London Borough of Lambeth

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**London Borough of Lambeth**
Geography
Image:LondonLambeth.png Shown within Greater London
Status	London borough
Area — Total	Ranked 341st 26.82 km²
ONS code	00AY
Demographics
Population: - Total (2004 est.) - Density	Ranked 29th 268,100 9,996 / km²
Ethnicity	62.4% White 25.8% Afro-Caribbean 4.6% South Asian 1.3% Chinese
Politics
Lambeth London Borough Council http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/
Leadership	Leader & Executive
Mayor	—
Executive	Liberal Democrats (27 cllrs) Conservative (7 councillors)
MPs	Keith Hill Kate Hoey Tessa Jowell
London Assembly — Member	Lambeth and Southwark Valerie Shawcross

Image:Arms-lambeth-lb.jpg

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in South London and forms part of Inner London.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Locations and landmarks
- 3.1 Landmarks
4 Transport
5 Individuals associated with Lambeth
6 Christmas controversy
7 External links

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History

The London Borough of Lambeth was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and part of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth containing Streatham and Clapham.

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Demographics

According to the 2001 census, Lambeth has a population of 266,169. 62% of the borough is White, 12% Black Caribbean and 12% Black African. 37% of householders are owner–occupiers. Lambeth has the highest population density of the Inner London boroughs.

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Locations and landmarks

Lambeth is a long, thin borough (approximately 3 miles wide and 7 miles long). It has no one single "town centre" as such. Great variety exists in the districts. The largest shopping areas are (in order of size) Streatham, Brixton, Vauxhall, Clapham and Camberwell.

In the northern end of the borough are the Central London districts of the South Bank and Lambeth which have a developing tourist economy while at the very south of the borough are the leafy suburbs of Gipsy Hill, Tulse Hill, West Dulwich and West Norwood. In between the two are built-up and inner-city districts of Brixton, Brixton Hill, Clapham, Clapham Park, Herne Hill, Stockwell and Kennington which are each at different stages of gentrification and have elements of suburban and urban settlement while Vauxhall and South Lambeth are central districts being redeveloped with high density business and residential properties. Streatham sits somewhere between suburban London and inner-city Brixton with the partly suburban and partly built-up areas of Streatham, Streatham Hill and Streatham Vale.

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Landmarks

Along and around the South Bank a tourist area has developed around the former GLC headquarters of County Hall and the Royal Festival Hall and National Theatre. Also on the river is the London Eye and Hayward Gallery. Nearby and still in the north of the borough is St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace and the Florence Nightingale Museum.

The borough has a high population density but there are open spaces and outdoor attractions including Brockwell Lido, Brixton Market, Clapham Common and the Oval cricket ground. There is also the Museum of Garden History on the South Bank as well as Streatham Common and West Norwood Cemetery in the south of the borough.

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Transport

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Individuals associated with Lambeth

Jeffrey Archer (politician, author)
Linda Bellos (politician)
William Blake
Paul Boateng (politician)
David Bowie (musician and actor)
Charlie Chaplin (actor and director)
Naomi Campbell (former supermodel)
Dillinja (drum and bass DJ)
Jeremy Hardy (alternative comedian)
Keith Hill (politican)
Kate Hoey (politician)
Eddie Izzard (alternative comedian)
Basement Jaxx (dance music act)
Ken Livingstone (politician)
John Major (former Prime Minister)
Roger Moore (actor)
Henry Tate (sugar refiner and benefactor)

John Scarlett (head of MI6)

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Christmas controversy

In November 2005, Lambeth London Borough Council became the centre of a controversy over the naming of the Christmas lights used in the annual festival "winter lights", and "Celebrity lights" [1]. This was interpreted by many as an overzealous attempt at political correctness, and was reported in several national newspapers, including the Daily Mail as an attempt to "ban Christmas". A spokesperson for the council, however, announced that "It was a junior-level decision and it happened to go into print which was an error."

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