Ealing Southall
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 19758 (55.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 7380 (20.7%)
Conservative: 6792 (19%)
Other: 1758 (4.9%)
Majority: 12379 (34.7%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 10147 (21.6%)
Labour: 22937 (48.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 11497 (24.4%)
Green: 2175 (4.6%)
Other: 289 (0.6%)
Majority: 11440 (24.3%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 8556 (18.3%)
Labour: 22239 (47.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 4680 (10%)
Green: 2119 (4.5%)
Other: 9234 (19.7%)
Majority: 13683 (29.2%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 11368 (20.8%)
Labour: 32791 (60%)
Liberal Democrat: 5687 (10.4%)
Referendum: 854 (1.6%)
Other: 3942 (7.2%)
Majority: 21423 (39.2%)
Boundary changes: loses part of Greenford Broadway ward to Ealing North and parts of Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common to Ealing Central and Acton.
Profile: A West London seat in the Borough of Ealing, covering Southall itself, Norwood Green, Dormer’s Wells and part of Hanwell. To the south of the constituency is the Grand Union Canal and Ealing Hospital.
Southall is a residential area dominated by the asian community. Over half the population is from an ethnic minority, overwhelmingly from an asian background, mostly Punjabi. There are significant Hindu and Muslim populations, but the Sikh community is most dominant. Ealing Southall has one of the highest proportions of Sikhs in any constituency in the UK and contains the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, one of the largest Sikh temple’s outside of India. In 2008 the third Sikh faith school in the UK is expected to open in South Norwood in the constituency.
At a Parliamentary level Ealing Southall has been solidly Labour - traditionally the Conservatives were in a distant second place, but in 2005 the Liberal Democrats narrowly overtook them. In 2001 it was one of the few seats where a fringe party candidate outpolled one of the main parties, when Dr Avtar Lit, the Chairman of the asian Sunrise Radio group, achieved third place. Dr Lit’s son, Tony Lit, was the Conservative candidate in the 2007 by-election. Following the death of Piara Khabra, at the time the oldest MP in the Commons, in 2007 Labour successfully held the seat in a by-election.
At a local level the area is divided between Labour and the Conservatives - wards in the west of the seat are solidly Labour and mostly represented by councillors from the Sikh community. The Conservatives are stronger in the leafier Northfield area to the east. Despite the large asian community, Respect only put forward a serious challenge in the Southall Green ward.
Current MP: Virendra Sharma (Labour) born India. Educated at the LSE. Day services manager for people with learning disabilities. Ealing councillor for over 25 years.
Candidates: 
Gurcharan Singh (Conservative) born 1948, Punjab. Former British rail guard, tax officer and hotelier. Labour party councillor in Ealing since 1982, he defected to the Conservative party during the Ealing Southall by-election.
Nigel Bakhai (Liberal Democrat) born 1971, Shoreham. Educated at Brighton College and the University of Bradford. Equipment Demand Planner for Xerox. Contested Ealing Southall 2005, 2007 by-election.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 89275
Male: 49.7%
Female: 50.3%
Under 18: 24.8%
Over 60: 14%
Born outside UK: 43.4%
White: 37.6%
Black: 8.9%
Asian: 47.8%
Mixed: 2.8%
Other: 2.9%
Christian: 35%
Hindu: 12.4%
Muslim: 13.3%
Sikh: 23.2%
Full time students: 7.5%
Graduates 16-74: 28.4%
No Qualifications 16-74: 26%
Owner-Occupied: 66.5%
Social Housing: 18.3% (Council: 10.3%, Housing Ass.: 8%)
Privately Rented: 12.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 7.5%
2007 By-election
The Ealing Southall by-election was held on the 19th July following the death of Piara Khabra and during Gordon Brown’s honeymoon as Labour leader. The Labour party successfully held the seat with only a 7.5% drop in their vote, with the Liberal Democrats in second place. The Conservatives were for a time expected to do well after selecting Tony Lit, the MD of an Asian radio station whose father had previously performed well as an independent candidate in the seat. Labour faced internal division over their candidate selection and following Virendra Sharma’s selection several Sikh Labour councillors, led by Gurcharan Singh, defected to the Conservative party giving the Tories apparently strong momentum in the early stages of the campaign. The Conservatives focused their resources on the seat, with David Cameron visiting the constituency five times. The Tory campaign faltered though when it was revealed that Lit, who had only recently joined the Conservative party, had attended a Labour party fund-raiser shortly before being selected.
