Hackney South and Shoreditch is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since 2005 by

Meg Hillier Dame Margaret Olivia Hillier (born 14 February 1969), known as Meg Hillier, is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney South and Shoreditch at the 2005 general election, was a ...

of Labour Co-op.

History

The seat was created in February 1974 from the former seat of Shoreditch and Finsbury. Ronald Brown was elected in 1974 as a representative of the Labour Party but defected from the Opposition to join the fledgling Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981, at a time when Labour wished for Common Market withdrawal and the removal of keeping a nuclear deterrent during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. Brown held the seat as an SDP member until 1983, when he was defeated by Labour Party candidate

Brian Sedgemore Brian Charles John Sedgemore (17 March 1937 – 29 April 2015) was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 2005. He defected to the Liberal Democrats shortly after standi ...

. Sedgemore announced his retirement from parliament at the 2005 election; but on 26 April 2005, after Parliament had been dissolved and he was no longer the sitting MP, defected to the Liberal Democrats, the successors to the SDP, shortly before the week of the election. The Liberal Democrats were unable to capitalise on the defection, their candidate only gaining the second largest gain in votes of the candidates competing. In the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the constituency voted remain by 77.9%. This was the ninth highest support for remain for a constituency. ;Election Record All elections since the seat's creation have been won by the Labour candidate, including the incumbent,

, with substantial majorities, making it a Labour

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. The 2015 result ranked the seat the 16th safest of the party's 232 seats (by majority percentage) and fifth safest in the capital.

Boundaries

1974–1983: The London Borough of Hackney wards of Dalston, De Beauvoir, Haggerston, Moorfields, Queensbridge, Victoria, and Wenlock. 1983–2010: The London Borough of Hackney wards of Chatham, Dalston, De Beauvoir, Haggerston, Homerton, King's Park, Moorfields, Queensbridge, Victoria, Wenlock, Westdown, and Wick. 2010–present: The London Borough of Hackney wards of Chatham, De Beauvoir, Hackney Central, Haggerston, Hoxton, King's Park, Queensbridge, Victoria, and Wick (as well as a small section at the southern end of Lea Bridge ward). The constituency covers the southern part of the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The constituency shares a boundary with eight others:

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

, Leyton & Wanstead,

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

, Bethnal Green & Bow, Cities of London and Westminster,

Islington South & Finsbury Islington South and Finsbury is a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Emily Thornberry of the Labour Party. Thornberry served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2016 until 2020 a ...

Islington North Islington North () is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Jeremy Corbyn. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Cor ...

, and its borough partner Hackney North & Stoke Newington.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

*Both Brown and Roberts were official candidates of their respective local parties and both supported the Alliance between the Liberals and the SDP; however, Brown was given endorsement by both national parties.

Elections in the 1970s

Notes

References

Sources

Election result, 2005
(BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001
(BBC)

(Election Demon)

(Election Demon)

(Guardian)

(Keele University)

External links

(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackney South And Shoreditch (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in London Parliamentary constituencies in the London Borough of Hackney Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 Shoreditch