Post by Merseymike on Apr 25, 2020 11:16:09 GMT
Liverpool Wavertree is perhaps unusual as a seat where both of its former Labour MP's are no longer party members - but the 2019 result indicated that the preference of the voters in the seat remains firmly for Labour, where new Labour candidate (and former Eurosceptic) Paula Barker gained 72% of the vote
This is south-east Liverpool, but its six wards are not all alike, and in 2005 and 2010, the seat was a national target by the Liberal Democrats, and their vote rose as high as 37.7% in 2005, but still behind Labour with 52.4%. Their vote dropped slightly and collapsed entirely as was the case across many Labour dominated urban areas in the light of the unpopularity of the coalition, but perhaps more surprisingly, they have never managed to regain second place. This is because the one ward which has been in all but 2014 a banker for the LibDems, Church Ward, is in this seat, but despite this and the candidature of the LibDem local group leader and local ward councillor, they remain in third place. Church, including the desirable Calderstones district, is a largely middle class ward making up part of south Liverpool's middle class belt alongside the three wards in Garston and Halewood of a similar profile. Childwall, historically the home of Liverpool's now quite small Jewish community, is also more middle class than average, and the LibDems have taken it locally for the past two council elections - but as appears to be the case across the city, that vote does not transfer over to national elections and all of the wards had a clear Labour majority at the 2019 election.
The remaining four wards are much more working class. Kensington and Fairfield has experienced considerable demographic change as it has shifted from being a predominantly white working class area to approaching 40% BME, only with far more recent arrivals than the longstanding BME community in Liverpool 8. It has the highest proportion of people who do not use English as a first language in the city. The Conservatives cannot even reach three figues in council elections here and in 2019 came sixth out of seven candidates in the local elections. The remainder of the wards, Picton, Old Swan and Wavertree are Liverpool working class, although Wavertree has a 'Garden Suburb' enclave where Derek Hatton was once a local resident, and all now have sizeable Labour majorities
Both Jane Kennedy and her successor and protege Luciana Berger left the Labour party in 2019, and relationships between the CLP and Berger had reached a very low point, and deselection was almost certain. The new MP was born in the constituency and is firmly on the party's left, and now has inherited a safe Labour seat which will give plenty of opportunity to focus on the poverty-related issues she specialises in.
This is south-east Liverpool, but its six wards are not all alike, and in 2005 and 2010, the seat was a national target by the Liberal Democrats, and their vote rose as high as 37.7% in 2005, but still behind Labour with 52.4%. Their vote dropped slightly and collapsed entirely as was the case across many Labour dominated urban areas in the light of the unpopularity of the coalition, but perhaps more surprisingly, they have never managed to regain second place. This is because the one ward which has been in all but 2014 a banker for the LibDems, Church Ward, is in this seat, but despite this and the candidature of the LibDem local group leader and local ward councillor, they remain in third place. Church, including the desirable Calderstones district, is a largely middle class ward making up part of south Liverpool's middle class belt alongside the three wards in Garston and Halewood of a similar profile. Childwall, historically the home of Liverpool's now quite small Jewish community, is also more middle class than average, and the LibDems have taken it locally for the past two council elections - but as appears to be the case across the city, that vote does not transfer over to national elections and all of the wards had a clear Labour majority at the 2019 election.
The remaining four wards are much more working class. Kensington and Fairfield has experienced considerable demographic change as it has shifted from being a predominantly white working class area to approaching 40% BME, only with far more recent arrivals than the longstanding BME community in Liverpool 8. It has the highest proportion of people who do not use English as a first language in the city. The Conservatives cannot even reach three figues in council elections here and in 2019 came sixth out of seven candidates in the local elections. The remainder of the wards, Picton, Old Swan and Wavertree are Liverpool working class, although Wavertree has a 'Garden Suburb' enclave where Derek Hatton was once a local resident, and all now have sizeable Labour majorities
Both Jane Kennedy and her successor and protege Luciana Berger left the Labour party in 2019, and relationships between the CLP and Berger had reached a very low point, and deselection was almost certain. The new MP was born in the constituency and is firmly on the party's left, and now has inherited a safe Labour seat which will give plenty of opportunity to focus on the poverty-related issues she specialises in.
