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London Borough of Wandsworth
Shown within Greater London
Geography
Status	London borough
Area — Total	Ranked 331st 34.26 km² (13.2 sq mi)
ONS code	00BJ
Admin HQ	Wandsworth
Demographics
Population — Total (2006 est.) — Density	Ranked 26th (of 354) 279,000 8,144/km² (21,093/sq mi)
Ethnicity White British White Irish Other White White & Black Caribbean White & Black African White & Asian Other Mixed Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian Black Caribbean Black African Other Black Chinese Other	(2005 estimates)[1] 66.2% 2.6% 10.5% 1.0% 0.5% 0.9% 0.8% 3.1% 1.9% 0.7% 1.4% 3.9% 3.1% 0.8% 1.0% 1.5%
Politics
Leadership	Leader & Cabinet
Mayor	Councillor Jim Maddan
Executive	Conservative
MPs	Justine Greening (Con) Sadiq Khan (Lab) Martin Linton (Lab)
London Assembly — Member	Merton and Wandsworth Elizabeth Howlett (Con)
Coat of Arms
Official website	http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/

The London Borough of Wandsworth (pronunciation (help·info)) is a London borough in south west London, England and forms part of Inner London.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Demographics 2.2 Landmarks 3 Civic affairs 3.1 Mayor 3.2 Executive 3.3 Coat of arms 3.4 Twinning 4 Politics 4.1 Wandsworth London Borough Council 4.2 Westminster Parliament 5 Transport 5.1 Bridges 5.2 Stations 6 Places 6.1 Parks and open spaces 6.2 Theatres 6.3 Localities 6.4 Postcode areas 7 See also 8 External links

The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but excluding Clapham and most of Streatham, both of which were transferred to the London Borough of Lambeth.

The borough borders the London Borough of Lambeth to the east, the London Borough of Merton and the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames to the south, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames to the west and to the north (across the River Thames) three boroughs, namely the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster.

According to the 2001 census Wandsworth has a population of 260,380. 78% of the population is White, 9.6% Afro-Caribbean and 6.9% South Asian.

Oddly, Battersea Power Station is in Clapham whereas Clapham Junction station is in Battersea. There are many new or refurbished buildings along the borough's prosperous riverside including the large Chelsea Bridge Wharf. The Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park stands out looking into the borough from across the Thames.

The first Mayor of Wandsworth was Sir Luke Brown of Demster Road (former opium baron), who was elected to the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth in 1900. Sir Luke Brown's initials are highlighted in the diamonds in the centre of the Mayor's chain of office.

The current Mayor is Cllr Jim Maddan (Thamesfield ward). His mayoral charity for the year is the Leonard Cheshire Foundation.

The Executive has nine Conservative members and is presided over by Cllr Edward Lister who has been Leader of the Council since 1992.

The Arms retain many of the features of the arms of the former Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth.

The fess, or crossing, of the shield is chequered blue and gold representing the arms of William de Warren, created first Earl of Surrey by William Rufus. Each gold square bears a teardrop representing the tears of the French Huguenots, many of whom settled in Wandsworth in 1685.

The ship at the top may refer to the Wendels, a tribe of sea-raiders from the continent who supposedly gave their name to the district, for Wendelsworth was an early variation of Wandsworth. The four shields and oars on the ship represent the four parishes of Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth.

The dove to the left is taken from the former Battersea coat of arms and the black dragon to the right was taken from the former Wandsworth arms and also refers to London, being similar to the City of London coat of arms.

Wandsworth is twinned with Schiedam in the Netherlands.

Main article: Wandsworth local elections

Wandsworth is administered by 60 councillors, 3 apiece from 20 wards. Since the London local elections 2006, 51 of these councillors are Conservative and 9 are Labour. The Conservatives have had an overall majority on the council since 1978, despite demographics that would suggest a higher level of support for Labour; the fact that it has always held the lowest, or second-lowest, council tax rates in the country, currently half the national average[1] has led to great success at local level, with no Conservative MPs in the borough between 1997 and 2005 (where Putney, partly in the borough, was captured by Justine Greening), but solid control of the council.

The borough contains three parliamentary constituencies:

• Battersea
• Putney
• Tooting

Five bridges join Wandsworth to the three London Boroughs on the north side of the Thames (from downstream following the river up):

• Chelsea Bridge
• Albert Bridge
• Battersea Bridge
• Wandsworth Bridge
• Putney Bridge

There are also a number of bridges crossing the River Wandle which runs through the centre of Wandsworth town and divides the borough in two.

National Rail services are operated from London Waterloo by South West Trains to Earlsfield, Putney, Queenstown Road (Battersea), Wandsworth Town and the borough's most major station, Clapham Junction. This last station is also served from London Victoria by Southern as are Balham, Battersea Park and Wandsworth Common.

London Underground services are provided on the District Line to East Putney and Southfields and on the Northern Line to Balham, Clapham South, Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway.

• Battersea Park
• Clapham Common (west side)
• Wandsworth Common

• Battersea Arts Centre
• Theatre 503

• Balham
• Battersea
• Earlsfield
• Furzedown
• Nine Elms
• Putney
• Putney Heath
• Putney Vale
• Roehampton
• Southfields
• Streatham Park
• Tooting
• Wandsworth

SW4 (part), SW8 (part), SW11 (all), SW12 (part), SW15 (all), SW16 (part), SW17 (part), SW18 (part), SW19 (part)

• De Morgan Centre
• The Borough of Wandsworth Rifle Club

• London Borough of Wandsworth
• The Wandsworth Society
• Freecycle Wandsworth
• Wandsworth Art Studios

v • d • e London Borough of Wandsworth
Districts	Balham · Battersea · Earlsfield · Furzedown · Nine Elms · Putney · Putney Heath · Putney Vale · Roehampton · Southfields · Streatham Park · Tooting · Wandsworth
Attractions	Battersea Arts Centre · De Morgan Centre · Theatre 503
Constituencies	Battersea · Putney · Tooting
Parks and open spaces in Wandsworth

v • d • e City of London • Greater London • London
London boroughs	Barking and Dagenham · Barnet · Bexley · Brent · Bromley · Camden · Croydon · Ealing · Enfield · Greenwich · Hackney · Hammersmith and Fulham · Haringey · Harrow · Havering · Hillingdon · Hounslow · Islington · Kensington and Chelsea · Kingston · Lambeth · Lewisham · Merton · Newham · Redbridge · Richmond · Southwark · Sutton · Tower Hamlets · Waltham Forest · Wandsworth · Westminster
Sui generis	City of London  (includes the enclaves Inner Temple and Middle Temple)
Local government	Greater London Authority · London Assembly · Mayor of London
London portal

Coordinates: 51°27′26.3″N, 0°11′41.5″W