Croydon Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Croydon Central
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Croydon Central in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	76,980 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of parliament	Gavin Barwell (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Croydon South
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

Croydon Central is a Parliamentary constituency created in 1974 represented in the House of Commons of Parliament since 2010 by Conservative Gavin Barwell.

Croydon Central covers a wedge of the London Borough of Croydon to the east of central Croydon and is much more marginal than the other selected two parliamentary divisions constrained to the borough itself Croydon South (which is safely Conservative) and Croydon North (Labour). The northern parts are characterised by terraced houses and urban areas, with small council estates. Labour gains much support from in particular Addiscombe, Fieldway, Woodside and Ashburton. The southern area, largely Conservative, consists of suburban semi-detached houses, populated by commuters, surrounded by golf courses and parkland. The wards of Shirley, Heathfield and Fairfield give large Conservative votes.

In the south east corner is a large former council estate, New Addington containing more than 10,000 residents. The estate is largely white and has comprised the whole or vast bulk of one or two wards of the United Kingdom in its history. The New Addington wards saw the highest turnout of British National Party supporters during the 2000s "heyday decade" however never elected a local councillor from the party; its sleight of councillors has been consistently Labour. Historically, Labour's strength in the area had been on the council estates, particularly New Addington.