Post by bsjmcr on Jul 5, 2023 22:27:19 GMT
This is a part of the country that is on the up overall, but the constituency is made of extremes. Salford Quays is the core of regeneration here and is now nationally famed, with the BBC and ITV based at MediaCity. Programmes beaming out of Salford include BBC Breakfast, Blue Peter, Judge Rinder, Jeremy Kyle (until tragic events put paid to that) and somewhat paradoxically, University Challenge. The Coronation Street set and architecturally notable Imperial War Museum also make an impression on the area, but as they're on the other side of the river along with Old Trafford they fall under Stretford & Urmston. Here in Salford, surrounding MediaCity and the Lowry complex are swathes of luxury riverside apartments, with many more still being built, for the professionals working locally in the media or in Manchester. Yet just down the road there was abject and still is some deprivation and degradation in inner-city wards such as Langworthy, Weaste and Seedley. Also included is half of Swinton, and neighbouring Pendlebury, where LS Lowry was based - little could he imagine the affluence now dominating the former industrial docklands he would have observed. Broughton, on the other side of the Irwell, rejoins Salford after a 14-year absence where it was paired with north Manchester wards. All in all this makes for a constituency that is around average in terms of education levels and employment.
South of Broughton, the River Irwell dictates the boundary between the two cities (yes, Salford is a City!) and as such Salford territory meanders into what most would consider on the ground as 'Manchester City Centre' in the Trinity and Blackfriars area which includes 'Salford Central' railway station. This area, just as with Manchester City Centre itself, is also booming with high-rise modern apartments springing up for professionals moving into the area, such as the New Bailey, though you will see developers' billboards market these as 'Manchester' apartments, despite being geographically in Salford - evidently they are still worried about putting off potential buyers with the 'rough' reputation 'Salford' once had. Population boom here is evident through the fairly recent reorganisation of local authority wards, with three new wards (Blackfriars & Trinity, Ordsall, and Quays) being created pretty much out of splitting one existing 'Ordsall' ward. While Ordsall still contains some less well-off areas, these three riverside wards, and particularly Quays, have some of the highest proportions of graduates in the City of Salford if not in the north west. This ranges from 70% 'Level 4 and above' in Quays to 47% in Ordsall - still higher than Worsley, which is more 'traditionally' regarded as the place to be in Salford. These areas also would have voted strongly for Remain, unlike Salford as a whole. If you're wondering, only the then-wards of Ordsall, Eccles, Worsley, and Boothstown & Ellenbrook voted remain - the latter three being in the neighbouring constituency. It should also be said that the Lib Dems have made inroads into the Quays ward on a local level, but as it often the case it is unlikely this will turn into any general election success.
Moving away from the glassy razzmatazz, are areas such as Swinton, only half of which is in this constituency in the form of 'Swinton Park' ward. The town is the base of Salford City Council but the actual town hall and civic centre is in the Swinton and Wardley ward, which joins Worsley and Eccles. Its name derived from 'swine town' - it would have been a farming town right up to the Industrial Revolution. It is also where the eponymous insurance company was founded. It is still a working class, particularly skilled working class town of some council and many owner-occupied terraces and semis. It is quite self-sufficient and independent from Salford, with its own shopping centre and amenities. The 'Swinton Park' name of the ward probably refers to the local golf course which has now sadly closed, its future uncertain.
Next-door Clifton and Pendlebury is a mix of industrial and residential. It had a coal mine, Agecroft Colliery, which only closed in 1991, its power station was demolished two years later. Being a bit further out it includes a green oasis in Clifton Country Park and Marina, made of a former gravel pit. Other spots of green space in this otherwise urban constituency include Ordsall Hall, a historic Tudor mansion conveniently located just a stone's throw away from the Quays' glassy apartments and Salford's largest park, Buile Hill, in the less salubrious Weaste and Seedley area. The Pendleton and Charlestown ward includes Salford University and its many students. While Salford may have had a chequered name in the past, the university is no ex-poly but a well-established 1960s institution stemming from a 19th Century Mechanics Institute, its attractive redbrick Peel Hall building preserved, near the pleasant riverside Peel Park. The respectable list of alumni as well as LS Lowry include Ben Kingsley and Peter Kay.
