Feltham and Heston is a constituency created in 1974 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Its MP since 2011 is Seema Malhotra of the Labour Co-operative Party, which is in political union with the Labour Party. History 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 (formed in 1885), the remainder, Feltham, Hanworth and Bedfont were in the Spelthorne seat (formed in 1918 from the southern part of Uxbridge (UK Parliament constituency)). Constituency profile 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 (to Central London) 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 margin of victory being 35% in 2001, and lowest margin of victory being 3.3%, in 1992. The Conservatives have finished in second place at each general election since. The current MP Seema Malhotra (Labour Co-operative) was first elected at the 2011 by-election after the death of the previous Labour MP Alan Keen, who had won the seat from Patrick Ground of the Conservatives