History
The constituency was created in 1974 and first contested in the February general election of that year. An ethnically diverse area, it was previously one of the Labour Party's safest seats in London. It was held by Reg Freeson from 1974 until 1987, then by Ken Livingstone (following the abolition of the Greater London Council, of which he was leader, in 1986).
After Livingstone was expelled from the Labour Party for standing as an independent candidate for Mayor of London in 2000, he represented the constituency as an independent until standing down as MP in 2001 to concentrate on his position as Mayor. Labour retained the seat at the 2001 general election, with Paul Daisley holding the seat until his death two years later.
The resulting Brent East by-election was held on 18 September 2003, with the 2003 Invasion of Iraq as a background. Labour lost the seat to Sarah Teather of the Liberal Democrats, with a considerable 29% swing, having come from a distant third place in 2001. Teather held the seat at the 2005 general election, with an increased majority of 8.7%
Read more about this topic: Brent East (UK Parliament Constituency)
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