A Look @: Islington and Hackney

In Islington and Hackney Labour hold all four Parliamentary seats with the Liberal Democrats providing the main opposition. As for the borough councils, the Liberal Democrats had control of Islington until 2006 when they lost 12 councillors in that election and ended up with 24 of the 48 seats. Labour were the main benefactors which will give them hope of holding onto the marginal seat of Islington South & Finsbury. In Hackney not much changed in the 2006 elections and Labour still run the council with 44 of the 57 seats.

Constituency	Incumbent	Notional Majority		Swing Needed	Favourite	Prediction
Islington South & Finsbury	Emily Thornberry	484		0.8%	4/6	LD Gain
Islington North	Jeremy Corbyn	6,716		10.7%	1/7	LAB Hold
Hackney North & Stoke Newington	Diane Abbott	8,002		13%	1/33	LAB Hold
Hackney South & Shoreditch	Meg Hillier	9,629		15.7%	1/100	LAB Hold

 

Labour MP Chris Smith represented Islington South & Finsbury from 1983 to 2005 and he lays claim to being the first openly gay MP and the first openly gay cabinet minister. Shortly before standing down he revealed he had been HIV Positive for most of his Parliamentary career. Labour have held this seat for all but one year since it's creation in 1974, and that was due to a defection to the SDP. However, at the last election Labour came very close to losing this following big surge from the Liberal Democrats. Emily Thornberry just prevailed for Labour and she has another tough battle to look forward to this year. The Liberal Democrats are running former Islington councillor Bridget Fox again after she came within 484 votes of gaining the seat last time. It is set to be a tight clash with a lot riding on how much of their 2005 vote the Lib Dems hold on to, which had a lot to do with tuition fees and the Iraq War. They also need to convince voters that have become disillusioned with Labour during this term that a vote for the Conservatives would be wasted in this seat. The Lib Dems are looking good in the polls at the moment but they will need to gather some momentum during the campaign to push them over the top in LAB/LD marginals such as this one. I think they'll just manage it but it's one to come back to closer to Election Day; Lib Dem Gain.

Islington North should be a much easier hold for Labour in a seat they have won every election in since World War II. Like its southern counterpart, a defection to the SDP meant this was briefly out of Labour's hands but Jeremy Corbyn won the seat back for his party and has remain in place every since. He'll win again in May; Labour Hold.

Hackney North & Stoke Newington has been Labour's since its creation in 1950. Diane Abbott became its third MP in 1987 and she's unlikely to lose here seat at this election; Labour Hold.

Hackney South & Shoreditch is another where the only time Labour MP has not represented it was because of a SDP defection in the early eighties. Brian Sedgemore took the seat back in 1983 and remained an MP until 2005. During the last election campaign he himself defected to the Liberal Democrats but it had little effect on his old seat. Meg Hillier easily held the seat for Labour and she'll do so again in May; Labour Hold.