With plush Hampstead as a neighbour to the south west, Hornsey and Wood Green has its fair share of affluent middle-classes and very little native industry.
It does however have large areas of council housing, high unemployment and a significant non-white population - 9.6% comes from the black community alone - plus strong Jewish and Cypriot communities. The constituency also has a high percentage of Asian residents.
Hornsey, and indeed most of the seat, is residential in character, whereas Wood Green has developed as one of the capital's largest shopping and service centres and is famous as being the original home of BBC television. However, the breezy heights of Alexandra Palace and Park are no longer the playground of north London.
In 1992 Labour gained nine seats from the Conservatives in Greater London even though they did not win the general election and one of those was Barbara Roche in this constituency. Following the retirement of Sir Hugh Rossi, who had been MP for 26 years, and with a 6.1% swing, she scooped Hornsey & Wood Green for Labour and secured it with a majority of over 20,000 in 1997.