Hornsey & Wood Green
Labour hold

Perhaps the best example of all of the long-term shift from Conservative to Labour in specific parts of London, the seat based on Hornsey, half way to the edge of the metropolis due north of its centre, was Tory until 1992, including in the Labour landslides of 1945 and 1966, but now has a Labour majority of 20,499. Boundary changes have not helped the Conservatives, as a Labour seat was named after Wood Green until 1983, and the growth of the Cypriot population along the spine of Green Lanes has helped to boost the population of ethnic minorities, although these are not necessarily classed as non-white. All the same, these features do not apply across the borough boundary in Hampstead and Highgate in Camden (we are in western Haringey here), so a deeper change of mood must have been recorded. This is in general not family country. Labour's image has improved radically (perhaps not the right word in London in recent years). New Labour appeals to the somewhat transient population of north London and this seat will be held even when they again lose a General Election.

Barbara Roche, born Barbara Margolis in 1954, and educated at the Jewish Free School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, has an exposed and sensitive job as Home Office Minister responsible for immigration policy. A small and square barrister, whose barrister husband is in the chambers of the radical defence lawyer Michael Mansfield, she comes from a left background, having voted for Beckett, not Blair, in 1994. Dogged if charmless in recitation of her brief, her current role on immigration and asylum matters is a key one in Labour's bid to out-flank the populism of Ann Widdecombe.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 1.23% 14.99% 8.19 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.00% 2.49% 0.00 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 0.00% 4.43% 0.00 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 0.00% 7.27% 0.00 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 22.26% 2.56% 867.78 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 19.86% 2.04% 973.07 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 31.35% 3.94% 794.88 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 0.93% 13.04% 7.12 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 0.00% 12.70% 0.00 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 0.00% 8.14% 0.00 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 15.81% 4.02% 393.08 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 0.00% 3.19% 0.00 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 0.00% 11.31% 0.00 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 3.96% 3.06% 129.16 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.00% 2.52% 0.00 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 4.60% 2.10% 219.22 Unclassified Unclassified 0.01% 0.06% 19.44

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 5.19% 9.41% 55.14 £5-10K 9.63% 16.63% 57.92 £10-15K 11.29% 16.58% 68.10 £15-20K 11.00% 13.58% 80.97 £20-25K 9.88% 10.39% 95.03 £25-30K 8.52% 7.77% 109.56 £30-35K 7.19% 5.79% 124.16 £35-40K 6.00% 4.33% 138.59 £40-45K 4.99% 3.27% 152.73 £45-50K 4.13% 2.48% 166.49 £50-55K 3.43% 1.90% 179.85 £55-60K 2.84% 1.47% 192.80 £60-65K 2.36% 1.15% 205.32 £65-70K 1.97% 0.91% 217.45 £70-75K 1.65% 0.72% 229.18 £75-80K 1.38% 0.57% 240.55 £80-85K 1.16% 0.46% 251.56 £85-90K 0.98% 0.37% 262.25 £90-95K 0.83% 0.31% 272.62 £95-100K 0.71% 0.25% 282.70 £100K + 4.64% 1.34% 345.29