is a
Constituency represented in the
House Of Commons of the
Parliament Of The United Kingdom . It elects one
Member Of Parliament (MP) by the
First Past The Post system of election. It was created in
1997 .
The seat is centred on the northern part of the
London Borough Of Tower Hamlets , taking in much of
Bethnal Green ,
Bow and
Stepney . It includes much of the traditional
East End , the
Tower Of London and
Brick Lane .
Prior to
1997 the equivalent seat was
Bethnal Green And Stepney .
Following the review of parliamentary representation in
North London in 2001, the
Boundary Commission For England has modified the seat of Bethnal Green and Bow. A name change to "Tower Hamlets North" was rejected. The electoral wards which are used in the re-drawn Bethnal Green and Bow are entirely within the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets
The Tower Hamlets wards of
Blackwall and
Cubitt Town ,
Bromley-by-Bow ,
East India and Lansbury,
Limehouse , Mile End East,
Millwall , St Katherine’s and
Wapping and
Shadwell have been moved to the new constituency of
Poplar And Limehouse
For the history of the constituency prior to
1997 please see
Bethnal Green And Stepney .
Bethnal Green has a reputation for being a bastion of the Labour Party. The
Conservative Party won a council by-election on
9 September 2004 , their first win in the area since
1931 . Whilst maintaining a local government presence the Liberal Democrats have failed to make any impact in the parliamentary elections in this seat since losing the old
Bethnal Green South West Constituency , which was the last seat in
Inner London to have a
Liberal MP. Between
1986 and
1994 they controlled
Tower Hamlets council, but this proved a deeply controversial period, witnessing splits in the local party and much criticism from outside.
The seat also has a large non-white population, estimated at around 58% of the population. The largest of which is the
Bangladeshi community (36%)
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In recent years the Westminster elections have seen some results that have shocked commentators outside the constituency. In the
1997 General Election , the
Conservative Party received a swing to them, despite almost every other constituency in the country experiencing a landslidswing against them.
The
Labour Party candidate, Oona King, was new and many felt that a "
New Labour " candidate had been imposed on the constituency, leading to a protracted public row over her selection. On the back of this in 2005
Respect gained a groundswell of support from voters of all parties to defeat Labour in the election.
In more local elections the area has seen high votes for Respect, who topped the poll in Tower Hamlets in the
2004 European Parliamentary Elections and subsequently won their first local council seat in a by-election. One of the leading figures in Respect
George Galloway , who ran on a
Left-wing Anti-war platform, ousted Oona King in the
May 2005 General Election to take the seat. George Galloway has attracted criticism for lack of attendance at
Parliament , especially when he appeared in the reality TV programme
Big Brother . However, he has countered that he has not missed any crucial votes and that the best way for him to advance the interests of his constituents is by general campaigning.
The
Member Of Parliament since the seat was formed in
1997 was
Oona King of the
Labour Party . In the
2005 General Election 2005 she was defeated by
George Galloway of the
Respect coalition.
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Shahagir Bakth Faruk
|
| |
6,244
|
| |
142
|
| |
-101
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Syed Nurul Islam Dulu
|
| |
4,928
|
| |
112
|
| |
-43
|
|
| |
Green Party of England and Wales
|
| |
John Foster
|
| |
1,950
|
| |
44
|
| |
+01
|
|
| |
Alliance for Change (UK)
|
| |
Ejiro Etefia
|
| |
68
|
| |
02
|
|
| |
RESPECT The Unity Coalition
|
| |
Labour Party (UK)
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Shahagir Bakth Faruk
|
| |
9,323
|
| |
243
|
| |
+32
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Janet Ludlow
|
| |
5,946
|
| |
155
|
| |
+35
|
|
| |
Green Party of England and Wales
|
| |
Anna Bragga
|
| |
1,666
|
| |
43
|
| |
+25
|
|
| |
Michael Davidson
|
| |
British National Party
|
| |
1,211
|
| |
32
|
| |
-43
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Kabir Choudhury
|
| |
9,412
|
| |
211
|
| |
+32
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Syed Nurul Islam Dulu
|
| |
5,361
|
| |
120
|
| |
-103
|
|
| |
British National Party
|
| |
David King
|
| |
3,350
|
| |
75
|
| |
+39
|
|
| |
Liberal Party (UK, 1989)
|
| |
Terry Milson
|
| |
2,963
|
| |
66
|
|
| |
Independent (politician)
|
| |
Sheref Osman
|
| |
1,117
|
| |
25
|
|
| |
Green Party of England and Wales
|
| |
Stephen Petter
|
| |
812
|
| |
18
|
|
| |
Referendum Party
|
| |
Muhammed Abdullah
|
| |
557
|
| |
12
|
|
| |
Socialist Labour Party (UK)
|
| |
Abdul Hamid
|
| |
413
|
| |
09
|
|
