Constituency Profile
The northernmost third of the constituency, around Penge and Crystal Palace, can be categorised as being similar in character to neighbouring Lewisham and north Croydon, having an inner-city feel about it and many ethnic minority residents. This part of the constituency votes strongly for the Liberal Democrats, with Labour also competitive.
The remaining two thirds of the constituency consists of leafy Bromley suburbia, also taking in the town of Beckenham itself. This area votes 60-70% for the Conservatives and is the reason why the constituency has been safely Conservative even in disastrous years for the party such as 1997 and 2001.
The addition, from the Bromley and Chislehurst seat, of Bromley Common and Keston ward, as well as that part of Hayes & Coney Hall ward that lay outside the constituency before the boundary review, and the removal of the Penge and Cator, Clockhouse and Crystal Palace wards, were predicted to make Beckenham the safest Conservative seat in the country.
Read more about this topic: Beckenham (UK Parliament Constituency)
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