Politics in East London Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Politics in East London - Research Paper Example This paper discusses the current political system and main challenges encountered by Hackney, Croydon, Tower Hamlets, and Lewisham. Response of the boroughs to the Alternative Vote (AV) The residents of Hackney responded differently to the Alternative Vote (AV) than the common response of the residents of the rest of the three boroughs of East London. While the residents of Lewisham, Croydon, and Tower Hamlets voted against the AV, only Hackney supported the Westminster Electoral system’s reform in the referendum of 2011. According to the statistics noted by Brown (2011), in the electorate’s 34.23 per cent turnout, electoral reforms endorsement in Hackney happened with a majority of 10,905. 39.32 per cent of the people voted against whereas 60.68 per cent of them voted in favor. A turnout of 35.9 per cent was observed in Croydon and most of the residents i.e. 67.01 per cent voted against whereas only 32.99 per cent voted in favor. The response from the residents of Lewi sham was much similar to that of Croydon as 50.65 per cent of the residents of Lewisham voted against any alteration in the First Past the Post system. In Tower Hamlets, 54.17 per cent of the residents voted against and the rest voted in favor of choosing a new way to elect Webminster’s MPs. According to the opinion polls, the No Campaign had received a victory across the country. This served as a blow to the Liberal Democrats who had been heavily defeated in the local elections and others who wanted a preferential system of voting. Comparison of severity of main issues in the boroughs London Poverty Profile (2010) drew a comparison between the level of severity in the issues of low income and benefits, low pay, low education attainment, ill health, and inadequate housing among London’s boroughs. According to London’s Poverty Profile (2010), of the four boroughs in the East London, two with the comparatively greatest problems of â€Å"low income and benefitsâ⠂¬  include Hackney and Tower Hamlets, Lewisham has comparatively lesser issues of low income and benefits whereas these issues are the least in Croydon. The issue of â€Å"low pay† is the most severe in Hackney, its severity is almost the same in Croydon and Lewisham, whereas low pay as the issue is the least severe in Tower Hamlets. The issue of â€Å"low education attainment† is the most severe in Hackney, its level of severity is lesser in Lewisham, whereas its level of severity in Croydon and Tower Hamlets is the lowest. The severity of the issue â€Å"ill health† is maximal in Hackney, lesser and almost the same in Lewisham and Tower Hamelts, and is the least in Croydon. The issue of â€Å"inadequate housing† is the most severe in Tower Hamlets, its level of severity is lesser in Hackney, it is even lesser in Lewisham, whereas the level of severity is the lowest in Croydon. Government-imposed cuts in public spending and its effects in the boroughs The Coalition Government in the UK is attempting to reduce the deficit in budget by bringing immediate and deep cuts in the public spending. The government claims of implementing progressive and fair cuts and of protecting the most vulnerable. Nevertheless, it is hard to make such reductions in public spending without having any negative implications for the most vulnerable communities. Hackney is the second most deprived borough in the UK after Brent and is likely to experience loss of money by as many as 6790 poor households as a result of the