Cleethorpes
Labour hold

Labour took control of the new unitary authority of North East Lincolnshire (following the abolition of Humberside, long overdue in the minds of most residents here) in 1999, but only just; and it should be remembered that this body also includes the safe Labour Great Grimsby constituency as well as Cleethorpes, which was rated as a Tory-inclined marginal before its first contest on new boundaries in 1997, but was in fact won by Shona McIsaac by over 9,000 votes and 18pc. Cleethorpes is a seaside resort which also contains many of the better residential areas for Grimsby, into which it blends, and also the oil refineries of the deep sea port of Immingham, and Barton upon Humber at the southern end of the bridge. This is a mixed seat, but a loss here would betoken an unexpected ousting of Tony Blair's government, and no over riding local factors seem to impinge on that truth.

Shona Isaac, a former journalist on women’s magazines, and a product of an all-women shortlist, won here in 1997 after heavily targeting the Tory MP Michael Brown’s links with lobbyist Ian Greer. A staunch Blairite loyalist who pitches stooge questions, she focuses hard on constituency issues. Daughter of a Royal Navy cook, Scots born in 1960, and educated at military schools, secondary schools in Plymouth, and Durham University, she takes a class-war line on the House of Lords. She loyally defended closed lists in the Euro-elections, claiming that people only voted for the party, not individual candidates, and that she wouldn’t even vote for herself without the party label, an unlikely piece of self-abnegation.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 15.14% 14.99% 100.96 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 1.21% 2.13% 57.09 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.74% 2.49% 70.16 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 2.06% 4.43% 46.45 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 9.79% 7.27% 134.64 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.00% 2.56% 0.00 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 1.09% 3.94% 27.71 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 23.98% 13.04% 183.92 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 24.92% 12.70% 196.19 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 8.28% 8.14% 101.62 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 1.31% 4.02% 32.57 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 3.71% 3.19% 116.45 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 3.63% 11.31% 32.07 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.67% 3.06% 21.73 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 2.47% 2.52% 98.22 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 10.28% 9.41% 109.25 £5-10K 18.35% 16.63% 110.35 £10-15K 18.06% 16.58% 108.95 £15-20K 14.38% 13.58% 105.85 £20-25K 10.60% 10.39% 101.95 £25-30K 7.60% 7.77% 97.75 £30-35K 5.42% 5.79% 93.51 £35-40K 3.87% 4.33% 89.38 £40-45K 2.79% 3.27% 85.44 £45-50K 2.03% 2.48% 81.72 £50-55K 1.49% 1.90% 78.23 £55-60K 1.11% 1.47% 74.98 £60-65K 0.83% 1.15% 71.96 £65-70K 0.63% 0.91% 69.15 £70-75K 0.48% 0.72% 66.55 £75-80K 0.37% 0.57% 64.13 £80-85K 0.29% 0.46% 61.88 £85-90K 0.22% 0.37% 59.80 £90-95K 0.18% 0.31% 57.86 £95-100K 0.14% 0.25% 56.05 £100K + 0.63% 1.34% 47.19