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Post by finsobruce on Mar 29, 2020 12:12:11 GMT
BRENTFORD AND ISLEWORTH This seat was formed for the 1974 general election (all the 1974 London constituencies were drawn ready in time for the 1973 GLC elections too), original with a prefix of "Hounslow". It contains all of the previous Brentford and Chiswick constituency (Chiswick is unlucky to be omitted from this constituency's title as it is a large community), and roughly half of the previous Heston and Isleworth. For much of its history, it has had marginal characteristics, and even a cursory drive or bus ride through this long, thin seat will show it to be very socially mixed. Unlike many urban seats, it tends to become less affluent the further away from the city centre one travels, with Chiswick to the east by far the wealthiest part of the constituency, and the only part of it which currently continues to send Conservative councillors to Hounslow's council chamber. Chiswick shades into the heavily constrasting Brentford, which has a history as a docks town, and still has some echoes of this in some quarters closer to the river despite the construction of some very upmarket riverside flats; on the border between these communities the new Brentford football stadium nears completion, about a mile further east than the present one, which is noted for being the only football league ground with a pub at each corner. Large council estates are to be found in Brentford, both north and south of the M4 flyover. Isleworth remains distinctly socially mixed, with more council estates partially balanced by some privately-built interwar semi-detached houses and also the graceful old upmarket riverside houses close to Syon Park and Syon House, London seat of the Dukes of Northumberland; Isleworth can also be said to include Osterley and, to the south of that, the Spring Grove area which is increasingly popular with successful professionals of all kinds. While Brentford has significant non-white communities, Chiswick and Isleworth remain predominantly white, perhaps surprisingly strongly in the case of Isleworth, but the constituency is completed by the majority of Hounslow proper (as opposed to Heston, Cranford and Heathrow which are all postally officially part of Hounslow). Hounslow is well-known for its very strong communities from the Indian subcontinent, with people of Indian Sikh, Indian Hindu and Pakistani Muslim heritage all being very well-represented (and a mostly relatively poor Polish population, too), although it would be incorrect to surmise that those of White British, or indeed Black Caribbean, background are not still present in significant numbers, much more so than in Southall or much of Heston to its north. Hounslow still has some pockets of very pleasant suburban housing, especially in Hounslow South ward abutting the Twickenham rugby ground where the Conservatives have been competitive until very recently, but much of the town is of an unmistakably working-class nature as befits a place where so many workers at Heathrow Airport live. Politically this seat was very marginal in its earlier years, threatened to become almost safe for the Tories in the 1980s, but swung particularly heavily to Labour in 1992 and then again in 1997 when the seat was overwhelmingly gained. The Tories did manage to retake it in 2010, when the Labour MP Ann Keen came in for heavy criticism for her part in the MPs' expenses issue, but while the Tories have it seems actually strengthened their position in Chiswick since the seat was created this has been more than balanced by their increasingly poor position in parts of Hounslow and Isleworth (including Osterley and Spring Grove, once regarded as a safe Conservative area) where previously they were at least competitive, or even dominant in the case of Hounslow South ward. It was little surprise when Labour took the seat, in a result distinctly better than their very lukewarm national average in 2015, the longtime Brentford resident Ruth Cadbury being a popular choice as Labour's candidate, and they surged into a five-digit lead in 2017, perhaps helped in particular by an increased turnout by younger residents including students from the University of West London campus in Brentford. A slight swing back to the Tories in 2019 still left Labour well ahead, and it would now take a Conservative landslide of monumental proportions to restore this seat, which they held unbrokenly until 1997, to them. At least one, if not two, of the Brentford FC corner pubs , were closed but seem now to have re-opened, one as a pop up on match days.
Also where Caesar crossed the Thames. Allegedly
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Post by Robert Waller on Feb 4, 2021 15:30:21 GMT
2011 Census
Age 65+ 10.6% 598/650
Owner-occupied 49.5% 581/650
Private rented 26.6% 56/650
Social rented 20.5% 204/650
White 57.8% 609/650
Black 6.2% 83/650
Asian 28.0% 27/650
Managerial & professional 39.7%
Routine & Semi-routine 16.6%
Degree level 42.8% 33/650
No qualifications 13.8% 627/650
Students 10.5% 135/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 47.9% 516/573
Private rented 33.5% 41/573
Social rented 18.6% 196/573
White 52.1%
Black 6.9%
Asian 28.7%
Managerial & professional 39.5% 110/573
Routine & Semi-routine 17.1% 484/573
Degree level 49.8% 38/573
No qualifications 14.7% 435/573
General Election 2019: Brentford and Isleworth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ruth Cadbury 29,266 50.2 -7.2
Conservative Seena Shah 18,752 32.2 -5.5
Liberal Democrats Helen Cross 7,314 12.5 +7.5
Green Daniel Goldsmith 1,829 3.1
Brexit Party Lucy O'Sullivan 1,165 2.0
Lab Majority 10,514 18.0 -1.7
Turnout 58,326 68.0 -4.4
Registered electors 85,770
Labour hold
Swing 0.9 Lab to C
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Post by batman on Nov 24, 2021 12:01:38 GMT
thanks for saving my original profile finsobruce. Of course it will need to be updated, as Brentford have now moved into their new ground. This has made my regular pub, the Express, an even busier pub than it already was, complete with bouncers on match days.
