Bethnal Green and Stepney is a parliamentary constituency in Greater London, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.
| Bethnal Green and Stepney | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Bethnal Green and Stepney in Greater London for the 2024 general election | |
| County | Greater London |
| Electorate | 77,000 (2023)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2024 |
| Member of Parliament | Rushanara Ali (Labour) |
| Created from | Bethnal Green and Bow (the most part) & Poplar and Limehouse (smaller part) |
| 1983–1997 | |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Bethnal Green & Bow and Stepney & Poplar |
| Replaced by | Bethnal Green and Bow (the most part) Poplar and Canning Town (small parts) |
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election, largely based on the existing seat of Bethnal Green and Bow.
The MP for the constituency is Rushanara Ali.
History
editIn its first incarnation, from its creation in 1983 to its abolition in 1997, the constituency was only ever represented by the former cabinet minister Peter Shore, who held the seat for the Labour Party. Shore was noted for his opposition to the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community.[2]
Boundaries
edit1983–1997
editThe constituency was made up of nine electoral wards of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets: Holy Trinity, Redcoat, St Dunstan's, St James', St Katharine's, St Mary's, St Peter's, Spitalfields, and Weavers. It was abolished in 1997, and largely replaced by the larger Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, in line with the Boundary Commission's recommendation that one seat should be lost in the paired boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham. 297 electors moved to the new Cities of London and Westminster constituency.
Current
edit
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
- The London Borough of Tower Hamlets wards of: Bethnal Green; St. Dunstan’s; St. Peter’s; Shadwell; Spitalfields & Banglatown; Stepney Green; Weavers; Whitechapel.
Apart from Shadwell and a small part of Whitechapel ward, previously part of Poplar and Limehouse, the constituency replaced Bethnal Green and Bow - excluding Bow, which was included in the newly created seat of Stratford and Bow. It is the smallest constituency in the UK by geographical area.
Members of Parliament
edit| Election | Member[3] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Peter Shore | Labour | |
| 1997 | constituency abolished: see Bethnal Green and Bow | ||
| 2024 | Rushanara Ali | Labour | |
Elections
editElections in the 2020s
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rushanara Ali | 15,896 | 34.1 |  39.4
| |
| Independent | Ajmal Masroor | 14,207 | 30.5 | N/A | |
| Green | Phoebe Gill | 6,391 | 13.7 |  9.5
| |
| Liberal Democrats | Rabina Khan | 4,777 | 10.2 | 0.9
| |
| Reform UK | Peter Sceats | 1,964 | 4.2 | 2.2
| |
| Conservative | Oscar Reaney | 1,920 | 4.1 | 6.0
| |
| Animal Welfare | Vanessa Hudson | 348 | 0.7 | 0.2
| |
| Independent | Sham Uddin | 325 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Independent | Md Somon Ahmed | 315 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Independent | Reggie Adams | 271 | 0.6 | N/A | |
| SDP | Jon Mabbutt | 233 | 0.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 1,689 | 3.6 | 59.8
| ||
| Turnout | 46,647 | 56.9 | 8.0
| ||
| Registered electors | 81,922 | ||||
| Labour hold | |||||
Elections in the 2010s
edit| 2019 notional result[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| Labour | 36,720 | 73.5 | |
| Conservative | 5,065 | 10.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 4,634 | 9.3 | |
| Green | 2,101 | 4.2 | |
| Brexit Party | 992 | 2.0 | |
| Others | 439 | 0.9 | |
| Turnout | 49,951 | 64.9 | |
| Electorate | 77,000 | ||
Elections in the 1990s
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Peter Shore | 20,350 | 55.8 | +7.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jeremy Shaw | 8,120 | 22.3 | −9.5 | |
| Conservative | Jane Emmerson | 6,507 | 17.9 | −1.3 | |
| BNP | Richard Edmonds | 1,310 | 3.6 | New | |
| Communist (PCC) | Stanley Kelsey | 156 | 0.4 | −0.3 | |
| Majority | 12,230 | 33.5 | +17.0 | ||
| Turnout | 36,443 | 65.5 | +7.9 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +8.6 | |||
Elections in the 1980s
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Peter Shore | 15,490 | 48.3 | −2.7 | |
| Liberal | Jeremy Shaw | 10,206 | 31.8 | +1.4 | |
| Conservative | Olga Maitland | 6,176 | 19.2 | +5.2 | |
| Communist | Sarah Gasquoine | 232 | 0.7 | −0.1 | |
| Majority | 5,284 | 16.5 | −4.1 | ||
| Turnout | 32,104 | 57.6 | +1.9 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Peter Shore | 15,740 | 51.0 | ||
| Liberal | Stephen Charters | 9,382 | 30.4 | ||
| Conservative | Demitri Argyropulo | 4,323 | 14.0 | ||
| National Front | Victor Clark | 800 | 2.6 | ||
| Communist | J. Rees | 243 | 0.8 | ||
| Independent | B. N. Chaudhuri | 214 | 0.7 | ||
| Independent | P. J. Mahoney | 136 | 0.4 | ||
| Majority | 6,358 | 20.6 | |||
| Turnout | 30,838 | 55.7 | |||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – London". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Shore, Peter David, 1924–2001, Baron Shore of Stepney, politician", Archives in London and the M25 area
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
- ^ "Statement of Person Nominated and Notice of Poll: Bethnal Green and Stepney Constituency". Tower Hamlets Council. 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
External links
edit- Bethnal Green and Stepney UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK