|
|
Post by towerhamlets on Jul 6, 2024 18:09:48 GMT
Amid the indignation on this forum at the way that Muslims chose to cast their votes in this election, I have not really seen much discussion of this result. The independent vote here was extremely weak compared to other constituencies with similar demographic profiles. That was the case even though Apsana Begum is a woman, which (as I have been reliably informed by posters on this forum) is a crippling liability with Muslim voters. It is also particularly noteworthy in that voters in this part of London are mindless automata who simply do what their bosses tell them to.
A less dodgy candidate than her ex-husband might have done better here, but it's obvious that Apsana Begum has done well in her constituency and now enjoys a meaningful personal vote because of it. She has been able to differentiate herself from the contemporary Labour Party on issues that are important to her constituents and has a majority of twelve thousand votes to show for it.
|
|
|
|
Post by batman on Jul 6, 2024 19:28:00 GMT
I was going to say. After Starmer's shall we say ill-chosen remarks about Bangladeshis I was worried about both Tower Hamlets seats. I looked at the result in Bethnal Green & Stepney first & saw that Rushanara Ali had rather narrowly survived. I expected perhaps a slightly better result here, but in fact Begum's result is really pretty good and much better than I at first feared. I wonder if having her ex-husband stand against her elicited a bit of a sympathy vote for her; on top of that, I suspect that she has been a better constituency MP than her detractors have suggested. In some ways this is probably Labour's best result in East London, depending on where you count as east London.
|
|
iain
Lib Dem
Posts: 11,435 
|
Post by iain on Jul 6, 2024 20:17:56 GMT
Amid the indignation on this forum at the way that Muslims chose to cast their votes in this election, I have not really seen much discussion of this result. The independent vote here was extremely weak compared to other constituencies with similar demographic profiles. That was the case even though Apsana Begum is a woman, which (as I have been reliably informed by posters on this forum) is a crippling liability with Muslim voters. It is also particularly noteworthy in that voters in this part of London are mindless automata who simply do what their bosses tell them to. A less dodgy candidate than her ex-husband might have done better here, but it's obvious that Apsana Begum has done well in her constituency and now enjoys a meaningful personal vote because of it. She has been able to differentiate herself from the contemporary Labour Party on issues that are important to her constituents and has a majority of twelve thousand votes to show for it. Yes - as I wrote on the General Politics board, it is clear that Begum is well-embedded within the community, and has reaped the electoral rewards. Whilst Gaza has clearly served as a catalyst for many Muslim voters to break with Labour, most of the complaints are both perfectly reasonable and completely run of the mill - never seen around the area, only turn up when they want our votes, never done anything for us. |
|
|
|
Post by towerhamlets on Jul 6, 2024 20:37:03 GMT
Yes - as I wrote on the General Politics board, it is clear that Begum is well-embedded within the community, and has reaped the electoral rewards. Whilst Gaza has clearly served as a catalyst for many Muslim voters to break with Labour, most of the complaints are both perfectly reasonable and completely run of the mill - never seen around the area, only turn up when they want our votes, never done anything for us. This same problem is visible in Muslim areas of Sydney, where it is exacerbated by the nature of compulsory voting. Labor politicians there can be assured not just that their constituents will not vote for anyone else, but that they will come and vote Labor no matter what. It is obvious why this is bad for democratic accountability and how it leads to government becoming detached from the people it supposedly serves. At this election, the apparent indifference of Labour to the killing of Palestinians gave voters permission not to vote Labour, but that didn't mean that they couldn't find other reasons to cast their vote. In Poplar and Limehouse they did. |
|
iain
Lib Dem
Posts: 11,435
|
Post by iain on Jul 6, 2024 20:38:50 GMT
