The London Borough of Camden () is a borough of London, England, which forms part of Inner London. The southern reaches of Camden form part of Central London.

History

The borough was created in 1965 from the former area of the metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St Pancras, which had formed part of the County of London. The borough was named after Camden Town, which had gained its name from Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden in 1795.

Districts and environs

The area is in the north side of the city, reaching from Holborn and Bloomsbury in the south to Hampstead Heath in the north. Neighbouring areas are the City of Westminster and the City of London to the south, Brent to the west, Barnet and Haringey to the north and Islington to the east.
It covers all or part of the N1, N6, N7, N19, NW1, NW2, NW3, NW5, NW6, NW8, EC1, EC2, EC4, WC1, WC2, W1 and W9 postcode areas. It contains parts of central London.

Politics

London Borough Council

Camden Town Hall is located in Judd Street near King's Cross. The Council was controlled by the Labour Party continuously from 1971 until 2006, when the Liberal Democrats became the largest party. Borough councillors are elected every four years.

The electoral wards in Camden are Belsize, Bloomsbury, Camden Town with Primrose Hill, Cantelowes, Fortune Green, Frognal and Fitzjohns, Gospel Oak, Hampstead Town, Haverstock, Highgate, Holborn and Covent Garden, Kentish Town, Kilburn, King's Cross, Regent's Park, St Pancras and Somers Town, Swiss Cottage, and West Hampstead.

At the local elections on 4 May, 2006 the Labour party lost control of Camden council for the first time since 1971. The new council was made up of 20 Lib Dems, 18 Labour, 13 Conservatives and 3 Green councillors. Following the elections the Liberal Democrats formed a partnership with the Conservatives. Cllr Keith Moffitt (Lib Dem) was voted Leader of the Council and Cllr Andrew Marshall (Con) Deputy Leader. The new administration includes a further five Liberal Democrat and three Conservative Executive Members.

Since the 2006 elections Labour have lost two seats to the Liberal Democrats through byelections, in Kentish Town and Haverstock wards. A Labour Councillor in Haverstock ward also defected to the Liberal Democrats in February 2009.
The Conservatives have also lost two seats, one to the Liberal Democrats in Hampstead, and one to the Green Party in Highgate.

There are now 24 Liberal Democrats, 15 Labour, 12 Conservative and 3 Green councillors.

Since the 2006 election, the Liberal Democrats have gained a net 4 seats, Labour have lost 3 and the Conservatives have lost 1.

The organisation's staff are led by the Chief Executive who is currently Moira Gibb. Beneath her the organisation is divided into five directorates:

• Housing and Adult Social Care

• Schools and Children

• Environment and Culture

• Central Services

• Chief Executives Department

The directorates are headed by a director who report directly to the Chief Executive. Each directorate is divided into a number of divisions headed by an assistant director. They in turn are divided into groups which are themselves divided into services. This is a similar model to most local government in London.

London Assembly

Camden forms part of the Barnet and Camden London Assembly constituency.

UK Parliament

There are presently two parliamentary constituencies covering Camden - Hampstead & Highgate in the north, currently represented by Glenda Jackson, and Holborn & St. Pancras in the south, represented by Frank Dobson. From the next election, the borough is paired with Brent, and divided into an expanded Holborn and St Pancras (which has taken on Gospel Oak, Highgate, and the rest of Haverstock and Camden Town with Primrose Hill) and part of the cross-borough Hampstead and Kilburn seat.

Demographics

In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth slowed; as while many were drawn in new employment – others were made homeless by the new central London termini and construction of lines through the district. The population peaked at 376,500, in the 1890s, when official efforts began to clear the overcrowded slums around St Pancras and Holborn.

After World War II, further suburban public housing projects were built to rehouse the many Londoners made homeless in the Blitz; and there was an exodus from London towards the new towns under the Abercrombie Plan for London (1944). As industry declined during from the 1970s, the population continued its decline, falling to 161,100 at the start of the 1980s. It has now begun to rise again with new housing developments on brownfield sites; and the release of railway and gas work lands around Kings Cross.

The 2001 census gave Camden a population of 198,000, an undercount that was later revised to 202,600. The projected 2006 figure is 227,500.

Camden is 73% white, 6% Bangladeshi and 6% African. 35% of householders are owner-occupiers; 86% of households live in purpose-built or converted flats.

