Tulip Siddiq has been the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn since 2015

HAMPSTEAD and Highgate – two of the borough’s most affluent neighbourhoods – are set to be joined together into a new parliamentary constituency linking both sides of the Heath.

In a victory for local Tories who opposed a previous draft of alterations to Camden’s political map, the Boundary Commission has now recommended that the election battleground should move east, and away from Kilburn.

It would mean current Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, if reelected, no longer representing extra wards in Brent and the scrapping of an idea to bend her current constituency towards Harlesden.

The new recommendations, released on Tuesday, would unite Highgate village, rather than having it shared by MPs from both Camden and Haringey.

The Kentish Town North ward will be pushed up into this new ‘Hampstead and Highgate’ territory, and mean Sir Keir Starmer will no longer live in the patch he represents in the House of Commons.

The name ‘Holborn and St Pancras’ however is set to be retained in the south of the borough – a pleasing recommendation for historians who were angry that St Pancras’ name had been removed in previous iterations of the boundary review. Alderman Roger Robinson had been among those who raised objections to that.

New seats called ‘Camden and St John’s Wood’ and ‘Kentish Town and Bloomsbury’ – suggested in the previous draft, the latter taking Tufnell Park from neighbouring Islington – are no longer being recommended.

The Boundary report said there had been opposition to those boundary ideas, although “there was some support for the composition of our proposed constituency, however, in light of the challenges faced in north London”, adding: “Sir Keir Starmer MP and Georgina [sic] Gould, on behalf of Camden Labour Group, were among those expressing their support.”

The authors of the report misspelt council leader Councillor Georgia Gould’s name. She has been contacted for comment over whether she is disappointed with the new plans.

Conservatives, who have struggled to get close to unseating Ms Siddiq since her first election in 2015, said they were pleased with the latest proposals.

Oliver Cooper, the former leader of the Tories in Camden, was name checked in the report for his opposition to last round of proposals.

“This is a great victory for people power,” he said. “The previous proposals were farcical and made nobody happy. They split Camden Town in half, split Hampstead in half, and split Highgate in half, so it’s no wonder residents objected in large numbers.”

He added: “This is a win for Camden Town too.  The initial proposals would have split Camden High Street down the middle at Pratt Street, and bizarrely combined half of it with Maida Vale.  Despite this outrageous proposal, Camden’s Labour councillors and MPs objected only to the name – but the Boundary Commission thought better and I’m glad they’ve kept Camden together.

Oliver Cooper

“Tulip Siddiq was almost alone in supporting splitting Hampstead in half and uniting half of Hampstead with Harlesden.  It was shameful for Tulip to try to gerrymander herself a constituency that split up communities and that no residents wanted.  Democracy means voters choosing their MPs, not MPs choosing their voters.”

Ms Siddiq said: “I am very proud of the constituents I already represent, and I would of course like to keep representing them in Parliament as I have done since I was first elected in 2015. There are many stages to this important democratic process, and I will continue to work constructively with the Boundary Commission to ensure that our local communities in both Hampstead and Kilburn can be best represented in Parliament.”

The Boundary Commission’s report released this week said: “The Assistant Commissioners were persuaded by representations and counterproposals that a constituency based on the Hampstead and Highgate areas, and a constituency based on the existing Holborn and St Pancras constituency, would make a coherent solution for the borough of Camden.

‘They noted that many counter-proposals for a Hampstead-focused constituency would include at least one ward from the borough of Barnet, but they considered this would break local ties in Golders Green.”

It added: “The Assistant Commissioners further noted the strong support in representations for the ‘concept’ of a Hampstead and Highgate constituency, given its historical precedent. They recognised that although Hampstead Heath could be seen to represent a geographic barrier between the Hampstead community and the Highgate community, respondents instead tended to view the Heath as a shared amenity, with residents on either side sharing similar local concerns. The Heath was therefore seen as a unifier rather than a divider.”

Former Conservative parliamentary candidate Richard Merrin said: “ This is perhaps one of the most overdue changes to London constituencies, one that brings back the still recognised name of Hampstead and Highgate, but with one truly amazing change.  It is about time that Highgate was united under one constituency, bringing together Highgate in Camden and in Haringey.”

He added: “As someone who has had the unique pleasure of fighting both local and parliamentary elections in both Highgates I know that this recommendation is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring together a village so long kept apart in political terms. I urge all the residents of Highgate – be that in NW5 or N6 to write into the Boundary Commission and support this incredible proposition.”

Don Williams

Don Williams, the chairman of the Hampstead and Kilburn Conservatives, said that its would be sad to say goodbye to people on the west side of the Kilburn High Road but that the links between Hampstead and Highgate were strong.

“We share the way we love the Heath,” he said. “And we have good transport links between the two, like the C11 bus. It makes sense for Highgate village to be united and for Camden not to be broken up so that it is represented by four MPs. This would be a great outcome for the borough.”

Mr Williams said he was not on the candidate list, when asked if he himself fancied standing in the new constituency.

Glenda Jackson was the last MP to represent a constituency called ‘Hampstead and Highgate’ in 1992, when Labour gained the seat from the Tories. In 2010, the boundaries were altered and the current ‘Hampstead and Kilburn’ seat was created. Ms Jackson won by 42 votes from Conservative Chris Philp, now an MP in Croydon and one of former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s ecomomic lieutenants, in the first election to be held under those boundaries.