Post by John Chanin on Apr 4, 2020 15:29:25 GMT
Like its neighbour East Ham this is one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in the country, although the white and black populations are both higher than in East Ham. Overall West Ham has the 4th highest African population in the country. The seat sits on the east bank of the river Lea, not quite reaching the Thames as the whole Docklands area is in East Ham. At the north-west end is Stratford, with its major shopping centre, transport interchange (including the Channel Tunnel rail link), and of course the Olympic Park. The main stadium is now the home of West Ham Football Club, while the olympic village has been turned into an extensive area of private flats. New development is ongoing. The older part of Stratford is a mixture of council and small private Victorian housing, and there is a charming conservation area of Three Mills alongside the river. At the north-east is Forest Gate - a leafy neighbourhood consisting of large Victorian villas (also a conservation area) which sits on the south side of Wanstead Flats, the southern end of Epping Forest, and therefore managed by the City of London, although disappointingly there are few trees, and it is indeed flat. South of Forest Gate is the western part of the Green Street area - a little India, plus an extensive area of mostly council housing, interspersed with smaller terraced private housing, known as Plaistow. South of the District Line, which runs through the middle of the seat, Plaistow has less council housing and the highest proportion of owner-occupation in the seat. At the south of the seat, on the north side of the old Royal Victoria Dock is Canning Town. This area was bombed flat in the second world war, and redeveloped almost entirely for council housing. Much of the immediate post-war development was of high standard , particularly the Keir Hardie estate, named after the Labour Leader who was MP for the area in the early 20th century. However the area is best known for its tower block Ronan Point, which famously collapsed in 1968 heralding the end of the tower block boom. For a long time Canning Town remained much whiter than the rest of the borough, and became known for racist attitudes and support for the far right. However times have changed, and even in Canning Town the white population is now less than 50%. There is a large black African population here, where it is larger than the south Asian population, unlike the rest of the seat. There has also been a considerable amount of recent private development here. On the edge of the dock is the ExCel Conference and exhibition centre.
The seat is almost exactly evenly divided between owner-occupation, private renting, and social housing, with one of the very lowest shares of owner-occupation in the country. This part of London has been particularly prone to the conversion of housing to renting, and is the area suffering most from “beds in sheds”. Private renting is usually associated with overcrowding, and that is the case here. Coupled with the new private developments, particularly at the Olympic Park, this seat had the 3rd largest electorate in the country at the last election (after the Isle of Wight and Bristol West). Outside the new housing in the north and south of the seat it is very working class, although the new housing brings the constituency closer to average. Like its neighbour East Ham it is a very young seat, with a surprising high level of students and educational qualifications. Politically the newer housing and the larger white population make it not quite as safe for Labour as East Ham, but still by all normal standards very safe. The MP here since 2005 is Lyn Brown, a low-key backbencher who succeeded the much better known Tony Banks, former Sports Minister.
Given the seat’s enormous size it needs to be substantially cut down in the latest boundary review. The proposed changes are very substantial. 17,000 voters are to come in from East Ham, covering the whole of the dockland area and the ‘new town’ of Beckton. In exchange the whole northern half of the seat - Stratford and Forest Gate - amounting to 45,000 electors is to form the major part of a new seat for east London, to be called Stratford and Bow. The revised West Ham seat is to be called West Ham and Beckton to acknowledge the new addition. Both seats will remain very safely Labour - not every new seat in the current boundary review will be Conservative.
Census data :Owner-occupied 32% (559/573 in England & Wales), private rented 33% (14th), social rented 34% (23rd).
:White 35%, Black 23%, Sth Asian 27%, Mixed 5%, Other 10%
: Managerial & professional 31% (389th), Routine & Semi-routine 32% (217th)
: Degree 30% (157th), Minimal qualifications 32% (423rd)
: Students 14% (39th), Over 65: 7% (570th)
The seat is almost exactly evenly divided between owner-occupation, private renting, and social housing, with one of the very lowest shares of owner-occupation in the country. This part of London has been particularly prone to the conversion of housing to renting, and is the area suffering most from “beds in sheds”. Private renting is usually associated with overcrowding, and that is the case here. Coupled with the new private developments, particularly at the Olympic Park, this seat had the 3rd largest electorate in the country at the last election (after the Isle of Wight and Bristol West). Outside the new housing in the north and south of the seat it is very working class, although the new housing brings the constituency closer to average. Like its neighbour East Ham it is a very young seat, with a surprising high level of students and educational qualifications. Politically the newer housing and the larger white population make it not quite as safe for Labour as East Ham, but still by all normal standards very safe. The MP here since 2005 is Lyn Brown, a low-key backbencher who succeeded the much better known Tony Banks, former Sports Minister.
Given the seat’s enormous size it needs to be substantially cut down in the latest boundary review. The proposed changes are very substantial. 17,000 voters are to come in from East Ham, covering the whole of the dockland area and the ‘new town’ of Beckton. In exchange the whole northern half of the seat - Stratford and Forest Gate - amounting to 45,000 electors is to form the major part of a new seat for east London, to be called Stratford and Bow. The revised West Ham seat is to be called West Ham and Beckton to acknowledge the new addition. Both seats will remain very safely Labour - not every new seat in the current boundary review will be Conservative.
Census data :Owner-occupied 32% (559/573 in England & Wales), private rented 33% (14th), social rented 34% (23rd).
:White 35%, Black 23%, Sth Asian 27%, Mixed 5%, Other 10%
: Managerial & professional 31% (389th), Routine & Semi-routine 32% (217th)
: Degree 30% (157th), Minimal qualifications 32% (423rd)
: Students 14% (39th), Over 65: 7% (570th)
2010 | % | 2015 | % | 2017 | % | 2019 | % | |
Labour | 29,422 | 62.7% | 36,132 | 68.4% | 46,591 | 76.7% | 42,181 | 70.1% |
Conservative | 6,888 | 14.7% | 8,146 | 15.4% | 9,837 | 16.2% | 9,793 | 16.3% |
Liberal Democrat | 5,392 | 11.5% | 1,430 | 2.7% | 1,836 | 3.0% | 4,161 | 6.9% |
UKIP/Brexit | 766 | 1.6% | 3,950 | 7.5% | 1,134 | 1.9% | 1,679 | 2.8% |
Green | 645 | 1.4% | 2,651 | 5.0% | 957 | 1.6% | 1,780 | 3.0% |
Others | 3,838 | 8.2% | 484 | 0.9% | 353 | 0.6% | 606 | 1.0% |
Majority | 22,534 | 48.0% | 27,986 | 53.0% | 36,754 | 60.5% | 32,388 | 53.8% |