Other efforts of regeneration are being attempted at the aforementioned inner city areas of Weaste, Seedley, Langworthy, Claremont and Pendleton, home to the college and the rather clapped-out Salford Precinct shopping centre. The terraced houses of these areas were replaced by tower blocks decades ago, which in turn many of which have been demolished, and others refurbished and smartened up (in some cases with questionable cladding). The remaining rows of decayed terraces have also been boarded up and slowly demolished over the years, though some have been regenerated such as the smart Chimney Pot Park development in Langworthy, redone by the eminent redeveloper Urban Splash. There is also Pendleton Gateway, a fancy name for a library on the face of it, but a one-stop shop of council services plus a GP and Dentist in one place, a legacy of the Blair, or locally, should that be Blears, era.
Last but not least is Broughton, whose name disappears from the national map after enjoying 14 years in the limelight being paired with Blackley and its North Mancunian friends east of the Irwell. This is an interesting area with a handful of leafy roads and conservation areas, such as The Cliff, which is also home to a Manchester United academy training ground. The astronomer William Crabtree was one of the first people to observe the transit of Venus here, back in 1639, and his house survives. It has a higher than average proportion of Jewish people by virtue of bordering Broughton Park (or Higher Broughton) which has one of the highest Jewish populations in the country. However, that ward, which also includes Kersal, joins Bury South, which is unprecedented, though understandable, as it is particularly leafy and similar in character to neighbouring Prestwich. Here, the rest of Broughton aka 'Lower Broughton' is made of more downmarket low-income inner city housing estates. Much of the ward the boundary with Manchester on the ground is indistinguishable and arbitrary, as it stretches from opposite Strangeways prison to bordering Cheetham Hill where there is a large Asian population. As such, though the Kersal & Broughton Park ward has had some interesting local election results of late, Broughton itself remains solidly Labour.
Salford constituency has been twisted and turned over several boundary reviews due to declining, and now increasing, population. 1997-2010 was probably its most interesting period as it was represented by the colourful character Hazel Blears with towering majorities on tiny turnouts - 2001 saw a majority of 11,000 on a 42% turnout. At the time the Salford seat was concentrated on the inner city plus both Kersal and Broughton, which were shaved off in 2010 making the Irwell the constituency boundary with B&B. Swinton and Eccles were then added from the thin, snake-like abolished Eccles constituency. Ms Blears took the new S&E seat in 2010 with a much reduced majority of just under 6,000, after a heavily personal campaign from Lib Dems arising from her expenses controversy. She did pay back the money, brandishing the cheque around on the news like a Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant. A sharp, canny and feisty politician in a small package, she was also controversial for wearing a 'rocking the boat' brooch when resigning from Gordon Brown's cabinet, which she later apologised for. Locally, credit will be given to her though for being rooted in the area and being part of the government that delivered all the funding and regeneration which can be seen in the area. Fervently local, her election to her beloved hometown was a case of third time lucky, having stood in hopeless Tatton against Hamilton in '87 and a shock defeat in nearby marginal Bury South - one of many results signifying John Major's surprise majority in 1992. Rising Labour star (well, at least in the Corbyn years) Rebecca Long-Bailey took over in 2015, achieving even more towering majorities on each occasion.
Mrs Long-Bailey's link with the area arise from her dad who worked on the docks of Salford Quays. She was born in Trafford, schooled in Chester and studied at MMU. The swing against her in 2019 was tiny compared to other leave 'red wall' seats, giving her a good base from which to launch her unsuccessful leadership campaign. The non-local choice of Conservative candidate may have been a reason as they managed to lose vote share, while the Brexit party took over 8% of the vote. Scratch the surface and S&E is interesting electorally for other minor parties - the Greens saved their deposit in 2015, while the Lib Dems massively lost theirs after their creditable 2010 performance (though they managed to keep it in 2019), and in 2010 the BNP saved their deposit... On the brighter side, Mark 'Bez' Berry of Happy Mondays made an appearance on the ballot paper in 2015, beating the 'Trade Unionist and Socialist' and Pirate Party canddiates.
Though this iteration of Salford constituency does not exactly mirror the old Blair/Blears-era one - its safe to say its voting habits will not have changed a bit. One can expect a higher turnout though thanks to the influx of professionals moving into the spanking new apartments... but it will be of scant use to any local Conservative hopes as they will bring their liberal views, and distaste of conservatives, with them.
