Comments on: Sheffield Central

By: richard

richard — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:12:19 +0000

You’re right about the Tower Hamlets error and the general London crapness, the differentiations in the other colours don’t show up properly on my computer either.

But in places outside the big urban areas it is very good. I can spot little communities of only a few hundred by their demographic colour – it is very accurate in Yorkshire.

By: Pete Whitehead

Pete Whitehead — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:54:14 +0000

That is very interesting. One flaw is immediately apparent however in that they must have classified as ‘Asian communities’ or ‘Afro-Carribean’ communities anywhere where the the proportion of those groups was higher than say 15% of the population (I don’t know what figure they have used but it is relatively low). This means that most of London is classified as one or other of those and the area where I live is apparently an ‘Asian community’. There is a significant enough Asian population where I live but they are nowhere near dominant in the way that they are in parts of Luton for example. This category also makes no differentiation between wealthy and poor Asian areas. It would be better not to introduce race into this particular system – afterall some of these areas would be thriving suburbs, some would be terraced blue collar, and the ethnicity of those living there would seem to be a better subject for a different map. Apart from that, if I am reading the colour key right, most of Tower Hamlets is down as an Afro Carribean community rather than Asian so God alone knows how they’ve arrived at that

By: richard

richard — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:04:00 +0000

I’ve discovered this tremendously interesting map which gives demographic info down to the very local level:

http://www.maptube.org/map.aspx?s=DBLFOjgwVssaRkeVyWDApcHAp1LAoYnd

By: Barnaby Marder

Barnaby Marder — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:02:19 +0000

Shocked to hear about this, and obviously wish him the very best. Shaun your kind words and concern will be very much appreciated

By: Shaun Bennett

Shaun Bennett — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:33:33 +0000

Yes indeed, very best of luck to him in his ordeal.
I can only imagine what he and his family must have been going through. I don’t know how I would cope in that situation. Its one of those things oyu just can’t imagine until you’re in that position.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:45:56 +0000

Paul Blomsfield MP underwent a surgery to remove a brain tumour yesterday. The tumor was discovered earlier this week

Good luck for the full recovery

By: Warofdreams

Warofdreams — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:20:57 +0000

Safe was rather an exaggeration, and I should have mentioned that I meant Walkley was safely in Labour’s hands. It turns out the remaining wards were less safe than either of us thought. The Greens held Central, but Labour now hold all the other wards here, having overturned a sizeable Lib Dem lead in Nether Edge, and a big one in Broomhill.

Speaking of Broomhill, the Lib Dem leader on the council (and narrow loser in Sheffield Central at the general election) is up for election there next year. Can he hold his seat, when his party barely beat the Greens for second place this year?

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 05 May 2011 17:51:16 +0000

Hmm, only Manor is really safe. Broomhill is likely to elect a Lib Dem, though it will be interesting to see how much the lib dem wins by and who gets 2nd from Labour and the Greens.

Walkley looks very tight, probably leaning labour but will be interesting to see if the Lib Dems can hang on.
Central is unpredictable to say the least, last year is an outlier but I expect it to be tight between Labour and the Greens.
I expect Nether Edge to stay Lib Dem, but on a reduced majority.

I’d dispute the ‘most of the wards here are safe’ statement, 1 is safe, 1 is semi safe, 1 is semi marginal and 2 are full blown marginals.

By: Warofdreams

Warofdreams — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:59:18 +0000

Most of the wards here are safe. Labour look likely to take the Green’s seat in Central, although the Greens have been very active and remain hopeful of a hold. The Lib Dems might struggle in Nether Edge, but Broomhill should be safe, with the opposition split between the Greens and Labour.

By: Craig

Craig — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:21:20 +0000

Comparing with historical council wards is unlikely to be particularly enlightening, as the demographic changes in this constituency was probably as significant as the geographic change.

Since in 1983 Netherthorpe would have contained Kelvin Flats which I’m assuming were fairly solid for labour, likewise, Park Hill is currently all but empty when previously it would have represented a huge chunk of labour voters.

Adding to that, between 2005 and 2010 there must be 5-10,000 new build student rooms in the city centre plus several thousand private sector flats which are mostly rented to 20-35 year old graduates.

So even on the old boundaries this would have been a lot closer, but the huge amount of construction in the city centre explains how both main contenders increased their number of votes over the projections. There must be a some fairly serious gaps in the electoral register in this constituency.