"As Ever..."

Dave Osler on the Labour candidacy for Tower Hamlets mayor (you remember, the one where the original (Bangla) candidate was deselected, and the guy (hideously white) who came second in the selection was passed over because "they could not go to the person who came second in the poll for the Labour Party candidate selection, John Biggs, without it looking like they were choosing a white British candidate in preference to a Bengali") :

"Even though I live in an adjoining borough, only two or three miles away from where all this has been happening, the world of Tower Hamlets Labour politics remains, as ever, impenetrable to outsiders."

As ever ? In the time of the Poplar Rates Rebellion of 1921 ?

Was it like that in February 1974 ?

General Election October 1974: Stepney and Poplar
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	24,159	77.6
	Conservative	Harry Greenway	3,183	10.2
	Liberal	F. W. Alexander	3,181	10.2	N/A
	Communist	Kevin Halpin	617	2.0
Majority			20,976	67.4
Turnout			60,458	51.5
	Labour hold		Swing

And 1979 ?

General Election 1979: Stepney and Poplar
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	19,576	62.6
	Conservative	Robert Gurth Hughes	6,561	21.0
	Liberal	Rif Winfield	2,234	7.2
	National Front	V. Clarke	1,571	5.0	N/A
	Independent Labour	Ted Johns	672	2.2	N/A
	Communist	Kevin Halpin	413	1.3
	Workers' Revolutionary	Peter Chappell	235	0.8	N/A
Majority			13,015	41.6
Turnout			58,637	53.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Or perhaps 1983 ?

General Election 1983: Bethnal Green and Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	15,740	51.0	N/A
	Liberal	S. Charters	9,382	30.4	N/A
	Conservative	Demitri Argyropulo	4,323	14.0	N/A
	National Front	V. Clark	800	2.6	N/A
	Communist	J. Rees	243	0.8	N/A
	Independent	B. N. Chaudhuri	214	0.7	N/A
	Independent	P. J. Mahoney	136	0.4	N/A
Majority			6,358	20.6
Turnout				55.7
	Labour hold		Swing

1987 ?

General Election 1987: Bethnal Green and Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	15,490	48.3	- 2.7
	Liberal	Jeremy Shaw	10,206	31.8	+ 1.4
	Conservative	Olga Maitland	6,176	19.2	+ 5.2
	Communist	S. L. Gasquoine	232	0.7	- 0.1
Majority			5,284	16.5
Turnout				57.6
	Labour hold		Swing

1992 ?

General Election 1992: Bethnal Green and Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Shore	20,350	55.8	+ 7.5
	Liberal Democrat	Jeremy Shaw	8,120	22.3	- 9.5
	Conservative	Jane Emmerson	6,507	17.9	- 1.3
	BNP	Richard Edmonds	1,310	3.6	N/A
	Communist	S. Kelsey	156	0.4	- 0.3
Majority			12,230	33.5	+ 17.0
Turnout			36,443	65.5	+ 7.9
	Labour hold		Swing

1997 ?

General Election 1997: Bethnal Green and Bow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Oona King	20,697	46.3	-9.5
	Conservative	Kabir Choudhury	9,412	21.1	+3.2
	Liberal Democrat	Syed Nurul Islam Dulu	5,361	12.0	-10.3
	BNP	David King	3,350	7.5	+3.9
	Liberal	Terry Milson	2,963	6.6
	Real Labour	Sheref Osman	1,117	2.5
	Green	Stephen Petter	812	1.8
	Referendum Party	Muhammed Abdullah	557	1.2
	Socialist Labour	Abdul Hamid	413	0.9
Majority			11,285	25.3
Turnout			44,682	60.3	-5.2

2001 ?

General Election 2001: Bethnal Green and Bow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Oona King	19,380	50.5	+4.1
	Conservative	Shahagir Bakth Faruk	9,323	24.3	+3.2
	Liberal Democrat	Janet Ludlow	5,946	15.5	+3.5
	Green	Anna Bragga	1,666	4.3	+2.5
	BNP	Michael Davidson	1,211	3.2	-4.3
	New Britain	Dennis Delderfield	888	2.3	N/A
Majority			10,057	26.2
Turnout			38,414	50.2	-10.1
	Labour hold		Swing

2005 ?

General Election 2005: Bethnal Green and Bow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Respect	George Galloway	15,801	35.9
	Labour	Oona King	14,978	34.0	-16.5
	Conservative	Shahagir Bakth Faruk	6,244	14.2	-10.1
	Liberal Democrat	Syed Nurul Islam Dulu	4,928	11.2	-4.3
	Green	John Foster	1,950	4.4	+0.1
	Alliance for Change	Ejiro Etefia*	68	0.2
	Communist League	Celia Pugh	38	0.1
Majority			823	1.9
Turnout			44,007	51.2
	Respect gain from Labour		Swing	26.2%

Or 2010 ?

2010 General Election: Bethnal Green and Bow[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rushanara Ali	21,784	42.9	+8.4
	Liberal Democrat	Ajmal Masroor	10,210	20.1	+7.8
	Respect	Abjol Miah	8,532	16.8	-19.8
	Conservative	Zakir Khan	7,071	13.9	+2.0
	BNP	Jeffrey Marshall	1,405	2.8	N/A
	Green	Farid Bakht	856	1.7	-2.8
	Independent	Patrick Brooks	277	0.5	N/A
	Pirate	Alexander van Terheyden	213	0.4	N/A
	United Voice	Hasib Hikmat	209	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Haji Mahmood Choudhury	100	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Ahmed Abdul Malik	71	0.1	N/A
Majority			11,574	22.8
Turnout			50,728	62.4	+10.9
	Labour gain from Respect		Swing	14.1%