Situated to the south east of Manchester city centre, there is some light engineering industry to be found in Gorton but this mainly residential seat is characterised by low numbers of owner-occupiers. The percentage of homes which are privately rented is twice the national average, and the publicly-rented housing sector is also large. The number of workers employed in the managerial and technical fields is below the national average - 21.4% compared to 30.8%.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, unemployment is above the national average, the number of residents with access to a car is low and nearly 40% of parents are raising their children alone. Interestingly, Gorton has the third highest number of residents aged between 16 and 24, (16.3% of the population), a statistic partly explained by the high numbers of students living in cheap, rented accommodation. Asians form 11.6% of Gortonís population, and are mostly concentrated in the Longsight district.
Gorton provides a classic example of the Liberal Democrats having been unable to transfer local support into parliamentary success. They are the only party currently providing any opposition to Labour on Manchester City Council and made a clean sweep of Gortonís North and South wards and Levenshulme at the last round of local elections, but Labour's parliamentary grasp has so far proved unshakeable.