Lewisham East is a

parliamentary 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 (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

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 the by-election on 14 June 2018 by

Janet Daby Janet Jessica Daby (née Sarju; born 15 December 1970) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham East since 2018. A member of the Labour Party, she was Shadow Minister for Faiths from April to December 202 ...

of the Labour Party.

History

Lewisham East was created for the 1918 general election. From 1945 to 1950 the seat was represented by cabinet minister

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minis ...

of the Labour Party, who took the seat from its first MP, Conservative

Assheton Pownall Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Assheton Pownall (3 October 1877 – 29 October 1953) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Lewisham East from 1918 to 1945. Pownall was born in Warwick, Warwickshire, the so ...

, a former army officer. The seat was abolished in 1950 but recreated in 1974. From 1979 to 1997 the constituency was a

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...

. The MP from 1983 to 1992 was Minister for Sport Colin Moynihan (

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

). Since the 1997 general election the seat has swung towards Labour; in 2014 Labour won a landslide victory at the local council elections, with the Liberal Democrats losing ten seats and the Conservatives losing their only remaining councillor, while Steve Bullock was re-elected as the

directly elected mayor of Lewisham The mayor of Lewisham is a directly elected mayor responsible for the executive function of Lewisham London Borough Council in London, England. Steve Bullock held the position from 2002 until May 2018, when he was succeeded by Damien Egan. R ...

, having held the office since its creation in 2002. Lewisham East had the 51st largest Labour vote share in the country at the 2015 election, out of 650 constituencies.

Constituency profile

The constituency stretches from

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, which has more in common with the more affluent areas of the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

(which contains the north and east parts of Blackheath) to the wards to the south of the constituency which contain more social housing and less architectural grandeur. Incidence of social deprivation is highest towards downtown Lewisham and the Rushey Green area of

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdiv ...

, a low-to-middle income area which was home to one of the first indoor shopping malls in England. At the southern end of the constituency is Grove Park, one of the quieter and more prosperous parts of Lewisham, which is more marginal between Labour and the Conservatives than the rest of the borough. Some wards in the constituency are steadily increasing in average income and median age, and thus have become Conservative targets in local elections. Nonetheless, Labour MP

Heidi Alexander Heidi Alexander (born 17 April 1975) is a British politician who served as Deputy Mayor of London for Transport from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham East from 2010 to 2018. Alexander ...

increased her majority in 2015 and then again in 2017. In the by-election of 2018, the Labour vote fell from 68% to 50%.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The

Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham The Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it became part of the London Borough of Lewisham along with the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford. History The borough was formed b ...

wards of Blackheath, Church, Lewisham Park, Manor, and South, and parts of the wards of Catford and Lewisham Village. 1974–1983: The

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes throug ...

wards of Blackheath and Lewisham Village, Grove Park, Lewisham Park, Manor Lee, St Andrew, St Mildred Lee, South Lee, Southend, and Whitefoot. 1983–2010: The London Borough of Lewisham wards of Blackheath, Churchdown, Downham, Grove Park, Hither Green, Manor Lee, St Margaret, St Mildred, and Whitefoot. 2010–present: The London Borough of Lewisham wards of Blackheath, Catford South, Downham, Grove Park, Lee Green, Rushey Green, and Whitefoot. The 2010 redrawing of boundaries replaced Lewisham West with a cross-borough constituency,

Lewisham West and Penge Lewisham West and Penge is a constituency in Greater London created in 2010 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Ellie Reeves of the Labour Party. History Following the adoption of the Boundary Commissi ...

, requiring changes to the other seats in the borough. *Lewisham East received: **Catford South, and parts of Rushey Green and Whitefoot wards from the former constituency of Lewisham West. **Part of Rushey Green from Lewisham Deptford *Lewisham East lost: **Part of Lewisham Central to Lewisham Deptford.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewisham East (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of the London Borough of Lewisham Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974