Manchester Central

[batman]

this is done.

[bsjmcr]

Looking at the census maps this is a starkly unequal seat, ranging from up to around 70% not deprived in the city centre to 70% deprived in Clayton. All united in their support for the reds of course. 

I was also equally surprised and not surprised at the high proportion (often a majority) of City Centre residents working from home. Not surprised in that of course it usually correlates with white collar, desk based 'professional' jobs, but equally surprised in that they could literally walk to the office unless they were closed or their job was simply fully at home at the time (March 2021 - I can't remember the 'Tier' situation at the time...). But there they are, cooped up in their penthouses, and with very little green space, so ironically the inclusion of Failsworth does bring with it a few more trees in this otherwise concrete/redbrick jungle. I was surprised that Failsworth isn't nearly as bad as the name suggests, several times better off than neighbouring Newton Heath. I'm not sure how 'Central' Failsworth people feel on the ground but it does have a major road connection with the city centre.

It's really the rigidity (and of course geography) of the Salford City boundary which is why the Manchester Central seat can't quite be as 'central' as other cities, I don't think many other 'Central' seats cross LA boundaries (yes, London and Westminster does, I know...). And I'd assume why the City of Manchester council area when drawn I guess couldn't be as logical/comprehensive as say Leeds City Council area, as that would subsume Salford City and they wouldn't be having that.

Still, I think Failsworth, Droylsden, Middleton and a few other places like Old Trafford and dare I say my very own Prestwich really ought to have been in Manchester from the outset so it wouldn't be such an artificially long, thin sliver in the middle. The map of the 'M' postcode area actually looks like quite a sensible potential council area, akin to Leeds, with the caveat that it absorbs all of Salford, so you'd have a chunk taken out of course.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

I think it's probably fair to say that 25 years ago, the deprivation figures in the city centre would not have been a lot different from the rest of the seat.

[batman]

though there would have been considerably fewer residents in the centre itself.

[john07]

Jan 19, 2023 22:56:19 GMT batman said:

though there would have been considerably fewer residents in the centre itself.

How many actual residents are there in the vast number of flatted developments around the City centre? I say this because Edinburgh has seen an explosion in the building of modern flats in central areas, particularly near to the canal. Yet I walk past some of these residencies on my way back from Haymarket Station in winter you see remarkably few lights on. I can only conclude that they are largely Air B&B 'residencies'. It is rampant in Edinburgh including swathes of the Old Town and the New Town.

I wonder if parts of Manchester are experiencing similar issues?

[batman]

that is certainly the case for some of the blocks, but in the higher-class developments occupancy is pretty high I think.