Wythenshawe & Sale East
Labour hold

Two disparate areas make up this new Greater Manchester division, first fought in 1997, but one is dominant. Wythenshawe is a huge council estate built in the 1930s on land which was brought within the city boundaries, but which is a good many miles south of Piccadilly. It has had its social problems, not unknown in planned public housing developments, and is very solidly Labour, having formed the basis of its own constituency which elected Alf Morris, from a well known local family and a renowned national campaigner for the disabled, for 33 years from 1964. Manchester was clearly too large to maintain its representation of five full seats, but after an inquiry in 1993 the Boundary Commission reverse its original decision to break up Wythenshawe, and instead kept it together but added three wards from the eastern side of Sale: Priory, Brooklands and Sale Moor. Sale is a middle class Cheshire commuting belt town and as different from Wythenshawe as one can find in one region. But this was less of a merger than a take-over, and with the swing to Labour in 1997 Paul Goggins won by a clear 15,000.

Paul Goggins, a Catholic social worker, was elected in 1997. PPS to Health Minister John Denham, he was born in 1953 and educated at St Bede's (RC) Grammar School, Manchester, Ushaw (RC) College, Durham and Manchester Polytechnic. Originally a child care social worker with the Liverpool Catholic Archdiocese, he ran a children's home in Wigan for eight years, was Project Director for the (Methodist-run) NCH Action for Children for five years, and Director of Church Action on Poverty for eight years, doubling-up in the last post as a Salford City councillor. A stalwart of the Christian Socialist Movement at a time when most Labour activists are embarrassed about, if not hostile to, religion, he has appeared on BBC Radio 5's 'Thought for the Day', to declare that "the heart of religion is a concern for justice". Impeccably loyal, he backed lone parent benefit cuts without being able to tell left-winger John McDonnell where they were promised in Labour's Manifesto, and backs expansion of Manchester Airport against the opposition from Cheshire's stockbroker belt NIMBY voters.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 11.10% 14.99% 74.03 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.12% 2.49% 44.89 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 0.56% 4.43% 12.67 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 2.61% 7.27% 35.90 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 1.45% 2.56% 56.49 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.99% 2.04% 48.59 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.96% 3.94% 24.34 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 12.46% 13.04% 95.54 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 5.53% 12.70% 43.50 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 7.42% 8.14% 91.11 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.48% 4.02% 12.03 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 6.37% 3.19% 199.93 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 32.79% 11.31% 289.90 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 4.03% 3.06% 131.59 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 12.10% 2.52% 480.50 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.03% 0.06% 55.79

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 12.93% 9.41% 137.34 £5-10K 20.75% 16.63% 124.75 £10-15K 18.43% 16.58% 111.15 £15-20K 13.60% 13.58% 100.15 £20-25K 9.54% 10.39% 91.80 £25-30K 6.64% 7.77% 85.43 £30-35K 4.66% 5.79% 80.47 £35-40K 3.31% 4.33% 76.48 £40-45K 2.39% 3.27% 73.17 £45-50K 1.75% 2.48% 70.37 £50-55K 1.29% 1.90% 67.92 £55-60K 0.97% 1.47% 65.76 £60-65K 0.73% 1.15% 63.81 £65-70K 0.56% 0.91% 62.04 £70-75K 0.43% 0.72% 60.41 £75-80K 0.34% 0.57% 58.91 £80-85K 0.27% 0.46% 57.51 £85-90K 0.21% 0.37% 56.20 £90-95K 0.17% 0.31% 54.98 £95-100K 0.13% 0.25% 53.82 £100K + 0.64% 1.34% 47.78