Lewisham East (UK Parliament constituency)

Lewisham East is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the by-election on 14 June 2018 by Janet Daby of the Labour Party.

History
Lewisham East was created for the 1918 general election. From 1945 to 1950 the seat was represented by cabinet minister Herbert Morrison of the Labour Party, who took the seat from its first MP, Conservative Assheton Pownall, a former army officer.

The seat was abolished in 1950 but recreated in 1974. From 1979 to 1997 the constituency was a marginal seat. The MP from 1983 to 1992 was Minister for Sport Colin Moynihan (Conservative). Since the 1997 general election the seat has swung towards Labour; in 2014 Labour won a landslide victory at the local council elections, with the Liberal Democrats losing ten seats and the Conservatives losing their only remaining councillor, while Steve Bullock was re-elected as the directly elected mayor of Lewisham, having held the office since its creation in 2002. Lewisham East had the 51st largest Labour vote share in the country at the 2015 election, out of 650 constituencies.

Constituency profile
The constituency stretches from Blackheath, which has more in common with the more affluent areas of the Royal Borough of Greenwich (which contains the north and east parts of Blackheath) to the wards to the south of the constituency which contain more social housing and less architectural grandeur. Incidence of social deprivation is highest towards downtown Lewisham and the Rushey Green area of Catford, a low-to-middle income area which was home to one of the first indoor shopping malls in England.

At the southern end of the constituency is Grove Park, one of the quieter and more prosperous parts of Lewisham, which is more marginal between Labour and the Conservatives than the rest of the borough. Some wards in the constituency are steadily increasing in average income and median age, and thus have become Conservative targets in local elections. Nonetheless, Labour MP Heidi Alexander increased her majority in 2015 and then again in 2017. In the by-election of 2018, the Labour vote fell from 68% to 50%.

Historic
1918–1950: The Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham wards of Blackheath, Church, Lewisham Park, Manor, and South, and parts of the wards of Catford and Lewisham Village.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Lewisham wards of Blackheath and Lewisham Village, Grove Park, Lewisham Park, Manor Lee, St Andrew, St Mildred Lee, South Lee, Southend, and Whitefoot.

1983–2010: The London Borough of Lewisham wards of Blackheath, Churchdown, Downham, Grove Park, Hither Green, Manor Lee, St Margaret, St Mildred, and Whitefoot.

2010–2024: The London Borough of Lewisham wards of Blackheath, Catford South, Downham, Grove Park, Lee Green, Rushey Green, and Whitefoot.

The 2010 redrawing of boundaries replaced Lewisham West with a cross-borough constituency, Lewisham West and Penge, requiring changes to the other seats in the borough.
 * Lewisham East received:
 * Catford South, and parts of Rushey Green and Whitefoot wards from the former constituency of Lewisham West.
 * Part of Rushey Green from Lewisham Deptford
 * Lewisham East lost:
 * Part of Lewisham Central to Lewisham Deptford.

Current
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of:

The London Borough of Lewisham wards of: Bellingham; Catford South; Downham; Grove Park; Hither Green; Lee Green; Rushey Green.

''Contents reflect new ward structure which became effective in May 2022. Blackheath ward was transferred to the re-established constituency of Lewisham North, offset by the gain of Bellingham ward from the abolished constituency of Lewisham West and Penge.''