Croydon Central (UK Parliament constituency)  Croydon Central is a constituency created in 1974 and is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Labour MP Sarah Jones. The seat bucked the national results in 2005, 2017 and 2019 leaning to right and left respectively being in other results a bellwether, its winner belonging to the winning party nationally since 1979. Croydon Central covers a wedge of the London Borough of Croydon to the east of central Croydon and is much more marginal than the other selected two parliamentary divisions constrained to the borough itself; Croydon South (which is safely Conservative) and Croydon North (which is safely Labour). The northern parts are characterised by terraced houses and urban areas, with small council estates. Labour gains much support from in particular Addiscombe, Fieldway, Woodside and Ashburton. The southern area, largely Conservative, consists of suburban semi-detached houses, populated by commuters, surrounded by golf courses and parkland. The wards of Shirley, Heathfield and Fairfield give large Conservative votes. In the south-east corner is a large former council estate, New Addington; home to more than 10,000 people. The estate is largely white and has comprised the whole or vast bulk of one or two wards of the United Kingdom in its history. The New Addington wards saw one of the highest turnouts of British National Party supporters during the 2002 and 2006 council elections, which the BNP described as their "heyday decade," however it never elected a local councillor from the party – its slate of councillors has been consistently Labour. Except on one occasion in 2010, where a Conservative councillor was elected for the first time since 1968. Historically, Labour's strength in the area had been on the council estates, particularly New Addington, but in 2014, Labour support was reduced by UKIP, gauging 24% of the overall vote. The two major-stop railway stations on the national network, most office buildings, businesses and shopping centres of Croydon are in the seat. A wide range of flats forms a major part of the housing sector unlike neighbouring seats, from upmarket expensively-built apartments with dedicated gym and restaurant facilities to  ex-local authority brutalist architecture tower blocks, most of which had been replaced by the 2010s decade. The constituency that preceded Croydon Central, Croydon South (1918-1950) and (1955-1974) had the modern borough area's two periods of brief Labour Party parliamentary representation — David Rees-Williams held the forerunner from the 1945 Labour landslide until unfavourable boundary changes in 1950.