Poplar and Limehouse | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Greater London |
Electorate | 74,919 (December 2010)[1] |
Major settlements | Poplar, Limehouse, Canary Wharf, Wapping, Bromley-by-Bow |
Current constituency | |
Created | 2010 |
Member of Parliament | Apsana Begum (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Poplar & Canning Town, Bethnal Green & Bow |
Poplar and Limehouse is a constituency[n 1] created in 2010 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Apsana Begum of the Labour Party.[n 2] From its creation until 2019, it was represented by Jim Fitzpatrick, also of Labour.
The predecessors to this constituency (area electing MPs to the House of Commons) (see history of boundaries) since 1992 have elected Labour Party representatives. In 2010, Jim Fitzpatrick had a majority of 12.9% over the runner-up Conservative Party candidate.
The 2015 re-election of Fitzpatrick made the seat the 66th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[2]
In 2019, Apsana Begum, selected to succeed the retiring Fitzpatrick as Labour's candidate, beat the runner-up Conservative Party candidate by 28,904 votes.[3] This was more than Jim Fitzpatrick’s 27,712 vote majority[4] at the 2017 general election, though the majority size in terms of vote share remained stable at 47.2%, and Labour's vote share declined.
Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which proposed the seat's creation for the 2010 general election, since when it has consisted of the following electoral wards:
Alternative names, including "Tower Hamlets South" and "Poplar and Millwall" were rejected following public consultation.
Local authority boundary review
Following a review of ward boundaries in Tower Hamlets which became effective in May 2014,[6] the contents (but not the boundaries) of the constituency were changed to:
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward boundaries in place at 1 December 2020, and enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the boundaries will be changed for the next general election, due by January 2025. In order to bring the electorate within the permitted range, the Shadwell and part Whitechapel wards will be transferred to the re-established seat of Bethnal Green and Stepney, and the Bromley North ward will go to the newly created constituency of Stratford and Bow.[7]
The constituency and its predecessor seats covering the Isle of Dogs have consistently been won by the Labour Party since the 1920s. The district has changed vastly over this time, and great wealth and considerable poverty now co-exist side by side as an example of income inequality.
Once home to shipping and heavy industry, the Docklands area was derelict for many years, before redevelopment began in the late-1980s. Now the area around Canary Wharf is one of the country's largest financial districts and has several landmark skyscrapers, such as One Canada Square.
The redevelopment of the Docklands has led to the construction of luxury housing in the constituency, which has somewhat altered the demographics. However, in parts of the Isle of Dogs and in the areas north, east and west of Poplar, there are still areas of high deprivation.
At the end of 2012, 6% of the population of the constituency were unemployment benefit claimants, ranking sixth among London seats (the highest percentage was Tottenham at 7.9%), and above the London-wide average of 3.9%.[8]
In the 2016 EU referendum, like the majority of London; the constituency voted 65.79% for Remain.[9]
Election | Member[10] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Jim Fitzpatrick | Labour | |
2019 | Apsana Begum | Labour |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Green | Nathalie Bienfait[11] | ||||
Reform UK | Tony Glover[12] | ||||
Majority | |||||
Turnout |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Apsana Begum | 38,660 | 63.1 | -4.2 | |
Conservative | Sheun Oke | 9,756 | 15.9 | -4.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Andrew Cregan | 8,832 | 14.4 | +7.7 | |
Green | Neil Jameson | 2,159 | 3.5 | +1.8 | |
Brexit Party | Catherine Cui | 1,493 | 2.4 | New | |
Independent | Andy Erlam | 376 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 28,904 | 47.2 | |||
Turnout | 61,276 | 66.7 | -0.6 | ||
Registered electors | 91,836 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | 0.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Jim Fitzpatrick | 39,558 | 67.3 | +8.7 | |
Conservative | Chris Wilford | 11,846 | 20.1 | -5.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Elaine Bagshaw | 3,959 | 6.7 | +2.5 | |
Independent | Oliur Rahman | 1,477 | 2.5 | New | |
Green | Bethan Lant | 989 | 1.7 | -3.1 | |
UKIP | Nicholas McQueen | 849 | 1.4 | -4.7 | |
Independent | David Barker | 136 | 0.2 | New | |
Majority | 27,712 | 47.2 | +14.0 | ||
Turnout | 58,814 | 67.3 | +5.2 | ||
Registered electors | 87,331 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +7.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Jim Fitzpatrick | 29,886 | 58.5 | +18.6 | |
Conservative | Chris Wilford | 12,962 | 25.4 | -1.7 | |
UKIP | Nicholas McQueen | 3,128 | 6.1 | +4.9 | |
Green | Maureen Childs | 2,463 | 4.8 | +3.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Elaine Bagshaw | 2,149 | 4.2 | -6.9 | |
TUSC | Hugo Pierre | 367 | 0.7 | New | |
Red Flag Anti-Corruption | Rene Claudel Mugenzi | 89 | 0.2 | New | |
Majority | 16,924 | 33.2 | +20.2 | ||
Turnout | 51,044 | 62.2 | -0.1 | ||
Registered electors | 82,081 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +10.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Jim Fitzpatrick* | 18,679 | 40.0 | ||
Conservative | Tim Archer | 12,649 | 27.1 | ||
Respect | George Galloway* | 8,160 | 17.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Jonathan Fryer | 5,209 | 11.2 | ||
UKIP | Wayne Lochner | 565 | 1.2 | ||
English Democrat | Andrew Osborne | 470 | 1.0 | ||
Green | Chris Smith | 449 | 1.0 | ||
Independent | Kabir Mahmud | 293 | 0.6 | ||
Independent | Mohammed Hoque | 167 | 0.4 | ||
Independent | Jim Thornton | 59 | 0.1 | ||
Majority | 6,030 | 12.9 | |||
Turnout | 46,700 | 62.3 | |||
Registered electors | 74,955 | ||||
Labour win (new seat) |