Chipping Barnet was one of the few suburban seats in north London to resist the Labour tide in 1997. Labour narrowly won Barnet (a larger area) in 1945, but it proved a safe berth for Tory high-flier Reginald Maudling in 1950-79 and since then for his successor Sydney Chapman. The swing in 1997, at 14.1%, was massive but a bit lower than in neighbouring seats such as Hendon and Enfield Southgate, which saved Chipping Barnet for the Conservatives.

Chipping Barnet consists of some rather uniform suburban territory at the edge of London, with no particularly poor areas and a small extremely wealthy area at Totteridge village. Arkley ward is mostly Labour, Totteridge mostly Conservative, but there are no real strongholds for either party and in a good Labour year like 1994 or 1998 all wards are closely fought.

The Conservatives have extended their lead from 2.1% in 1997, to 8.1% in 1998 to 13.9% in 1999 and about 20% in 2000, and start favourites even if Sir Sydney Chapman bows out at the next election. Labour, however, are not out of contention as suburban London seems to be a growth area for the party.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Conservative majority 1,035 (2.1%)  Labour target 10
MP Sir Sydney Chapman
1997 (Turnout 70.9%)
Conservative	21,317	43.0%
Labour	20,282	40.9%
Liberal Democrat	6,121	12.3%
Referendum	1,190	2.4%
Others	655	1.3%

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For Chipping Barnet 2001 Election result - click here.