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Post by batman on Nov 24, 2021 12:06:08 GMT
BRENTFORD AND ISLEWORTH This seat was formed for the 1974 general election (all the 1974 London constituencies were drawn ready in time for the 1973 GLC elections too), original with a prefix of "Hounslow". It contains all of the previous Brentford and Chiswick constituency (Chiswick is unlucky to be omitted from this constituency's title as it is a large community), and roughly half of the previous Heston and Isleworth. For much of its history, it has had marginal characteristics, and even a cursory drive or bus ride through this long, thin seat will show it to be very socially mixed. Unlike many urban seats, it tends to become less affluent the further away from the city centre one travels, with Chiswick to the east by far the wealthiest part of the constituency, and the only part of it which currently continues to send Conservative councillors to Hounslow's council chamber. Chiswick shades into the heavily constrasting Brentford, which has a history as a docks town, and still has some echoes of this in some quarters closer to the river despite the construction of some very upmarket riverside flats; on the border between these communities the new Brentford football stadium nears completion, about a mile further east than the present one, which is noted for being the only football league ground with a pub at each corner. Large council estates are to be found in Brentford, both north and south of the M4 flyover. Isleworth remains distinctly socially mixed, with more council estates partially balanced by some privately-built interwar semi-detached houses and also the graceful old upmarket riverside houses close to Syon Park and Syon House, London seat of the Dukes of Northumberland; Isleworth can also be said to include Osterley and, to the south of that, the Spring Grove area which is increasingly popular with successful professionals of all kinds. While Brentford has significant non-white communities, Chiswick and Isleworth remain predominantly white, perhaps surprisingly strongly in the case of Isleworth, but the constituency is completed by the majority of Hounslow proper (as opposed to Heston, Cranford and Heathrow which are all postally officially part of Hounslow). Hounslow is well-known for its very strong communities from the Indian subcontinent, with people of Indian Sikh, Indian Hindu and Pakistani Muslim heritage all being very well-represented (and a mostly relatively poor Polish population, too), although it would be incorrect to surmise that those of White British, or indeed Black Caribbean, background are not still present in significant numbers, much more so than in Southall or much of Heston to its north. Hounslow still has some pockets of very pleasant suburban housing, especially in Hounslow South ward abutting the Twickenham rugby ground where the Conservatives have been competitive until very recently, but much of the town is of an unmistakably working-class nature as befits a place where so many workers at Heathrow Airport live. Politically this seat was very marginal in its earlier years, threatened to become almost safe for the Tories in the 1980s, but swung particularly heavily to Labour in 1992 and then again in 1997 when the seat was overwhelmingly gained. The Tories did manage to retake it in 2010, when the Labour MP Ann Keen came in for heavy criticism for her part in the MPs' expenses issue, but while the Tories have it seems actually strengthened their position in Chiswick since the seat was created this has been more than balanced by their increasingly poor position in parts of Hounslow and Isleworth (including Osterley and Spring Grove, once regarded as a safe Conservative area) where previously they were at least competitive, or even dominant in the case of Hounslow South ward. It was little surprise when Labour took the seat, in a result distinctly better than their very lukewarm national average in 2015, the longtime Brentford resident Ruth Cadbury being a popular choice as Labour's candidate, and they surged into a five-digit lead in 2017, perhaps helped in particular by an increased turnout by younger residents including students from the University of West London campus in Brentford. A slight swing back to the Tories in 2019 still left Labour well ahead, and it would now take a Conservative landslide of monumental proportions to restore this seat, which they held unbrokenly until 1997, to them. At least one, if not two, of the Brentford FC corner pubs , were closed but seem now to have re-opened, one as a pop up on match days.
Also where Caesar crossed the Thames. Allegedly
I've only been to 2 of the 4 corner pubs, the 2 Fullers ones. One of these, the Princess Royal, is now closed & boarded up. It was never a nice pub. The Griffin is much better & should be able to survive. I'm not sure whether 2 or all 3 of the others are still open, the New Inn which seems to have an Irish vibe certainly still is. Not far from the former ground is the former Albany pub, now renamed the Black Dog, and seemingly thriving when I last visited. The Royal Horseguardsman on the corner of Ealing Road re-opened after a period of closure, but I've never been in there. |
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Nov 23, 2022 6:58:41 GMT
Both Hounslow constituencies are substantially over quota, as is the neighbouring seat of Twickenham which is effectively 'paired' with the borough to avoid crossing the Thames. The changes needed to bring Twickenham and Feltham & Heston into quota are relatively minor - the loss of one ward each - Whitton and Heston East respectively. These two wards, amounting to some 14,000 voters in total are added to Brentford & Isleworth.
Heston East is a safe Labour ward while Whitton is safely Lib Dem.
In the context of a Labour Conservative battleground, Whitton might favour the Conservatives but in no way compensates for the loss of 25,000 at the eastern end of this seat in the three Chiswick wards. In the May elections the Conservatives still held 8 of the 9 seats in these three wards and although they may not have carried them in the most recent general elections they would clearly have been more Conservative than the constituency as a whole. There will now be no Conservative councillors within this constituency and these boundary changes kill off whatever (admittedly already slim) prospects the Conservatives had of becoming competitive here again.
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Post by batman on Nov 23, 2022 9:00:59 GMT
Whitton has historically seen very close battles between the Lib Dems & the Tories but as Pete says it's now pretty safe for the former. Very surprisingly, it's one of a minority of wards in the current Twickenham constituency which (including linear predecessors) have never been won by Labour. This boundary change splits the Whitton community in two and the ward boundary between Whitton & Heathfield is not a very obvious one at certain points.
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Nov 27, 2022 21:26:06 GMT
Notional result 2019 on the proposed new boundaries | Lab | 25881 | 50.0% | | Con | 15802 | 30.5% | | LD | 7696 | 14.9% | | Grn | 1376 | 2.7% | | BxP | 1040 | 2.0% | | Oth | | | | | | | | Majority | 10079 | 19.5% |
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