By-election result
Virendra Sharma (Labour): 15188 (41.3%)
Nigel Bakhai (Liberal Democrat): 10118 (27.7%)
Tony Lit (Conservative): 8230 (22.5%)
Sarah Edwards (Green): 1135 (3.1%)
Salvinder Dhillon (Respect): 588 (1.6%)
KT Rajan (UKIP): 285 (0.8%)
Yaqub Masih (Christian): 280 (0.8%)
Jasdev Rai (Independent): 275 (0.8%)
John Cartwright (Loony): 188 (0.5%)
Sati Chaggar (English Democrat): 152 (0.4%)
Gulbash Singh (Independent): 92 (0.3%)
Kuldeep Grewel (Independent): 87 (0.2%)
Majority: 5070 (13.8%)
By-election Candidates: Nigel Bakhai (Liberal Democrat) born 1971, Shoreham. Educated at Brighton College and the University of Bradford. Equipment Demand Planner for Xerox. Contested Ealing Southall 2005.
John Cartwright (Official Monster Raving Loony) born 1968. Educated at Trinity School and Royal Holloway College. Perennial candidate in Croydon local elections and by-elections. Contested Bromley & Chislehurst by-election 2006, Croydon Central 2005, 2001. OMRLP shadow minister for chocolate. 
Sati Chaggar (English Democrats) born Nairobi, 1961. Owns a car repair business.
Salvinder Dhillon (Respect) Contested Ealing and Hillingdon in 2004 London Assembly election. Contested Ealing Southall as an Independent in 2001.
Sarah Edwards (Green) Works for Victim Support. Contested Ealing and Hillingdon in 2004 London Assembly election. Contested Ealing Southall 2005.
Kuldeep Grewal (Independent) a disillusioned Labour member who stood against the offical candidate because of an “internal grievance”, on the 9th July Grewal urged his supporters to back the Labour candidate.
Tony Lit (Conservative) Former Moss Bros manager and, since 2003 Managing Director of Sunrise Radio, the Asian radio station founded by his father Avtar Lit. Ambassador for the 2012 London Olympic bid.
Yaqub Masih (Christian Party) General Secretary of UK Asian Christian Fellowship, presenter on Sunrise radio. 
Jasdev Rai (Independent) Director of the Sikh Human Rights Group
Kunnathur Rajan (UKIP) born India. Retired consultant physician. Member of Cardiff Community Health Council. Contested Rhonnda in 2003 Welsh Assembly elections. South Wales Central Region in 2007 Welsh Assembly Elections. Contested Bridgend 2005.
Virendra Sharma (Labour) born India. Educated at the LSE. Day services manager for people with learning disabilities. Ealing councillor for over 25 years.
Gulbash Singh (Independent) local GP and former Conservative borough candidate, Singh endorsed the Conservative candidate on the 9th July.
Matt,
Knowing some of the Tory candidates, my preference is definitely for Cllr Gurcharan Singh. He has the experience as well as the humility that the others lack, and he also commands and deserves their respect as a community elder.
well the Conservative PPC selection process is underway, and guess what? all the potential contenders to a relatively recently converted Conservative Cllr are already being weeded out… the same Conservative Cllr who took over the local association this year by bringing over 100 of his mates to vote out the incumbent officers
looks like becoming a repeat of the infamous by-election last year!
Gurcharan Singh has been selected as the Conservative candidate here. He was one of the five councillors who defected from Labour during the by-election in summer 2007.
The Conservatives have chos…..Oh, beaten to it……
xD
On one of the election replays from the 1970s, elections expert David Butler pronounced Southall as “suth-all” rather than the way most people say it today. I don’t know whether that was his personal way of saying it or whether that used to be a common pronunciation in previous times.
Andy, as a West Londoner for most of my life, I can confirm that is the way some people say it - but I remember it around 1979. One of my two older brothers corrected me when I said South-hall.
I think it should be Southall and I ignored the advice.
I particularly dislike “Garij” for garage.
A friend who is posh and over 80 and Ealing born and bred and calls it South-hall, as most of us would.
Thanks for that information. Most people in the Midlands these days seem to say “garij” but I agree it doesn’t sound particularly good.
Nigel Bakhai has been reselected as the Lib Dem candidate here.