Ilford South (UK Parliament constituency)

Ilford South is a constituency^{[n 1]} created in 1945, and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Jas Athwal of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Ilford South
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Location within Greater London
County	Greater London
Electorate	74,065 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Ilford
Current constituency
Created	1945
Member of Parliament	Jas Athwal (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Ilford

Constituency profile

The seat covers Ilford town centre and the surrounding suburbs, and the housing is predominantly semi-detached with little high-rise development. There is significant commuting to central London via the four stations on the Elizabeth line. The seat is ethnically diverse including white, black and Asian communities.^[2]

Ilford South
Racial makeup (2021)[3]
• Asian	61.2%
• White	19.8%
• Black	9.9%
• Other	5.8%
• Mixed	3.3%

Political history

This constituency was created in 1945. The previous MP since 1992, Mike Gapes, who before defecting to Change UK, was the fourth Labour Party MP, each of whose tenures was interspersed or preceded by one of a Conservative MP serving the area. Regarded as a key marginal seat for decades, under Gapes's tenure Ilford South became a very safe seat for the Labour Party; in every election since 1997 it has been won by a majority of over 20% by Labour, and in 2017 they secured over 75% of the vote in the constituency.

The 2015 result made the seat the 38th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.^[4] The narrowest result since 1997 (inclusive) was in 2005 at a majority of 21.6%; the 2017 majority is the greatest ever achieved in the seat, at 54.9%.

Boundaries

Ilford South in Essex, showing boundaries used from 1945 to 1950

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

1945–1950: The Borough of Ilford wards of Clementswood, Cranbrook, Goodmayes, Loxford, and Park.

1950–1974: The Borough of Ilford wards of Clementswood, Cranbrook, Goodmayes, Loxford, Mayfield, and Park.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Redbridge wards of Clementswood, Cranbrook, Goodmayes, Ilford, Mayfield, and Park.

1983–1997: As above substituting Ilford and Park with reshaped wards Loxford, Newbury, and Valentines.

1997–2024: As above plus Chadwell and Seven Kings wards.

2024–present: The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham ward of Chadwell Heath, and the London Borough of Redbridge wards of Chadwell, Clementswood, Goodmayes, Ilford Town, Loxford, Mayfield, Newbury, and Seven Kings.^[5]

The Cranbrook and Valentines wards were transferred to Ilford North, with the small part of Wanstead Park ward going to Leyton and Wanstead. To partly compensate, the Chadwell Heath ward was transferred from Dagenham and Rainham.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[6]	Party
	1945	Jim Ranger	Labour
	1950	Albert Cooper	Conservative
	1966	Arnold Shaw	Labour
	1970	Albert Cooper	Conservative
	February 1974	Arnold Shaw	Labour
	1979	Neil Thorne	Conservative
	1992	Mike Gapes	Labour
	February 2019		The Independent Group for Change
	2019	Sam Tarry	Labour
	2024	Jas Athwal	Labour

Election results

Election results 1945-2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Ilford South ^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jas Athwal	16,537	40.2	–25.4
	Independent	Noor Begum	9,643	23.4	N/A
	Conservative	Sayeed Syduzzaman	6,142	14.9	–5.6
	Green	Syed Siddiqi	3,437	8.3	+7.0
	Reform UK	Raj Forhad	2,329	5.7	+3.8
	Workers Party	Golam Tipu	1,366	3.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Clare	1,340	3.3	–0.1
	TUSC	Andy Walker	376	0.9	N/A
Majority			6,896	16.8	–27.2
Turnout			41,170	50.8	–11.8
Registered electors			80,993
	Labour hold

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[9]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	30,246	65.2
	Conservative	9,837	21.2
	Others	3,082	6.6
	Liberal Democrats	1,546	3.3
	Brexit Party	1,034	2.2
	Green	623	1.3
Turnout		46,368	62.6
Electorate		74,065

