Bethnal Green and Stepney is a parliamentary constituency in Greater London, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election, largely based on the existing seat of Bethnal Green and Bow. The MP for the constituency is Rushanara Ali.

History

In its first incarnation, from its creation in 1983 to its abolition in 1997, the constituency was only ever represented by the former cabinet minister Peter Shore, who held the seat for the Labour Party. Shore was noted for his opposition to the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community.

Boundaries

1983–1997

The constituency was made up of nine electoral wards of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets: Holy Trinity, Redcoat, St Dunstan's, St James', St Katharine's, St Mary's, St Peter's, Spitalfields, and Weavers. It was abolished in 1997, and largely replaced by the larger Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, in line with the Boundary Commission's recommendation that one seat should be lost in the paired boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham. 297 electors moved to the new Cities of London and Westminster constituency.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020): Apart from Shadwell and a small part of Whitechapel ward, previously part of Poplar and Limehouse, the constituency replaced Bethnal Green and Bow - excluding Bow, which was included in the newly created seat of Stratford and Bow. It is the smallest constituency in the UK by geographical area.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s