At its north-western tip the seat included half of Clapham Common; the north-east takes in part of Brixton which was shared with neighbouring Vauxhall and Dulwich and West Norwood.

The north-eastern boundary generally followed Effra Road and Tulse Hill, but ran east of the main road to include the part of the Tulse Hill estate and the Cressingham Gardens estate west of Brockwell Park.

All Streatham wards had been represented by the Liberal Democrats from 1990 to 2014 before Labour subsequently gained seven seats from them at the 2014 council elections.

The Conservative Party lost Streatham in 1992, despite winning the general election that year with a small majority, having held it since 1918.

In 2010, when the Labour incumbent, Keith Hill, retired and Chuka Umunna stood for the party, there was a serious Liberal Democrat campaign resulting in their best showing to date in the seat, but there was also a marginal increase in the Conservative vote share and Umunna was elected.

The 1918 boundaries remained unchanged until the 1965 changes to Greater London local government became reflected in the parliamentary constituencies, at the February 1974 general election.

In the 2016 referendum on European Union membership, Streatham is estimated to have posted the highest proportion of support for Remain of any constituency, at 79.5%.

Although it is a residential area, it is more popular with young workers than families, having good transport links into central London.

Commercially, Streatham High Road is home to over 400 businesses, whilst a £26m ice rink and leisure centre opened in November 2013, part of continuing investment.

At just over 6% of the population, Streatham, (which is located in the London Borough of Lambeth) has the largest proportion of LGBT+ people in the country.

[7] 17% was the largest vote share increase in a Labour held seat for the Liberal Democrats at the 2019 general election.