The seat was created from the former Croydon North West and part of the former North East constituencies. In its previous form it existed from 1918 until 1955.
On re-creation at the 1997 general election the MP for the seat became Malcolm Wicks of the Labour Party with the fourth largest Labour majority in Greater London. Wicks was victorious at the next two general elections and died on 29 September 2012, prompting a by-election which was won by Steve Reed of the same party. The 2015 result made the seat the 31st safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[3]
Constituency profile
Croydon North is the most densely populated of Croydon's three seats, regarded as a safe Labour seat with all wards controlled by them at local level, consisting for the most part of rows of modest terraced houses, interspersed with tower blocks, much of it social and ex-social housing and with recreational areas.[4]
Passing through the constituency are London Overground and Southern services to London Victoria and Croydon — the seat is well connected by several stations to rail services. There has been some regeneration since 2000 with new-build developments for affluent commuters.[5]
The seat includes Crystal Palace FC's ground at Selhurst Park and the northeastern end of the seat is near the site of the former Crystal Palace itself.