
Registered electors			70,935
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974:Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Berry	28,620	52.14	−8.60
	Liberal	George J Bridge	13,806	25.47	+11.05
	Labour	F Sealey	10,945	20.19	−4.65
	National Front	B W Pell	1,192	2.2	New
Majority			14,454	26.67	−9.24
Turnout			54,563	77.02	+10.41
Registered electors			70,372
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Berry	22,963	60.74	+7.27
	Labour Co-op	Robert Brian Bastin	9,389	24.84	+0.23
	Liberal	George J Bridge	5,451	14.42	−7.50
Majority			13,574	35.90	+7.04
Turnout			37,803	67.61	+7.51
Registered electors			55,913
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Berry	21,171	53.47	−1.28
	Labour	Percy Sassoon Gourgey	9,743	24.61	+2.99
	Liberal	George J Bridge	8,679	21.92	−1.70
Majority			11,428	28.86	−2.27
Turnout			39,593	75.12	−1.27
Registered electors			52,705
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Berry	22,251	54.75	−6.04
	Liberal	George J Bridge	9,600	23.62	+2.41
	Labour	S. John Chapman	8,787	21.62	+3.62
Majority			12,651	31.13	−8.45
Turnout			40,638	76.39	−0.68
Registered electors			53,198
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beverley Baxter	25,704	60.79	−1.53
	Liberal	George J Bridge	8,968	21.21	+3.50
	Labour	S. John Chapman	7,613	18.00	−1.97
Majority			16,736	39.58	−2.77
Turnout			42,285	77.07	−0.05
Registered electors			54,869
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beverley Baxter	26,794	62.32	+0.16
	Labour	George Louis Caunt	8,584	19.97	−2.56
	Liberal	George J Bridge	7,614	17.71	+2.40
Majority			18,210	42.35	+2.72
Turnout			42,992	77.12	−7.0
Registered electors			55,745
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beverley Baxter	30,044	62.16	+1.06
	Labour	Vera Dart	10,889	22.53	+0.33
	Liberal	Edwin Malindine	7,402	15.31	−1.39
Majority			19,155	39.63	+0.73
Turnout			48,335	84.12	−2.28
Registered electors			57,462
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Southgate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beverley Baxter	30,302	61.1
	Labour	Vera Dart	11,023	22.2
	Liberal	Gershon Ellenbogen	8,286	16.7
Majority			19,279	38.9
Turnout			49,611	86.4
Registered electors			57,447
	Conservative win (new seat)

Graphical representation

1992

	26.2%	11.2%	58.0%
G	Labour	Lib Dems	Conservative

1997

44.2%	10.7%		41.1%	2.9
Labour	Lib Dems		Conservative	Re

2001

	51.8%	7.0%		38.6%
G	Labour	Lib Dem		Conservative

2005

2.6	40.5%	11.2%	44.6%
G	Labour	Lib Dems	Conservative

2010

		32.2%	13.8%		49.4%
		Labour	Lib Dems	I	Conservative

2015

3.7%	39.0%	3.3	49.4%	4.6%
Gn	Labour	LD	Conservative	UKIP

2017

	51.7%	4.0%	42.7%
G	Labour	LD	Conservative

2019

	48.5%	9.2%	39.1%
G	Labour	LD	Conservative	B

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

Notes

1. see 2011 census data release: Ethnicity

References

1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – London | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
3. "Conservative Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
4. "Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Labour Market Statistics".
5. "Home · Enfield Council". www.enfield.gov.uk.
6. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
7. "Enfield Southgate Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
8. "Enfield Southgate parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
9. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "Election Results for Enfield Southgate, 7 May 2015". 7 May 2015.
12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. "Electoral Commission - Enfield Southgate". www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
14. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1983-87 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
20. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 12. ISBN 0102374805.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)

External links

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• Enfield, Southgate UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Enfield, Southgate UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

51.647°N 0.122°W / 51.647; -0.122