General Election 2024 London seats: Who will be my MP in… Bermondsey and Old Southwark?

Millions of voters across London will go to the polls on July 4 to elect the new Government. The Standard is looking at key battleground seats in the capital, and has published an interactive map.

Here we turn the spotlight on:

BERMONDSEY AND OLD SOUTHWARK

Candidates for main parties (in alphabetical order):

Rachel Bentley - Liberal Democrat

Neil Coyle - Labour

Susan Hunter - Green

Jonathan Iliff - Conservative

Tony Sharp - Reform UK

Summary: Rich in literary history on the South Bank of the Thames, the constituency was the stomping ground of William Shakespeare and one of its wards is named after Geoffrey Chaucer.

In Shakespeare’s time, it was a poor relation to more salubrious areas north of the river, and a similar dynamic continues to play out, with above-average levels of deprivation but also some of the country’s highest levels of university education.

The outgoing MP is Labour’s Neil Coyle, who is standing again. In February 2022, he had the Labour whip suspended after making racially offensive remarks against a British-Chinese journalist in a Commons bar.

The MP admitted to having a problem with drink and vowed to stay teetotal after the whip was restored in May 2023.

Wards: Borough & Bankside; Chaucer; London Bridge & West Bermondsey; North Bermondsey; Rotherhithe; St. George’s; South Bermondsey; Surrey Docks.

I’m not sure if I’m in this constituency: Here’s how you can check

Boundary changes impact: The seat has lost part of Walworth and gained bits of Rotherhithe, making it marginally more favourable for the Conservatives if all other things were equal compared to 2019. But these are not favourable times for the Tories.

YouGov MRP poll prediction: Labour hold.

Evening Standard view: After his drink-fuelled disciplinary issues, Neil Coyle is set to write another chapter of Labour domination for this storied district on the banks of the Thames.

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