Salford and Eccles
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 18119 (56%)
Liberal Democrat: 7111 (22%)
Conservative: 5492 (17%)
Other: 1617 (5%)
Majority: 11009 (34%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 3440 (15.2%)
Labour: 13007 (57.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 5062 (22.4%)
UKIP: 1091 (4.8%)
Majority: 7945 (35.2%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 3446 (15.3%)
Labour: 14649 (65.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 3637 (16.2%)
Other: 782 (3.5%)
Majority: 11012 (48.9%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 5779 (17.4%)
Labour: 22848 (69%)
Liberal Democrat: 3407 (10.3%)
Referendum: 926 (2.8%)
Other: 162 (0.5%)
Majority: 17069 (51.5%)
Boundary changes: Major. This, the success seat to the underpopulated Salford seat, looses Broughton but gains part of the abolished Eccles seat.
Profile: An inner-city seat in Greater Manchester, sandwiched between the river Irwell and the Manchester Ship canal and pushing right up towards Manchester City Centre itself (the boundary between Manchester and Salford is the river Irwell, or parts of the this seat would undoubted be in Manchester).
This is a constituency of decline and redevelopment. The towns of Swinton and Pendlebury in the North were once thriving cotton mill and coal mining towns, the factories that LS Lowry (who lived and worked here, and is now remembered by the huge new Lowry arts complex in the redeveloped docks) were there, but had closed by the 1990s. The old Pendlebury colliery and power station have been partially replaced by a business park and a private prison.
Between the wars Salford was home to massively overpopulated back-to-back slums, they were cleared in the 1960s, being replaced by housing estates that by the 1990s had in turn also devolved into slums cursed by unemployment, shootings and gang violence. Since then there has been another round of redevelopment: the vacant rows of terraced houses in Langworthy have been redeveloped for young professionals and the old Salford Docks on the ship canal are the core of the massive Salford Quays redevelopment, which as well as the Lowry Centre includes the new MediaCity which will be the home of BBC`s sport and children`s television departments from 2011.
Outgoing MP: Hazel Blears(Labour) born 1956, Salford. Educated at Wardley Grammar School and Trent Polytechnic. Solicitor. Salford councillor from 1984-1992. Contested Tatton 1987, Bury South 1992. First elected as MP for Salford in 1997. Diminutive, motorcycling and preternaturally chirpy loyalist. Served as PPS to Alan Milburn and then Andrew Smith in the 1997-2001 Parliament. Junior minister in the Department of Health 2001-2003, Minister of State at the Home Office 2003-2006, Labour Party Chairman 2006-2007, Secretary of State for Communities 2007-2009, resigning immediately before the European and local elections in a move widely seen as a attempt to destabilise Gordon Brown, having been criticised by him in the expenses row. Contested Labour deputy leadership in 2007 (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: 
Matthew Sephton (Conservative) Hazel Blears(Labour) born 1956, Salford. Educated at Wardley Grammar School and Trent Polytechnic. Solicitor. Salford councillor from 1984-1992. Contested Tatton 1987, Bury South 1992. First elected as MP for Salford in 1997. Diminutive, motorcycling and preternaturally chirpy loyalist. Served as PPS to Alan Milburn and then Andrew Smith in the 1997-2001 Parliament. Junior minister in the Department of Health 2001-2003, Minister of State at the Home Office 2003-2006, Labour Party Chairman 2006-2007, Secretary of State for Communities 2007-2009, resigning immediately before the European and local elections in a move widely seen as a attempt to destabilise Gordon Brown, having been criticised by him in the expenses row. Contested Labour deputy leadership in 2007 (more information at They work for you)
Norman Owen (Liberal Democrat) Educated at Salford Technical College. Salford councillor. Contested Salford East 1992, Salford 1997, 2001.
Robert Wakefield (UKIP) 
Tina Wingfield (BNP) PA to Nick Griffin.
Stephen Morris (English Democrat)
Richard Carvath (Independent) Educated at Moorside High School.
Alec McFadden (Independent) President of Merseyside TUC. Contested North West for No2EU in 2009 European elections.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 95839
Male: 49.6%
Female: 50.4%
Under 18: 20.2%
Over 60: 21.6%
Born outside UK: 5.8%
White: 95.4%
Black: 0.7%
Asian: 1.6%
Mixed: 1.1%
Other: 1.2%
Christian: 77.8%
Muslim: 1.5%
Full time students: 8.1%
Graduates 16-74: 14.8%
No Qualifications 16-74: 35.9%
Owner-Occupied: 52.9%
Social Housing: 32.9% (Council: 26%, Housing Ass.: 6.8%)
Privately Rented: 10.3%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 8.3%
You may not have recovered yet from the Vote2007 gathering by then dok, especially if you get carried away with the cement.. (dont ask)
Tina Wingfield will stand for the British National Party here.
Steve Morris has been selected for the English Democrats.
He may use their new “Joint Ticket” ballot paper description “Alliance for Democracy – English Democrats”
PPCs appear to be popping up by the week in Salford. It seems to have turned personal between the Ind Carvath v the gay Tory group PPC. Now, we have the BNP, Eng Dems & a Far Left Ind to add to the mix.
PPC no. 9 here! The ‘Hazel Must Go!’ campaign selected David Henry last night. He beat Alec McFadden to be the Trade Union & Socialist Coalition candidate. I presume McFadden will withdraw, although you never know with the far Left. Ex Militant MP Dave Nellist addressed the public meeting last night.
Ladbrokes’ odds for this seat:
Labour 1/12
Lib Dems 12/1
Cons 12/1
BNP 50/1
UKIP 100/1
Inds 100/1
PPC news
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=303724591601&ref=ts
http://www.davidhenry.org.uk/
http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=5275
Hazel Must Go/ Trade Union and Socialist Coalition candidate.
David Henry is a Green but quit in order to run on an anti Blears ticket. Has the backing of many Green Party people in the area as well.
Is there a chance of Hazel Blears being defeated here and is so, which party is most likely to defeat her?
There is no chance
When I was a little kid living in Bradley Avenue Salford 7 we used to chase the Tory candidate away at general election time as our parents voted for Charlie Royle MP for Salford West. There were working-class Tory voters, of course, but they were regarded as traitors. Policy didn’t come into it – it was tribal. It still is. I think it was 1951 – but can’t remember much else.
Joe O’Neill has now publicly confirmed in the Salford Advertiser newspaper that he will not be standing for Salford and Eccles.
That leaves myself, Blears, Owen, Sephton, Morris, Henry, Wakefield and Wingfield as declared PPCs for Salford and Eccles.