Post by John Chanin on Aug 19, 2023 11:59:45 GMT
West Ham is currently the third largest seat in the country, with an electorate of 98,000, which is 20,000 more than the new limit. Neighbouring seats are of a similar size, and therefore major changes are required. The old seat forms the largest part of two new seats. The brand new Stratford & Bow seat takes the whole northern part of the old seat - Forest Gate as well as Stratford. In its place comes in 17,000 voters from the southern end of the old East Ham seat, and this area is to be recognized in the new name.
The seat sits on the north bank of the river Thames, between the mouths of the river Lea on the west, and the river Roding on the east. North of the District line is the core of the original West Ham, around its parish church, although the area is predominantly council estate these days. Straddling the railway line to the east is the district of Plaistow, an area of smaller terraced private housing interspersed with council estates, which has the highest proportion of owner-occupation in the seat (although still well less than 50%). On the north side of the old Royal Victoria Dock is Canning Town. Historically this was an industrial area known for noxious industries banned from London on the other side of the Lea, and as such was a very poor area, developed in Victorian times. 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 at the end of the 19th century. The old custom house for the docks was situated by the dockside, and there is still a ward named after it, although it is the present site of the ExCel conference and exhibition centre, used for 2012 Olympics. 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 40%. There is a large black African population here, where it is larger than the south Asian population, unlike the rest of the seat. It is mostly christian, and councillors have been elected here for the Christian Peoples Alliance in the past.
The new part of the seat can be divided into two parts. East of Canning Town is Beckton, which is a completely different world. This is a “new town”, developed in the 1980s and 1990s on derelict industrial land north of the docks. This was originally planned by the London Docklands Development Corporation as private housing, but the recession of the early 1990s led to a majority of the housing here being social housing. The area also contains a retail park at Gallions Reach (once the site of the ridiculous “Beckton Alps”, an artificial ski slope), which sits between Beckton and the great sewage works at the terminus of the Northern Outfall Sewer - a sewer so large that it sticks up above the landscape, and forms a linear park known as the Greenway, which snakes through the borough of Newham. Beckton is separated from the Thames by the Royal Docks, no longer functioning as such. In the middle of the docks sits the London City Airport. South of the airport is North Woolwich - an area that was bombed flat in the second world war, and redeveloped as council housing afterwards. A curiosity is that it formed part of Woolwich Borough until the reorganization of London government in 1965. The Woolwich Ferry still runs across the river here (and there is a foot tunnel). Further upstream is the Thames Barrier, with its adjacent park, on the other side of which is Silvertown. There is industry alongside the river, including the giant Tate & Lyle sugar factory, and the now renovated Millennium Mills is a local landmark on the south side of Victoria Dock. West of here, a lot of smart and expensive modern housing has been developed in recent years along the dockside. This ward is majority private rented, and indeed a surprising amount of the new housing in the south has also been acquired by private landlords, and exceeds owner-occupation everywhere.
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 & Beckton has the 5th highest African population in the country, exceeded only by parts of south London. 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, although as elsewhere in the inner city, right to buy has had less effect on the number of council homes, and all of the more recent development is housing association, where the right to buy does not apply. Private renting is usually associated with overcrowding, and that is the case here. Outside the new housing in the south of the seat it is quite working class, although the new housing has a high proportion with managerial jobs, close as it is to Canary Wharf and the City. Also like 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, and the boundary change will have no political effect. Even the higher status Royal Victoria ward was comfortably Labour at the last local elections. As elsewhere in east London, Labour suffered a big drop in vote in 2024, going to the Newham Independents who have won a number of by-elections.
The MP here since 2005 was Lyn Brown, a low-key backbencher who succeeded the much better known Tony Banks, former Sports Minister. She originally opted for the new Stratford & Bow seat before standing down due to ill health. The new MP is James Asser, a local councillor and Labour Party insider.
Census data: Owner-occupied 30% (562/575 in England & Wales), private rented 36% (27th), social rented 34% (15th).
: White 38%(557th), Black 23%(14th), South Asian 22%(38th), Mixed 6%(48th), Other 12%(47th)
: Managerial & professional 37% (318th), Routine & Semi-routine 29% (265th)
: Degree 42% (91st), Minimal qualifications 28% (272nd)
: Students 12% (59th), Over 65: 7% (570th)
: Muslim 25%(27th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 75% from West Ham and 25% from East Ham
54% of the old seat is in the new one, with 46% going to Stratford & Bow
The seat sits on the north bank of the river Thames, between the mouths of the river Lea on the west, and the river Roding on the east. North of the District line is the core of the original West Ham, around its parish church, although the area is predominantly council estate these days. Straddling the railway line to the east is the district of Plaistow, an area of smaller terraced private housing interspersed with council estates, which has the highest proportion of owner-occupation in the seat (although still well less than 50%). On the north side of the old Royal Victoria Dock is Canning Town. Historically this was an industrial area known for noxious industries banned from London on the other side of the Lea, and as such was a very poor area, developed in Victorian times. 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 at the end of the 19th century. The old custom house for the docks was situated by the dockside, and there is still a ward named after it, although it is the present site of the ExCel conference and exhibition centre, used for 2012 Olympics. 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 40%. There is a large black African population here, where it is larger than the south Asian population, unlike the rest of the seat. It is mostly christian, and councillors have been elected here for the Christian Peoples Alliance in the past.