Long Bailey easily held the seat this year, though only a few weeks after her re-election, now sits as a independent, having had the Labour whip suspended for six months for voting with the SNP on an amendment to remove the two-child benefit cap. Long Bailey increased her majority but saw a small reduction in % share, but still got over 50%. Reform came second (15%) here, and the Greens a very respectable third (13%). This perhaps reflects the eclectic make-up of the redrawn Salford seat - you can imagine Reform doing well in the Swinton areas while the Greens would have picked up a lot of their votes in the student and Quays/city centre apartment areas. The Tories came 4th with just 9% - their worst result for any incarnation of a Salford seat.
It is perhaps unlikely in this rate that RLB will be serving in a Starmer cabinet anytime soon, but it appears she will for the rest of this term continue to diligently represent this area while perhaps resenting in the direction of her party from the sidelines.
South of Broughton, the River Irwell dictates the boundary between the two cities (yes, Salford is a City!) and as such Salford territory meanders into what most would consider on the ground as 'Manchester City Centre' in the Trinity and Blackfriars area which includes 'Salford Central' railway station. This area, just as with Manchester City Centre itself, is also booming with high-rise modern apartments springing up for professionals moving into the area, such as the New Bailey, though you will see developers' billboards market these as 'Manchester' apartments, despite being geographically in Salford - evidently they are still worried about putting off potential buyers with the 'rough' reputation 'Salford' once had. Population boom here is evident through the fairly recent reorganisation of local authority wards, with three new wards (Blackfriars & Trinity, Ordsall, and Quays) being created pretty much out of splitting one existing 'Ordsall' ward. While Ordsall still contains some less well-off areas, these three riverside wards, and particularly Quays, have some of the highest proportions of graduates in the City of Salford if not in the north west. This ranges from 70% 'Level 4 and above' in Quays to 47% in Ordsall - still higher than Worsley, which is more 'traditionally' regarded as the place to be in Salford. These areas also would have voted strongly for Remain, unlike Salford as a whole. If you're wondering, only the then-wards of Ordsall, Eccles, Worsley, and Boothstown & Ellenbrook voted remain - the latter three being in the neighbouring constituency. It should also be said that the Lib Dems have made inroads into the Quays ward on a local level, but as it often the case it is unlikely this will turn into any general election success.
Moving away from the glassy razzmatazz, are areas such as Swinton, only half of which is in this constituency in the form of 'Swinton Park' ward. The town is the base of Salford City Council but the actual town hall and civic centre is in the Swinton and Wardley ward, which joins Worsley and Eccles. Its name derived from 'swine town' - it would have been a farming town right up to the Industrial Revolution. It is also where the eponymous insurance company was founded. It is still a working class, particularly skilled working class town of some council and many owner-occupied terraces and semis. It is quite self-sufficient and independent from Salford, with its own shopping centre and amenities. The 'Swinton Park' name of the ward probably refers to the local golf course which has now sadly closed, its future uncertain.
Next-door Clifton and Pendlebury is a mix of industrial and residential. It had a coal mine, Agecroft Colliery, which only closed in 1991, its power station was demolished two years later. Being a bit further out it includes a green oasis in Clifton Country Park and Marina, made of a former gravel pit. Other spots of green space in this otherwise urban constituency include Ordsall Hall, a historic Tudor mansion conveniently located just a stone's throw away from the Quays' glassy apartments and Salford's largest park, Buile Hill, in the less salubrious Weaste and Seedley area. The Pendleton and Charlestown ward includes Salford University and its many students. While Salford may have had a chequered name in the past, the university is no ex-poly but a well-established 1960s institution stemming from a 19th Century Mechanics Institute, its attractive redbrick Peel Hall building preserved, near the pleasant riverside Peel Park. The respectable list of alumni as well as LS Lowry include Ben Kingsley and Peter Kay.
Other efforts of regeneration are being attempted at the aforementioned inner city areas of Weaste, Seedley, Langworthy, Claremont and Pendleton, home to the college and the rather clapped-out Salford Precinct shopping centre. The terraced houses of these areas were replaced by tower blocks decades ago, which in turn many of which have been demolished, and others refurbished and smartened up (in some cases with questionable cladding). The remaining rows of decayed terraces have also been boarded up and slowly demolished over the years, though some have been regenerated such as the smart Chimney Pot Park development in Langworthy, redone by the eminent redeveloper Urban Splash. There is also Pendleton Gateway, a fancy name for a library on the face of it, but a one-stop shop of council services plus a GP and Dentist in one place, a legacy of the Blair, or locally, should that be Blears, era.
