This constituency is part industrial and part residential, ranging from green belt in the west to tower blocks and an industrial area east of the Cambridge Road. Enfield Chase is open countryside that merges into Hertfordshire on the other side of the M25 and engineering, chemicals, printing and food processing are the main industries here.
There is a fair amount of suburban territory in Enfield North and levels of owner-occupation are above average (72.6%) as are the white collar and skilled manual workers - ie the lower middle classes and aspiring working classes.
Only 9.5% of adults have higher qualifications - a far smaller proportion than in most other constituencies. Also, less than one-tenth of the population is non-white compared with one-fifth in Edmonton, Enfield’s neighbour to the south.
Enfield North may not have caught as many headlines as its neighbour, Enfield Southgate - where Michael Portillo was defeated - but it was indicative of the type of seat Labour had to win across the country in 1997 in order to win the election and secure an effective working majority.
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