The borough is home to some of London's most desirable areas such as Hampstead, Dartmouth Park, the Holly Lodge Estate and Camden Town, as well as areas with higher unemployment and very high crime levels (especially drug crime) around Queen's Crescent, which divides the two notorious wards of Haverstock and Gospel Oak and, to a lesser extent, the nearby areas of Kentish Town and Camden Town, which is famous for its open drug market around Camden High Street and Agar Grove

On 20 May 1999, The Camden New Journal newspaper documented 'Two Camdens' syndrome as a high profile phenomenon differentiating the characteristics of education services in its constituencies. In 2006, Dame Julia Neuberger's book reported similar variation as a characteristic of Camden's children's health services. Her insider's view was corroboration - in addition to the 2001 "Inequalities" report by Director of Public Health Dr. Maggie Barker, of "stark contrasts in" health and education opportunities - of earlier similar Audit Commission findings and a verification/update of the 1999 CNJ report.

Major public or private bodies

• The Architectural Association

• Birkbeck, University of London

• The British Library

• British Medical Association

• The British Museum

• Cancer Research UK

• Central School of Speech and Drama

• National Union of Students

• Great Ormond Street Hospital

• Royal College of Surgeons

• King's Cross railway station, St Pancras station, Euston station

• Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

• Royal College of Physicians

• Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

• Royal Free Hospital

• Royal Veterinary College (Camden Campus)

• School of Oriental and African Studies

• Slade School of Fine Art

• University College Hospital

• University College London

• University of London Headquarters

• Working Men's College

• Wellcome Trust

• Trades Union Congress (TUC)

Attractions

• Bloomsbury Theatre

• BT Tower

• Camden Arts Centre

• Camden catacombs (see also Catacombs of London)

• Camden Market

• Parts of Covent Garden

• Dickens House

• Dominion Theatre

• Drama Centre London

• Fenton House

• Foundling Museum

• Freud Museum

• The Good Mixer

• Gray's Inn

• Hampstead Cemetery

• Hampstead Heath

• Hatton Garden

• Highgate Cemetery

• Keats' House

• Kenwood House

• Lincoln's Inn

• Parliament Hill Lido

• The eastern part of Regent's Park is in the borough.

• The Roundhouse

• Russell Square

• Shaftesbury Theatre

• Sir John Soane's Museum

• Upstairs at The Gatehouse

• World's End (Camden)

• London Zoo

• London Astoria

• Electric Ballroom

• Wellcome Collection

• Pond Street Protest

• * See also Camden parks and open spaces

Education

The London Borough of Camden is the local education authority for the borough, organised through the Children, Schools and Families Directorate.

Primary schools

Secondary schools

Independent

• Devonshire House Preparatory School

• Hall School (Boys)

• Heathside Preparatory School

• Lyndhurst House Preparatory School (Boys)

• Maria Montessori School

• North Bridge House School

• Phoenix School

• Royal School Hampstead (Girls)

• South Hampstead Junior School (Girls)

• Southbank International Preparatory School

• St Anthony’s Preparatory School (Boys)

• St Christopher's School (Girls)

• St Margaret's School (Girls)

• St Mary's School (Hampstead)

• The Academy School

• University College School (Junior Branch) (Boys)

Transport

Three of central London's northern railway terminals (Euston, St. Pancras and Kings Cross) are located in the borough; they are the southern termini for the West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line, respectively. On 14 November 2007 'St Pancras International' became the new terminus of Eurostar, and potentially other Channel Tunnel services.

Orbital travel is provided by London Underground Circle line and other services, including linking the three stations above, and, further north, by London Overground services on the North London Line.

Police

Camden is policed by the Metropolitan Police. There are five police stations across the borough, situated at Holborn, Kentish Town, West Hampstead, Hampstead and Albany Street. Holborn and Kentish Town are open 24 hours to the public. Opening hours of the other stations vary.

The current Borough Commander for Camden is Chief Superintendent Dominic Clout.

London Fire Brigade

Four fire stations (Belsize, Euston, Kentish Town, West Hampstead) are operated by London Fire Brigade in the borough of Camden. None of these fire stations are home to any specialist units; just pumping appliances and a rescue tender. In 2006/2007, the four stations attended just under eight thousand incidents.

During 2006/2007 the ward of King's Cross had the most malicious calls; with over 40 against a total for the borough of 161.

Since 2002, Camden has seen a steady decrease in the number of fires attended (2002/2003 - 768; 2006/2007 - 547: -28%). Something the LFB will put down to its commitment to its Community Fire Safety scheme.

Three of London's busiest railway stations are in the borough; with somewhere in the region of 52 million passengers using the three every year.