Last but not least is Broughton, whose name disappears from the national map after enjoying 14 years in the limelight being paired with Blackley and its North Mancunian friends east of the Irwell. This is an interesting area with a handful of leafy roads and conservation areas, such as The Cliff, which is also home to a Manchester United academy training ground. The astronomer William Crabtree was one of the first people to observe the transit of Venus here, back in 1639, and his house survives. It has a higher than average proportion of Jewish people by virtue of bordering Broughton Park (or Higher Broughton) which has one of the highest Jewish populations in the country. However, that ward, which also includes Kersal, joins Bury South, which is unprecedented, though understandable, as it is particularly leafy and similar in character to neighbouring Prestwich. Here, the rest of Broughton aka 'Lower Broughton' is made of more downmarket low-income inner city housing estates. Much of the ward the boundary with Manchester on the ground is indistinguishable and arbitrary, as it stretches from opposite Strangeways prison to bordering Cheetham Hill where there is a large Asian population. As such, though the Kersal & Broughton Park ward has had some interesting local election results of late, Broughton itself remains solidly Labour.
Salford constituency has been twisted and turned over several boundary reviews due to declining, and now increasing, population. 1997-2010 was probably its most interesting period as it was represented by the colourful character Hazel Blears with towering majorities on tiny turnouts - 2001 saw a majority of 11,000 on a 42% turnout. At the time the Salford seat was concentrated on the inner city plus both Kersal and Broughton, which were shaved off in 2010 making the Irwell the constituency boundary with B&B. Swinton and Eccles were then added from the thin, snake-like abolished Eccles constituency. Ms Blears took the new S&E seat in 2010 with a much reduced majority of just under 6,000, after a heavily personal campaign from Lib Dems arising from her expenses controversy. She did pay back the money, brandishing the cheque around on the news like a Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant. A sharp, canny and feisty politician in a small package, she was also controversial for wearing a 'rocking the boat' brooch when resigning from Gordon Brown's cabinet, which she later apologised for. Locally, credit will be given to her though for being rooted in the area and being part of the government that delivered all the funding and regeneration which can be seen in the area. Fervently local, her election to her beloved hometown was a case of third time lucky, having stood in hopeless Tatton against Hamilton in '87 and a shock defeat in nearby marginal Bury South - one of many results signifying John Major's surprise majority in 1992. Rising Labour star (well, at least in the Corbyn years) Rebecca Long-Bailey took over in 2015, achieving even more towering majorities on each occasion.
Mrs Long-Bailey's link with the area arise from her dad who worked on the docks of Salford Quays. She was born in Trafford, schooled in Chester and studied at MMU. The swing against her in 2019 was tiny compared to other leave 'red wall' seats, giving her a good base from which to launch her unsuccessful leadership campaign. The non-local choice of Conservative candidate may have been a reason as they managed to lose vote share, while the Brexit party took over 8% of the vote. Scratch the surface and S&E is interesting electorally for other minor parties - the Greens saved their deposit in 2015, while the Lib Dems massively lost theirs after their creditable 2010 performance (though they managed to keep it in 2019), and in 2010 the BNP saved their deposit... On the brighter side, Mark 'Bez' Berry of Happy Mondays made an appearance on the ballot paper in 2015, beating the 'Trade Unionist and Socialist' and Pirate Party canddiates.
Though this iteration of Salford constituency does not exactly mirror the old Blair/Blears-era one - its safe to say its voting habits will not have changed a bit. One can expect a higher turnout though thanks to the influx of professionals moving into the spanking new apartments... but it will be of scant use to any local Conservative hopes as they will bring their liberal views, and distaste of conservatives, with them.
Long Bailey easily held the seat this year, though only a few weeks after her re-election, now sits as a independent, having had the Labour whip suspended for six months for voting with the SNP on an amendment to remove the two-child benefit cap. Long Bailey increased her majority but saw a small reduction in % share, but still got over 50%. Reform came second (15%) here, and the Greens a very respectable third (13%). This perhaps reflects the eclectic make-up of the redrawn Salford seat - you can imagine Reform doing well in the Swinton areas while the Greens would have picked up a lot of their votes in the student and Quays/city centre apartment areas. The Tories came 4th with just 9% - their worst result for any incarnation of a Salford seat.
It is perhaps unlikely in this rate that RLB will be serving in a Starmer cabinet anytime soon, but it appears she will for the rest of this term continue to diligently represent this area while perhaps resenting in the direction of her party from the sidelines.
