Southwark is set to go from having three to five MPs at the next general election thanks to an electoral boundary shake-up.
The Boundary Commission, which is responsible for ensuring parliamentary constituencies are fairly sized, has recommended sweeping changes for the south east London borough.
Under its plans, Camberwell will be joined on to Vauxhall, Peckham becomes its own stand-alone constituency and Bermondsey and Old Southwark will lose North Walworth.
Why are there changes?
One of the demands made by the Chartists in 1838 was that parliamentary constituencies should contain roughly equal numbers of people.
The Boundary Commission is responsible for ensuring this remains the case – and that constituencies represent real areas with real identities rather than arbitrary portions of land.
The review is urgently needed. Boundaries were last drawn up in 2000 meaning the 2019 election was contested on boundaries almost two-decades-old.
The boundary reforms will take effect at the next general election. Experts have said that the changes are likely to benefit the Conservative party by between five and ten parliamentary seats.
Conservatives will argue they are not being unfairly advantaged, but that they were unfairly disadvantaged at the last election.
Key
—- The blue line shows the current boundaries of the constituencies
—- The green line shows the new boundaries of the constituencies
Bermondsey & Old Southwark
Despite calls for ‘Rotherhithe’ to be added to the name of Southwark’s northern constituency, Bermondsey and Old Southwark has kept its previous name.
But there are significant changes – the constituency will lose the North Walworth, Newington, Old Kent Road and Faraday wards.
Local MP Neil Coyle said: “The boundary review carved up Walworth and ignores requests for a better name reflecting the communities in the new constituency.”
He added that the commission had been “under pressure to deliver the changes the Tories thought would help them at the next election”.
Former local Lib Dem MP Sir Simon Hughes said the loss of Newington, which he described as a ‘strong Labour ward’ made the overall constituency “winnable again” for the Lib Dems. However, the ward did have an uninterrupted stint of Lib Dem leadership from 1998 to 2006.
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green
This new constituency will straddle the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark and see Camberwell Green attached.
Vauxhall used to cover part of Clapham Common and Clapham High Street but now largely loses the area to the new Clapham and Brixton Hill constituency.
Many people say Vauxhall and Camberwell have little in common. One Twitter user wrote: “Vauxhall and Camberwell Green seems a strange grouping, surely it made far more sense to keep Camberwell Green with Peckham?”
Peckham
Camberwell and Peckham has lost Camberwell and will now be called Peckham.
It does however extend further northwards, reaching all the way to the Elephant and Castle roundabout.
Among its new wards are North Walworth, Faraday and Old Kent Road.
It loses its namesake Peckham Rye Park – which joins Lewisham West and East Dulwich. Camberwell will now be split between three different constituencies – Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, Peckham and Dulwich and West Norwood.
Camberwell & Peckham Constituency Labour Party secretary Andy Higson said it was “a real disappointment to see Camberwell split between three different parliamentary constituencies”.
Jordana Leighton, former Camberwell Business Marketeer, previously warned: “Camberwell is not going to get a well-rounded strategy because we’ll have to answer to three MPs who might not have that much of an affinity with the area.”
Miatta Fahnbulleh, Labour’s parliamentary candidate taking over from Harriet Harman, said there were “strong ties” between Camberwell and Peckham and she would be “sorry not to have the chance to respresent parts of this community”.
Dulwich and West Norwood
Dulwich and West Norwood was almost fragmented and split between four different constituencies.
West Norwood, for example, would have been split between a Streatham and Norwood constituency.
But there was a strong outcry and, as a result, Dulwich and West Norwood largely maintains its integrity – bar the loss of East Dulwich to Lewisham West and East Dulwich.
A spokesperson for the Dulwich Society said: “We made written submissions and presented in person to the commission, focusing on maintaining the unity of Dulwich and our close links with northerly neighbourhoods such as Herne Hill.
“The final proposal, published recently, largely maintains the unity of Dulwich and is consistent with our counter-proposals except that East Dulwich will form part of Lewisham West and East Dulwich.”
Lewisham West and East Dulwich
Lewisham West and East Dulwich covers four existing constituencies – Camberwell and Peckham, Dulwich and West Norwood, Lewisham West and Penge plus Lewisham Deptford.
Most of the new constituency lies outside Southwark – apart from East Dulwich.
Green Party London Assembly candidate Clare Sheppard described the changes as “madness”: “Lewisham West and East Dulwich constituency. Madness, it’s literally part of Peckham, we sent in some notes saying it’s clearly part of Peckham but were ignored.”