The new part of the seat can be divided into two parts. East of Canning Town is Beckton, which is a completely different world. This is a “new town”, developed in the 1980s and 1990s on derelict industrial land north of the docks. This was originally planned by the London Docklands Development Corporation as private housing, but the recession of the early 1990s led to a majority of the housing here being social housing. The area also contains a retail park at Gallions Reach (once the site of the ridiculous “Beckton Alps”, an artificial ski slope), which sits between Beckton and the great sewage works at the terminus of the Northern Outfall Sewer - a sewer so large that it sticks up above the landscape, and forms a linear park known as the Greenway, which snakes through the borough of Newham. Beckton is separated from the Thames by the Royal Docks, no longer functioning as such. In the middle of the docks sits the London City Airport. South of the airport is North Woolwich - an area that was bombed flat in the second world war, and redeveloped as council housing afterwards. A curiosity is that it formed part of Woolwich Borough until the reorganization of London government in 1965. The Woolwich Ferry still runs across the river here (and there is a foot tunnel). Further upstream is the Thames Barrier, with its adjacent park, on the other side of which is Silvertown. There is industry alongside the river, including the giant Tate & Lyle sugar factory, and the now renovated Millennium Mills is a local landmark on the south side of Victoria Dock. West of here, a lot of smart and expensive modern housing has been developed in recent years along the dockside. This ward is majority private rented, and indeed a surprising amount of the new housing in the south has also been acquired by private landlords, and exceeds owner-occupation everywhere.
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 & Beckton has the 5th highest African population in the country, exceeded only by parts of south London. 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, although as elsewhere in the inner city, right to buy has had less effect on the number of council homes, and all of the more recent development is housing association, where the right to buy does not apply. Private renting is usually associated with overcrowding, and that is the case here. Outside the new housing in the south of the seat it is quite working class, although the new housing has a high proportion with managerial jobs, close as it is to Canary Wharf and the City. Also like 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, and the boundary change will have no political effect. Even the higher status Royal Victoria ward was comfortably Labour at the last local elections. As elsewhere in east London, Labour suffered a big drop in vote in 2024, going to the Newham Independents who have won a number of by-elections.
The MP here since 2005 was Lyn Brown, a low-key backbencher who succeeded the much better known Tony Banks, former Sports Minister. She originally opted for the new Stratford & Bow seat before standing down due to ill health. The new MP is James Asser, a local councillor and Labour Party insider.
Census data: Owner-occupied 30% (562/575 in England & Wales), private rented 36% (27th), social rented 34% (15th).
: White 38%(557th), Black 23%(14th), South Asian 22%(38th), Mixed 6%(48th), Other 12%(47th)
: Managerial & professional 37% (318th), Routine & Semi-routine 29% (265th)
: Degree 42% (91st), Minimal qualifications 28% (272nd)
: Students 12% (59th), Over 65: 7% (570th)
: Muslim 25%(27th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 75% from West Ham and 25% from East Ham
54% of the old seat is in the new one, with 46% going to Stratford & Bow
| 2017 | % | 2019 | % | Notional | % | 2024 | % | |
| Labour | 46,591 | 76.7 | 42,181 | 70.1 | 28,585 | 70.7 | 16,434 | 45.2 |
| Conservative | 9,837 | 16.2 | 9,793 | 16.3 | 6,648 | 16.4 | 3,781 | 10.4 |
| Liberal Democrat | 1,836 | 3.0 | 4,161 | 6.9 | 2,450 | 6.1 | 1,606 | 4.4 |
| UKIP/Brexit/Reform | 1,134 | 1.9 | 1,679 | 2.8 | 1,118 | 2.8 | 2,800 | 7.7 |
| Green | 957 | 1.6 | 1,780 | 3.0 | 1,023 | 2.5 | 3,897 | 10.7 |
| Other | 353 | 0.6 | 606 | 1.0 | 606 | 1.5 | 7,830 | 21.5 |
| Majority | 36,754 | 60.5 | 32,388 | 53.8 | 21,937 | 54.3 | 9,254 | 25.5 |