West Ham (UK Parliament constituency)

West Ham
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of West Ham in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Electorate	86,400 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Canning Town, Forest Gate, Maryland Plaistow, Stratford and West Ham
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Lyn Brown (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Newham North West, Newham South
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

West Ham is a constituency created in 1997 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Lyn Brown, a member of the Labour Party.

1997-2010: The London Borough of Newham wards of Bemersyde, Forest Gate, Hudsons, New Town, Park, Plaistow, Plashet, Stratford, Upton, and West Ham.

2010-present: The London Borough of Newham wards of Canning Town North, Canning Town South, Custom House, Forest Gate North, Forest Gate South, Green Street West, Plaistow North, Plaistow South, Stratford and New Town, and West Ham.

The constituency covers the western half of Newham stretching from the Thames just east of Canary Wharf to Stratford.

The boundary changes that took effect for the 2010 general election expanded the constituency by adding Canning Town from the abolished Poplar and Canning Town constituency, whilst losing Silvertown to the redrawn East Ham. The boundary with the East Ham constituency was modified to align with local government ward boundaries.

The seat was created in 1997 by the fourth periodic review (following the first such review in 1945), undertaken by the Boundary Commission, from portions of the Newham North West and Newham South seats.

The area's elections to date, including both forerunner seats have returned safe majorities for the Labour Party since the last Conservative for the smaller, denser divisions from 1931-1934; going back further, West Ham South had in 1892 sent Keir Hardie to the Commons who co-founded the party.