Bethnal Green and Stepney
UK Parliament constituency (1983–1997, 2024 onwards)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bethnal Green and Stepney is a parliamentary constituency in Greater London, which returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Covering 6.8km2, it is the smallest UK parliamentary constituency.[2]
| Bethnal Green and Stepney | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
 Interactive map of boundaries from 2024 | |
Location within Greater London | |
| County | Greater London |
| Electorate | 77,000 (March 2020)[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 and Bow and Stepney and Poplar |
| Replaced by | Bethnal Green and Bow (the most part) Poplar and Canning Town (small parts) |
The seat first existed between 1983 and 1997 and was re-established under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election. In the intervening period, the seat was largely replaced by Bethnal Green and Bow.[3]
Since 2024, the constituency has been represented by Rushanara Ali who was previously MP for Bethnal Green and Bow from 2010 to 2024.
Constituency profile
The constituency is located in the East End of London within the Borough of Tower Hamlets. It contains the areas of Bethnal Green, Stepney, Whitechapel and parts of Limehouse.
Previously an impoverished area, this part of London was rebuilt and developed after the Blitz of World War II. Compared to the rest of London, residents are generally younger, more deprived and considerably less likely to own a house or car.[4] Bethnal Green and Stepney contains the UK's largest community of Bangladeshis, who make up 42% of the constituency's population.[5]
At the most recent borough council election in 2022, voters in the constituency were divided between the Labour Party and the local Aspire party. An estimated 70% of voters supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, one of the highest rates in the country.[4]
History
In its first incarnation, from 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.[6]
In 1981, 24% of the constituency were non-White.[7] The constituency had the highest concentration of those born in Bangladesh (11.7% of the population) in 1981.[8]
Boundaries
1983–1997
The 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.
2024–present
Further to the 2023 boundary review, 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.[9]
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.[10]
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member[11] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Peter Shore | Labour | |
| 1997 | constituency abolished: see Bethnal Green and Bow | ||
| 2024 | Rushanara Ali | Labour | |
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rushanara Ali | 15,896 | 34.1 |  39.4 | |
| Independent | Ajmal Masroor | 14,207 | 30.5 | new | |
| Green | Phoebe Gill | 6,391 | 13.7 |  9.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Rabina Khan | 4,777 | 10.2 | 0.9 | |
| Reform | 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 | new | |
| Independent | Md Somon Ahmed | 315 | 0.7 | new | |
| Independent | Reggie Adams | 271 | 0.6 | new | |
| SDP | Jon Mabbutt | 233 | 0.5 | new | |
| Majority | 1,689 | 3.6 | 59.8 | ||
| Turnout | 46,647 | 56.9 | 8.0 | ||
| Registered electors | 81,922 | ||||
| Labour hold | |||||
Elections in the 2010s
| 2019 notional result [a] [13] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Majority | 31,655 | 63.4 | |
| Turnout | 49,951 | 64.9 | |
| Electorate | 77,000 | ||
Elections in the 1990s
| 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
| 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
Notes
- Estimate of the 2019 general election result as if the revised boundaries recommended under the 2023 boundary review were in place