Ealing Acton and Shepherd’s Bush was the site of a ten-way battle in which seven of the combatants failed to gain a four-figure vote. Ultimately Labour’s Clive Soley was victorious with a majority of over 15,000 votes.
His victory was due, in part, to the Boundary Commission’s decision to create a cross-borough seat including wards from both Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham which worked massively in Labour’s favour, especially when two of the Old Acton seat’s most Conservative wards were moved elsewhere.
Compounding the Tories’ woes, the five wards that were transferred in from the Hammersmith constituency - Shepherd’s Bush - tended to vote strongly Labour, including the massive White City council estate, the rather down-at-heel area surrounding Wormwood Scrubs and the heart of multicultural Shepherd’s Bush.
The Conservative’s opposition to these boundary changes is understandable. Ealing is an Outer London borough and Hanger Lane has very little in common - either politically or socially - with Shepherd’s Bush’s inner city terraces.