Sitting Labour MP Stephen Timms first won this seat in a by-election in 1994 following the death of the Labour MP Ron Leighton. The by-election proved to be an interesting one - Timms won with a massive majority, which was aided by the defection of the Liberal Democrat candidate to Labour, just days before polling. The sole Lib Dem councillor, Alec Kellaway, also defected to Labour urging his supporters to follow suit.
East Ham is effectively the old Newham North East seat, with one ward from Newham South. Newham North East was a very working class seat, with a majority non-white population. Over two-third of housing in Newham North East was terraced (it had the highest proportion of terraced housing of any London seat in 1991), and over a fifth of houses council owned.
The addition of the large South ward from Newham South has brought a different flavour to the seat. South ward includes the former King George V and the Royal Albert docks, the new City airport and private housing developments centred on Beckton. Newham Council was the most deprived Local Authority in the 1991 census, but some improvements have been evident since then. In 2000 Ofsted named Newham the fastest improving Local Education Authority in the UK.