General election 2019: Ilford South^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sam Tarry	35,085	65.6	–10.2
	Conservative	Ali Azeem	10,984	20.5	–0.4
	The Independent Group for Change	Mike Gapes	3,891	7.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ashburn Holder	1,795	3.4	+2.1
	Brexit Party	Munish Sharma	1,008	1.9	N/A
	Green	Rosemary Warrington	714	1.3	+0.4
Majority			24,101	45.1	–9.8
Turnout			53,477	62.9	–7.0
	Labour hold		Swing	–4.9

General election 2017: Ilford South^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mike Gapes	43,724	75.8	+11.8
	Conservative	Christopher Chapman	12,077	20.9	–5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Farid Ahmed	772	1.3	–0.7
	Green	Rosemary Warrington	542	0.9	–2.0
	UKIP	Tariq Saeed	477	0.8	–4.4
	Friends Party	Kane Khan	65	0.1	N/A
Majority			31,647	54.9	+16.8
Turnout			57,657	69.9	+13.5
Registered electors			82,487
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+8.4

General election 2015: Ilford South^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mike Gapes[15]	33,232	64.0	+14.6
	Conservative	Christopher Chapman	13,455	25.9	−1.5
	UKIP	Amjad Khan[16]	2,705	5.2	+3.0
	Green	Rosemary Warrington[17]	1,506	2.9	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ashburn Holder	1,014	2.0	−15.0
Majority			19,777	38.1	+16.1
Turnout			51,912	56.4	−1.6
Registered electors			91,987
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+8.1

^[18]

General election 2010: Ilford South^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mike Gapes	25,311	49.4	+0.5
	Conservative	Toby Boutle	14,014	27.4	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Anood Al-Samerai	8,679	17.0	−3.5
	Green	Wilson Chowdhry	1,319	2.6	N/A
	UKIP	Terry Murray	1,132	2.2	+0.6
	Save King George Hospital	John Jestico	746	1.5	N/A
Majority			11,297	22.0	+0.3
Turnout			51,201	58.0	+4.4
Registered electors			86,220
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+0.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mike Gapes	20,856	48.9	−10.7
	Conservative	Stephen Metcalfe	11,628	27.2	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew E. Lake	8,761	20.5	+9.2
	British Public Party	Kashif Rana	763	1.8	N/A
	UKIP	Colin H. Taylor	685	1.6	−1.8
Majority			9,228	21.7	−12.2
Turnout			42,693	53.6	−0.7
Registered electors			79,646
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−6.1

General election 2001: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mike Gapes	24,619	59.6	+1.1
	Conservative	Suresh Kumar	10,622	25.7	−4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Ralph Scott	4,647	11.3	+5.0
	UKIP	Harun Khan	1,407	3.4	N/A
Majority			13,997	33.9	+5.5
Turnout			41,295	54.3	−15.9
Registered electors			76,025
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mike Gapes	29,273	58.5	+13.5
	Conservative	Neil Thorne	15,073	30.1	−14.3
	Liberal Democrats	Aina Khan	3,152	6.3	−3.3
	Referendum	David Hodges	1,073	2.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Bruce G. Ramsey	868	1.7	N/A
	BNP	Aron Owens	580	1.2	N/A
Majority			14,200	28.4	+27.4
Turnout			50,019	70.2	−6.5
Registered electors			71,202
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+16.6

General election 1992: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mike Gapes	19,418	45.4	+7.9
	Conservative	Neil Thorne	19,016	44.4	−4.0
	Liberal Democrats	George G. Hogarth	4,126	9.6	−4.5
	Natural Law	Nandkishore Bramachari	269	0.6	N/A
Majority			402	1.0	N/A
Turnout			42,829	76.7	+4.9
Registered electors			55,741
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.0

