| Poplar and Limehouse | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Map Entity: | Greater London |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Map Size: | 200px |
| Type: | Borough |
| Electorate: | 75,814 (2023)[1] |
| Region: | England |
| European: | London |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
Poplar and Limehouse is a constituency which was first created in 2010. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Apsana Begum, who was elected as a Labour Party MP. However, the whip was withdrawn on 23 July 2024, as a result of her voting to scrap the two child benefit cap, and she was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party. Begum now sits as an Independent MP until the whip is re-established.
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:
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 came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was reduced to bring the electorate within the permitted range. Shadwell and part of the Whitechapel wards were transferred to the re-established seat of Bethnal Green and Stepney, and the Bromley North ward was moved 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]
The constituency is religiously diverse: 38.8% of residents are Muslim, 24.2% Christian, 2.8% Hindu, and 1.0% Buddhist. 24.8% claimed no religious affiliation.[10]
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Jim Fitzpatrick | Labour | |
| 2019 | Apsana Begum | Labour | |
| 2024 | Independent | ||
| 2019 notional result[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 31,176 | 60.3 | ||
| 9,129 | 17.7 | ||
| 8,009 | 15.5 | ||
| 1,756 | 3.4 | ||
| 1,219 | 2.4 | ||
| Others | 376 | 0.7 | |
| Turnout | 51,665 | 68.1 | |
| Electorate | 75,814 | ||
* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament