London Borough of Lewisham


Lewisham is a London borough in South London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. Lewisham is well known for its high school exclusion rates: it had the third highest school exclusion rates in the United Kingdom in 2018. The Prime Meridian passes through Lewisham. Blackheath, Goldsmiths, University of London and Millwall F.C. are located within the borough.

History

The borough was formed in 1965, by the London Government Act 1963, as an amalgamation of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham and the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford, which had been created in 1900 as divisions of the County of London.
Minor boundary changes have occurred since its creation. The most significant amendments were made in 1996, when the former area of the Royal Docks in Deptford was transferred from the London Borough of Greenwich.

Geography

The borough is surrounded by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to the east, the London Borough of Bromley to the south and the London Borough of Southwark to the west. The River Thames forms a short section of northern boundary with the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Deptford Creek, Pool River, River Quaggy and River Ravensbourne pass through the borough.
Major landmarks include All Saints Church in Blackheath, the Citibank Tower in Lewisham, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church and the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. Millwall F.C. are based in the borough, their stadium The Den being located in South Bermondsey.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Lewisham has a population of 275,885, is 53% white and 47%, and 43% of households are owner-occupiers.
A 2017 report by and the found that Lewisham has a poverty rate of 26%, close to the London-wide figure of 27%.

Ethnicity

Civic affairs

Motto

The motto of the borough is "Salus Populi Suprema Lex", which means "The welfare of the people the highest law."

Administration

The current Chief Executive is Kim Wright. The borough is administered by the four directorates of the council: Children and Young People, Community Services, Customer Services, and Resources & Regeneration.
Previous to that there they had their first black chief executive, but unfortunately they requested his removal within months of his arrival.

Twinning

The borough is twinned with the following towns:
The borough has also signed a "friendship link" with Ekurhuleni, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

Freedom of the Borough

The honour of Freedom of the Borough has been awarded to:

Wards

The London Borough of Lewisham is divided into 18 wards, first used in the 2002 elections, they are:
There is a proposal for new wards to be adopted for the 2022 election. This would create new wards for New Cross Gate and Hither Green and reduce the size of some existing wards. The Whitefoot ward would be replaced.

Previous wards

Previously the borough was divided into 26 wards and 6 areas, used for elections from 1978 to 1998. Some of these former wards had the same names as the present wards, but their borders were different. When the wards were revised for 2002, some became larger, absorbing parts of other previous wards, the number of wards changed from 26 to 18. The previous wards and areas used from 1978 to 1998 were:

London Borough Council

Lewisham's council, unlike most English councils, is led by a directly elected mayor. The first mayoral election was in 2002 and was won by the Labour Party candidate, Steve Bullock, who was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Following the 2018 council elections, there are 54 Labour Party councillors and none for other parties. The current mayor is Damien Egan.

Westminster Parliament

The borough includes the constituencies of Lewisham Deptford, Lewisham West and Penge and Lewisham East.
These are the MPs who have represented constituencies covered by the borough since its formation in 1964. Note that constituencies change their boundaries over time, even where names remain the same.
MPPartyRepresentedDates
Heidi AlexanderLabourLewisham East2010–2018
Christopher ChatawayConservativeLewisham North1964–66
Janet DabyLabourLewisham East2018–present
James DickensLabourLewisham West1966–70
Jim DowdLabourLewisham West1992–2017
Vicky FoxcroftLabourLewisham, Deptford2015–present
John Selwyn GummerConservativeLewisham West1970–74
Carol JohnsonLabourLewisham South1964–74
Patrick McNair-WilsonConservativeLewisham West1964–66
John MaplesConservativeLewisham West1983–92
Roland MoyleLabourLewisham North
Lewisham East		1966–74
1974 -79
Colin MoynihanConservativeLewisham East1983–92
Bridget PrenticeLabourLewisham East1992–2010
Christopher PriceLabourLewisham West1974 -79
Ellie ReevesLabourLewisham West2017–present
John SilkinLabourDeptford
Lewisham, Deptford		1964–74
1974 -87

Education

The London's Poverty Profile, a report by Trust for London and the New Policy Institute, found that 42% of 19-year olds in Lewisham lack level 3 qualifications. This is the 3rd worst rate out of 32 boroughs.
In 2018, Lewisham had the third highest rate of exclusions of pupils from secondary schools of any area in England.

Transport

, once known as Lewisham Junction, is located at the junction of the lines to Dartford and Hayes, and is also the terminus of the southern branch of the Docklands Light Railway.
The East London Line terminated at New Cross and New Cross Gate until December 2007. An extension to this line opened on 23 May 2010, serving Brockley, Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, and Sydenham. This forms part of the London Overground network.
The South London Line runs along the extreme North West of the borough, at present there are no stations that are within the borough. There is a proposal for a new station at providing a link to Clapham Junction.

Railway stations

DLR stations

There are no Tube stations currently in the borough, as the East London Line has been part of London Overground since 2006. However, an extension of the Bakerloo line beyond Elephant & Castle to Lewisham and Hayes has been approved.

Cycling

Quietway one links Lewisham to Greenwich and in toward central London
One Cycle Superhighways will operate through Lewisham in the future.
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: train, 18.6% of all residents aged 16–74; driving a car or van, 11.2%; bus, minibus or coach, 11.2%; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 9.7%; on foot, 4.3%; work mainly at or from home, 2.8%; bicycle, 2.6%.
48% of households in the borough are car free, compared to 42% across Greater London.

Culture

Lewisham won . The prestigious award, is in June 2017, will see Lewisham receive £1.35 million to stage an ambitious, year-long programme of cultural events celebrating the wealth of creative talent in the borough and delivering lasting social change.

Sport and leisure

was originally formed in 1885, in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs, East London. They retained the name, even though they moved across the river to New Cross, South London in 1910. In 1993 they moved to their current stadium, The Den which is in Bermondsey, but falls under the Borough of Lewisham. The Borough has a Non-League football club Lewisham Borough Football Club, who play at the Ladywell Arena, Catford.