East Ham (UK Parliament constituency)

East Ham
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of East Ham in GreaterLondon.
County	Greater London
Electorate	91,531 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Stephen Timms (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Newham North East, Newham South
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

East Ham is a constituency in the London Borough of Newham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Stephen Timms of the Labour Party.

History

The seat was formed in 1997 when Newham North East was replaced by the seat and by part of Newham South.

East Ham's wards have long been Labour strongholds: Ron Leighton was MP for the old Newham North East from 1979 until his death in 1994, Stephen Timms has represented the seat since. The RESPECT Coalition stood a candidate once, hoping to benefit from opposition to the Iraq war in the 2005 general election which saw elsewhere their first MP, and took second place. At the 2010 general election, Stephen Timms received the most individual votes of any MP (35,471) and largest majority (27,826) of any MP.

Constituency profile

Comprising the eastern part of the London Borough of Newham, East Ham is, as at 2010, the safest Labour seat in London and sixth safest in the country. Every component ward has only Labour councillors (resulting from local elections), and their general election candidates have achieved an absolute majority on all four elections against a wide assortment of political parties at each election.

The constituency has the largest proportion of non-white people in the UK; Greater London's highest proportion of British Asian, many of whom are Muslims live in the seat. In the London Borough of Newham 43.5% of people are British Asian in 2011.

The constituency takes in several run-down, deprived, lower working class areas with low incomes and high unemployment that in 2000 ranked high in the Index of Multiple Deprivation including Beckton, Silvertown and East Ham itself. London City Airport is in the seat, as are the former Royal Docks where modern luxury housing is springing up.

Around two thirds of constituents are non-white, and more than 40% of the population are immigrants to the UK.

Boundaries

1997-2010: The London Borough of Newham wards of Castle, Central, Greatfield, Kensington, Little Ilford, Manor Park, Monega, St Stephen's, South, and Wall End.

2010–present: The London Borough of Newham wards of Beckton, Boleyn, East Ham Central, East Ham North, East Ham South, Green Street East, Little Ilford, Manor Park, Royal Docks, and Wall End.

The constituency covers the eastern half of Newham, including East Ham, Beckton, Little Ilford and Manor Park.

Based on the 2010 list of eligible electors compiled by local authorities, this seat has the second largest electorate of any in the UK, behind only the Isle of Wight. This will make the seat at an extreme of malapportionment - based on the figures compiled in 2010, it will have more than four times the electorate of the smallest constituency.

Member of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Stephen Timms	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: East Ham<

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Timms	40,563	77.6	+7.2
	Conservative	Samir Jassal	6,311	12.1	−3.1
	UKIP	Daniel Oxley	2,622	5.0	N/A
	Green	Tamsin Omond	1,299	2.5	+1.3
	Liberal Democrat	David Thorpe	856	1.6	−10.0
	Communities United	Mohammed Aslam	409	0.8	N/A
	TUSC	Lois Austin	230	0.4	N/A
Majority			34,252	65.5	+10.3
Turnout			52,290	59.8	+4.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.1

General Election 2010: East Ham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Timms	35,471	70.4	+16.8
	Conservative	Paul Shea	7,645	15.2	+1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Brice	5,849	11.6	+0.8
	English Democrats	Barry O'Connor	822	1.6	N/A
	Green	Judy Maciejowska	586	1.2	N/A
Majority			27,826	55.2	+22
Turnout			50,373	55.6	+8.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.7

This was the largest numerical majority of any seat in the 2010 general election.

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: East Ham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Timms	21,326	53.9	−19.2
	Respect	Abdul Khaliq Mian	8,171	20.7	N/A
	Conservative	Miss Sarah L. Macken	5,196	13.1	−3.6
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs. Ann M. Haigh	4,296	10.9	+3.9
	Christian Peoples	David J. Bamber	580	1.5	N/A
Majority			13,155	33.2	−23.2
Turnout			39.569	50.7	−1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−20.0

General Election 2001: East Ham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Timms	27,241	73.1	+8.5
	Conservative	Peter John Campbell	6,209	16.7	+0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs. Bridget C. Fox	2,600	7.0	+0.5
	Socialist Labour	Roderick Finlayson	783	2.1	−4.7
	UKIP	Johinda Pandhal	444	1.2	N/A
Majority			21,032	56.4
Turnout			37,277	52.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: East Ham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Timms	25,779	64.6	N/A
	Conservative	Angela Bray	6,421	16.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Imran Khan	2,697	6.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Mike J. Sole	2,599	6.5	N/A
	BNP	Colin Smith	1,258	3.2	N/A
	Referendum	Mrs. Joy E. McCann	845	2.1	N/A
	National Democrats	Graham G. Hardy	290	0.7	N/A
Majority			19,358	48.5	N/A
Turnout			39,889	60.3	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London

Notes and references

Notes

References