General Election 2024 London seats: Who will be my MP in Bethnal Green and Stepney
Millions of voters across London will go the polls on July 4 to elect the new Government. The Standard looks at key battleground and other seats in the capital, and has published an interactive map. Here we turn the spotlight on:BETHNAL GREEN AND STEPNEY
Candidates for main parties (in alphabetical order):
Phoebe Gill - Green Party
Vanessa Hudson - Animal Welfare Party
Rabina Khan - Liberal Democrats
Jonathon Mabbutt - Social Democrats
Ajmal Masroor - Independent
Oscar Reaney - Conservatives
Peter Sceats - Reform UK
Summary:
Rushanara Ali won this seat for Labour in 2010 after seeing off Abjol Miah, the Respect candidate anointed by then sitting MP George Galloway. In doing so she became the first person of Bangladeshi origin to be elected an MP.
At the 2019 election the shadow business minister gained over 60 per cent of the vote, winning a massive 37,524 majority - one the largest in the country. The Conservatives came in a distant second place with 6,528 votes and the Liberal Democrats third with 5,892 votes.
Since 2010 it has been seen as a safe Labour seat. However, the party lost control of Tower Hamlets local council at the 2019 election to the independent Aspire party.
Ms Ali’s decision to tow the Labour party line and abstain on a Gaza ceasefire vote in Parliament earlier this year angered some in the constituency, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in the country.
It prompted a number of independent pro-Palestinian candidates to announce they would be standing against her at the general election, including Shamima Begum’s lawyer Tasnime Akunjee. However, he dropped out of the race in early June to clear the way for Ajmal Masroor, a Bangladeshi-born British imam and broadcaster.
The pair came to a deal in order “not to split” the independent vote and have urged other pro-Palestine candidates not to run. Mr Masroor, who is understood to have the backing of Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman, ran against Ms Ali in 2010 as the Liberal Democrat candidate, coming second.
Area: Wards in the constituency include Bethnal Green, Shadwell, Spitalfields & Banglatown, St. Dunstan's, St. Peter's, Stepney Green, Weavers and Whitechapel
I’m not sure if I’m in this constituency: Here’s how you can check
Boundary changes impact: Boundary changes have not changed the political make-up of this constituency.
YouGov MRP poll prediction: Labour hold
Evening Standard view: With a majority of more than of 37,500, Ms Ali should comfortably retain her seat. But independent campaigners, angry at Labour’s response to the war in Gaza, are determined to make it difficult.
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