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Thorne	20,351	48.4	+2.9
	Labour	Kenneth Jones	15,779	37.5	+3.1
	Liberal	Ralph Scott	5,928	14.1	−5.4
Majority			4,572	10.9	−0.2
Turnout			42,058	71.8	+1.2
Registered electors			58,572
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Thorne	18,672	45.5	−1.3
	Labour	John Hogben	14,106	34.4	−8.3
	Liberal	Ralph Scott	7,999	19.5	+10.6
	BNP	R.A. Martin	235	0.6	−0.9
Majority			4,566	11.1	+7.0
Turnout			41,012	70.6	−5.3
Registered electors			58,208
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Thorne	19,290	46.8	+6.6
	Labour	Arnold Shaw	17,602	42.7	−2.0
	Liberal	Ralph Scott	3,664	8.9	−5.72
	National Front	Terence Fitzgerald[20]	636	1.5	N/A
Majority			1,688	4.1	N/A
Turnout			39,230	75.9	+6.17
Registered electors			54,295
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election October 1974: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arnold Shaw	17,538	44.71	+4.64
	Conservative	Neil Thorne	15,789	40.25	+2.84
	Liberal	E. Yates	5,734	14.62	−7.90
	More Prosperous Britain	Tom Keen	169	0.43	N/A
Majority			1,749	4.46	+1.80
Turnout			39,230	69.73	−7.20
Registered electors			56,257
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arnold Shaw	17,201	40.07	−2.96
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	16,058	37.41	−8.84
	Liberal	Gareth Wilson	9,666	22.52	+14.11
Majority			1,143	2.66	N/A
Turnout			42,925	76.93	+8.8
Registered electors			55,799
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1970: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	18,369	46.25	+4.48
	Labour	Arnold Shaw	17,087	43.03	−4.56
	Liberal	Gerald Leslie Wilson	3,341	8.41	−2.22
	National Front	Malcolm Eric Leslie Skeggs	727	1.83	N/A
	Independent	Michael Joseph Marks	190	0.48	N/A
Majority			1,282	3.22	N/A
Turnout			39,714	68.13	−8.80
Registered electors			58,292
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arnold Shaw	20,613	47.59	+9.52
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	18,093	41.77	−0.36
	Liberal	Irene Watson	4,606	10.63	−8.99
Majority			2,520	5.82	N/A
Turnout			43,312	76.93	+1.92
Registered electors			56,302
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1964: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	18,352	42.13	−8.37
	Labour	Arnold Shaw	16,659	38.25	+3.20
	Liberal	Peter McGregor	8,547	19.62	+5.17
Majority			1,693	3.88	−11.57
Turnout			43,558	75.01	−2.90
Registered electors			58,066
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	23,876	50.50	−6.23
	Labour	Gordon Borrie	16,569	35.05	−8.22
	Liberal	Raymond V Netherclift	6,832	14.45	N/A
Majority			7,307	15.45	+1.99
Turnout			47,277	77.91	+2.59
Registered electors			60,678
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	27,292	56.73	+1.98
	Labour	James Ranger	20,814	43.27	−1.98
Majority			6,478	13.46	+3.96
Turnout			48,106	75.32	−7.34
Registered electors			63,866
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	30,177	54.75	+5.24
	Labour	James Ranger	24,938	45.25	+3.72
Majority			5,239	9.50	+1.52
Turnout			54,115	82.66	−2.71
Registered electors			66,678
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert Cooper	28,087	49.51	+13.21
	Labour	James Ranger	23,558	41.53	−6.47
	Liberal	Ronald Acott Hall	4,170	7.35	−8.35
	Communist	Dave Kelly[21]	913	1.61	N/A
Majority			4,529	7.98	N/A
Turnout			56,728	85.37	+14.27
Registered electors			66,720
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Ilford South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Ranger	19,339	48.0
	Conservative	Edward Boulton	14,633	36.3
	Liberal	Eric Arthur Holloway	6,322	15.7
Majority			4,706	11.7
Turnout			40,294	71.1
Registered electors			56,669
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in London

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.