The seat has been confined throughout to the western electoral half of the London Borough of Hounslow. Its main predecessor seat was Feltham, comprising Feltham, Bedfont, Hanworth, Hounslow Heath and Cranford; the other direct forerunner Heston and Isleworth contributed its former westernmost settlements: Heston and Hounslow West. Before 1945 about a third of the present area and half of its then-population were in the Twickenham seat, the remainder, Feltham, Hanworth and Bedfont were in the Spelthorne seat. Proximity of gravel to the surface of the near-flat land — see Hounslow Heath — restricted productivity and diversity of plant life across the constituency and caused initially cheap land values, a factor which led the area to significant industrial use since the mid-19th century and construction of London Heathrow Airport, the area's largest employer including its many import/export businesses. The area at central Feltham and on the busy and the somewhat slower Piccadilly line at two tube stations in the north connects into London and the latter also connects to Heathrow Airport. This part of the Borough of Hounslow since 1955 has the great majority of its of Metropolitan Green Belt, forming an immediate buffer zone for all of Greater London. The M4 motorway and dualled parts of the A4, A30 and A316 roads run close to a significant minority of homes. Many local initiatives seek to abate pollution in the Borough and other have successfully attracted major retail and leisure into Feltham and Hounslow, both of which were large villages rather than market towns in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Political history
The seat has been held by the Labour Party from 1992 onwards, with their highest share of the vote being 35% in 2001, and lowest share being 3.3%, in 1992. The Conservatives have finished in second place at each general election since. The current MP Seema Malhotra was first elected at the 2011 by-electionafter the death of the previous Labour MP Alan Keen, who had won the seat from Patrick Ground of the Conservatives in 1992. Today, the seat is a reasonably safe seat for the Labour Party. Although Labour’s majority was halved in the 2019 election, the seat was still retained by nearly 8,000 votes.
Boundaries
Feltham and Heston covers the western half of the London Borough of Hounslow. Feltham occupies the southern part of the L-shape formed by the borough. Heston occupies the far north bounded by the M4 motorway. In the south of the constituency is Hanworth, with Bedfont in the far west — both are postally parts of Feltham. The seat has electoral wards:
Bedfont, Cranford, Feltham North, Feltham West, Hanworth, Hanworth Park, Heston Central, Heston East, Heston West and Hounslow West in the London Borough of Hounslow
The constituency is lower on the socio-economic scales than those in neighbouring Brentford and Isleworth. There is higher proportion of social housing, though unemployment is proportionally low by London standards. The seat also includes the western part of the slightly larger urban centre, Hounslow. The constituency is to the northwest of London Heathrow Airport where many local constituents work, and small storage, distribution businesses are a feature of this half of the borough, as well as light industry and office accommodation. Next to Cranford on the A4 Bath Road are most of the luxury airport hotels, and an imposing 1998 conversion of an office tower into a hotel in Feltham's linear town centre. The seat includes a Young Offenders Institution, small business and industrial park and a motorway service station. Across all wards, car ownership is much higher than the London average; for the small proportion of people, Feltham railway station, Hounslow West Underground station, Hounslow Central Underground station and Hatton Cross Underground station provide good links from several areas to the capital.
