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From the archive · Portrait
Introducing East Ham
A 2002 portrait of the constituency: Docklands, Green Street, schools and the new rail links.
From the archive. Between 1998 and 2003 this domain carried the constituency website of the Member of Parliament for East Ham. This page keeps one of its items as a historical record, with the original date restored. East Ham Ledger, which publishes the site today, is an independent magazine and has no link to any MP, party or Parliament; contact details and the names of private individuals have been removed, and lost pictures have been replaced with credited photographs of the places concerned.
Pictured today: Photo: Simon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
East London, and East Ham in particular, is a place of contrasts. From the impressive developments in the Docklands to the elegant Edwardian buildings of East Ham, the exotic smells of Green Street to the long established families, continuity and change sit together happily. When I first visited Newham over 25 years ago, I was struck by the scale of the problems but also by the spirit of the people. That was the reason I returned, and the reason why I believe that it has the right to face the future with confidence.
London's future is here, and so are its brightest prospects. The youthful population is increasingly achieving its potential in public examinations, and the vast development opportunities are starting to be realised:
- the University of East London's superb Docklands site, London's first new University campus for 50 years.
- the Excel International Exhibition Centre - London's biggest by far - set to create 14,000 new jobs in the area.
- Green Street is becoming an increasingly important fashion centre, as well as the UK’s most successful Asian shopping street.
- thriving London City Airport and improved road and rail links including the Jubilee Line to the Millennium dome and Westminster.
- the International Passenger Station at Stratford on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link which, in the next decade, will provide superb rail links to Europe and vast new opportunities.
- Stratford Circus - the new performing arts centre is filling an important niche in the London arts scene, and the surrounding cafes and bars provide an attractive place for people to socialise.
Successful recent investments include the fast growing film studios at Three Mills Island, a superb headquarters development for Norton Pharmaceutical in Docklands and Kesslers magnificent new factory in Stratford.
People in East Ham will make the most of these opportunities. It is a place where imagination and determination are being translated into actual change for the better. You only have to visit our schools, community groups, churches, temples and mosques to see it. The schools buzz with enthusiasm and optimism - rightly, because Ofsted says Newham is the fastest improving education authority in the country. East Ham can look to the future with confidence.
