1974–1983: The London Borough of Wandsworth wards of Bedford, Furzedown, Graveney, Springfield, and Tooting. 1983–2010: As above plus Earlsfield, and Nightingale 2010–present: As above minus Springfield, plus Wandsworth Common. Tooting is the south-eastern third of the London Borough of Wandsworth. As well as Tooting itself, it also includes the districts of Earlsfield, Furzedown and Streatham Park and part of Balham. The constituency includes all of Wandsworth Common, a rectangular open space that lends its name to one of the seven wards. Tooting since 2010 is bordered to the west by Putney and Wimbledon; to the other three compass points by Mitcham and Morden, Streatham and Battersea.
History
The constituency was created for the February 1974 election from areas which, prior to that election, were within Battersea South, Streatham and Wandsworth Central.
Political history
Held by Labour since its creation, Tooting was a target seat for the Conservatives at the 2010 general election after the party made gains in local elections. However, Sadiq Khan was able to retain the seat for Labour. The Conservatives have generally performed best in the northern half of the seat, whereas Labour are strongest in the southern half, which covers Tooting ward itself, Graveney and Furzedown. The 2015 general election result gave the seat the twenty-fourth-most marginal majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. Had the majority obtained by Allin-Khan at her 2016 by-election win been part of the 2015 results, the seat would have been the 136th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. In the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the constituency voted remain by 74.7%. ;Local government indications As in the other two constituencies located in the London Borough of Wandsworth, voters have in part supported the Conservatives at local level; however, the southern area has strong enough Labour support to have consistently returned at least seven Labour councillors since 1992.
The modern Tooting constituency is a simplified name, as it contains much of Balham, Wandsworth Common and Earlsfield, yet the southernmost parts of the area that self-identifies as Tooting are actually in the London Borough of Merton and so in the Mitcham and Morden seat. Transport links to Central London are good, and the population has expanded steadily due to the area's popularity with commuters looking for affordable property. Unemployment benefit claimants and registered jobseekers, in November 2012 were lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.
