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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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Islington South & Finsbury
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| Parents |
> United Kingdom > England > London > London
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| Established | February 28, 1974 |
| Disbanded | Still Active |
| Contributor | RP |
| Last Modified | RBH December 12, 2019 01:49am |
| Description |
This is a densely populated inner-London constituency with a very divided social profile. It has a high proportion of local authority rented housing (Fifth in the country) but also areas of gentrification like Canonbury and Barnesbury, and the increasingly fashionable Clerkenwell to the south. It contains two landmarks in the history of New Labour - the Blairs' former house and the location of the Granita restaurant (since closed) where the Brown/Blair leadership pact was supposed to have been agreed in 1994. The Parliamentary seat is held by Chris Smith, the former culture, media and sport secretary (1997-2001), and the first openly-gay Labour MP. He won the seat narrowly in 1983 when the previous incumbent, George Cunningham, defected to the fledgling SDP. Mr Smith increased his 363 vote majority to 805 in 1987, also against Cunningham. In 1992 that majority rose to 10,652. It is now 7,280 over the Liberal Democrats. Mr Smith is not standing at the next election. Islington South & Finsbury covers the majority of the wards of Islington Council and most councillors in the constituency are Liberal Democrat. Labour held total sway here from 1964 till the early 1980s when the rise of the SDP caused a number of Labour defections and made it the largest group on the council. Labour regained that position in 1982 when current Barking MP, Margaret Hodge, became leader. In the 1990s there was a Lib Dem revival: the 1998 borough election saw a dead heat but they took control of Islington at the end of 1999, retaining their position in 2002.
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