One of the many London seats that turned red in 1997, this seat was won by former council leader Geraint Davies, following an unsuccessful attempt in 1992.
A major base for commuters into central London, Croydon also boasts a large shopping and commercial centre, which attracts its own daily influx of workers.
Its electoral anatomy contains two different images; Labour council estates and Tory leafy suburbs. The most populous borough in Greater London, Croydon is home to some 333,000 people. Nevertheless, it lost one of its four constituencies amid boundary changes prior to 1997.
This means that the Central seat has been expanded considerably, and now as well as including the ‘downtown’ area, spreads to the very edges of the borough and of London itself. It also includes the giant New Addington council estate, which was built in open fields in the 1950s, and houses over 20,000, which forms the main source of Labour support in the seat.
The usual Conservative bases lie between Addington and the centre of Croydon; Farifield, Heathfield and Spring Park. Historically their support has tended to outweigh the Labour areas. This is middle-class, owner occupied territory, not too dissimilar to neighbouring outer London areas such as Bromley.