In the 2016 EU referendum, Dulwich and West Norwood voted to remain in the European Union by an estimated 78%. This was the third highest proportion in the UK, behind Gibraltar and the neighbouring constituency of Vauxhall.[2][3]
The seat is very ethnically diverse: around 25% of the residents are from an Afro-Caribbean background. In addition, 33% of the population live in social housing, and roughly 10% are single parents. 47.6% of residents have a university degree – the fifteenth-highest proportion across all constituencies.
1997–2010: The London Borough of Southwark wards of Alleyn, Bellenden, College, Lyndhurst, Ruskin, and Rye, and the London Borough of Lambeth wards of Gipsy Hill, Herne Hill, Knight's Hill, and Thurlow Park.
The Labour Party has safe majorities of more than a 15% share of the vote since the seat was created in 1997. The runner-up party in four of the seven general elections to date has been the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats twice, and the Green Party once.
When the constituency was created for the 1997 election, it was estimated that had the seat existed in 1992, Labour would have won it with a majority of less than 2,000 votes over the second placed Conservatives, making it a marginal seat. The 1997 result therefore suggested that the Conservative vote had halved since the previous election. This performance was poorer than the average fall of the Conservative vote in London and led the Almanac of British Politics to note that there was "now no question of this constituency being marginal."[6]
The constituency takes in the eastern side of Lambeth Council which include the wards of Coldharbour, Herne Hill, Thurlow Park, Gipsy Hill and Knight's Hill. It also takes in the south western end of Southwark Council which encompass Dulwich Village, Goose Green and Dulwich Hill wards. The Green Party have two councillors in constituency and are the official opposition on Lambeth Council. The Labour Party have twenty-one councillors.