Yes - as I wrote on the General Politics board, it is clear that Begum is well-embedded within the community, and has reaped the electoral rewards. Whilst Gaza has clearly served as a catalyst for many Muslim voters to break with Labour, most of the complaints are both perfectly reasonable and completely run of the mill - never seen around the area, only turn up when they want our votes, never done anything for us. This same problem is visible in Muslim areas of Sydney, where it is exacerbated by the nature of compulsory voting. Labor politicians there can be assured not just that their constituents will not vote for anyone else, but that they will come and vote Labor no matter what. It is obvious why this is bad for democratic accountability and how it leads to government becoming detached from the people it supposedly serves. At this election, the apparent indifference of Labour to the killing of Palestinians gave voters permission not to vote Labour, but that didn't mean that they couldn't find other reasons to cast their vote. In Poplar and Limehouse they did. No need to look so far, the same problems are visible in both Labour and Tory ‘heartlands’ where voters of all ethnicities and religions are frequently taken for granted. |
|
|
|
Post by elinorhelyn on Jul 16, 2024 21:34:11 GMT
WPGB standing - Will the Aspire vote get behind their candidate? If you know TH politics well enough, you'll know Apsana IS the Aspire candidate. |
|
|
|
Post by ccoleman on Jul 17, 2024 9:00:13 GMT
A few things to consider regarding Poplar & Limehouse compared to, say, Bethnal Green & Stepney:
1) it’s less Muslim (36% vs 47%)
2) it’s a bit more white (40% vs 36%)
3) it has a noticeably higher percentage of people employed in managerial & professional occupations (58% vs 50%)
4) it has a higher percentage of people educated to degree level (54% vs 46%)
I’m sure these all play a role. This seat is a lot more gentrified than Bethnal Green & Stepney, or Stratford & Bow, so I really don't find it surprising that Labour held up better here than in other East London seats.
|
|
|
|
Post by John Chanin on Jul 17, 2024 10:55:26 GMT
A few things to consider regarding Poplar & Limehouse compared to, say, Bethnal Green & Stepney: 1) it’s less Muslim (36% vs 47%) 2) it’s a bit more white (40% vs 36%) 3) it has a noticeably higher percentage of people employed in managerial & professional occupations (58% vs 50%) 4) it has a higher percentage of people educated to degree level (54% vs 46%) I’m sure these all play a role. This seat is a lot more gentrified than Bethnal Green & Stepney, or Stratford & Bow, so I really don't find it surprising that Labour held up better here than in other East London seats. This is due to the up market "Limehouse" area alongside the river with its smart expensive apartment blocks - an area that has little to do with the rest of the borough/constituency. Away from the river I would say Poplar is down market of Bethnal Green. See my profile for more detail. |
|
|
|
Post by aargauer on Jul 17, 2024 11:03:12 GMT
A few things to consider regarding Poplar & Limehouse compared to, say, Bethnal Green & Stepney: 1) it’s less Muslim (36% vs 47%) 2) it’s a bit more white (40% vs 36%) 3) it has a noticeably higher percentage of people employed in managerial & professional occupations (58% vs 50%) 4) it has a higher percentage of people educated to degree level (54% vs 46%) I’m sure these all play a role. This seat is a lot more gentrified than Bethnal Green & Stepney, or Stratford & Bow, so I really don't find it surprising that Labour held up better here than in other East London seats. This is due to the up market "Limehouse" area alongside the river with its smart expensive apartment blocks - an area that has little to do with the rest of the borough/constituency. Away from the river I would say Poplar is down market of Bethnal Green. Limehouse plus Wapping, Canary Wharf. Shadwell on other hand is almost amazingly crap for somewhere so central |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2024 3:07:37 GMT
This is due to the up market "Limehouse" area alongside the river with its smart expensive apartment blocks - an area that has little to do with the rest of the borough/constituency. Away from the river I would say Poplar is down market of Bethnal Green. Limehouse plus Wapping, Canary Wharf. Shadwell on other hand is almost amazingly crap for somewhere so central Yes. It reminds me of Somers Town (bordered by some upmarket areas around King's Cross etc but still a depressing shithole of a place). Shadwell is truly gruesome. |
|
