Jeremy Corbyn's constituency less racially integrated than commuter belt, says report

Boston in Lincolnshire was the least integrated place in the country followed by Wisbech in Cambs, according to the findings, while Amersham in Bucks was the best, followed by Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.

The top 20 also featured Cheshunt, Letchworth Garden City and Hitchin in Herts, and Esher and Ewell in Surrey.

Mr Corbyn has represented Islington North since 1983, and the borough as a whole was ranked four placed below Milton Keynes in terms of its ethnic cohesion.

Meanwhile, Brighton and Hove - often seen as a hotbed of liberal values - was surprisingly low in the rankings, at 41st.

"The more integrated the place, the greater the share of ethnic minorities in higher paid, managerial jobs"

Policy Exchange spokesman

A Policy Exchange spokesman said: “The most integrated places tend to be prosperous suburbs or small towns around London and Birmingham with the largest minorities being successful Indians or Europeans.

“The least integrated places, by contrast—Oldham, Accrington, Bradford, Boston, Wisbech, Spalding—are either the post-industrial districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire dominated by people of Pakistani heritage or the towns of eastern England that have experienced large inflows of east Europeans.”

According to the think-tank’s demography, immigration and integration unit, the worst integrated places tended to have a single group accounting for around two-thirds of the minority population, while the better performers had a wider range of ethnic groups.

“Places with high proportions of Muslims tend to have high levels of residential segregation but a strong sense of belonging,” the spokesman said.

"In some places people, of all backgrounds, fear that society is changing too fast and that too many people are living parallel lives"

David Goodhart, of Policy Exchange

“The more integrated the place, the greater the share of ethnic minorities in higher paid, managerial jobs.”

David Goodhart, of Policy Exchange, said: “Ethnic minority integration has shot up the political agenda in recent months and it is useful to know where the biggest challenges and the often quiet success stories actually are.

“As our index shows the integration picture is a mixed one but in some places people, of all backgrounds, fear that society is changing too fast and that too many people are living parallel lives.

“We know that people of similar backgrounds tend to cluster together but we also know that a good society needs a sense of trust and mutual regard that crosses social and ethnic boundaries.”

10 best integrated towns and cities in England and Wales:

1. Amersham
2. Sutton Coldfield
3. Loughton
4. Potters Bar
5. Letchworth Garden City
6. Stretford
7. Bushey
8. West Bridgford, Notts
9. Rickmansworth
10. Esher

10 worst integrated towns and cities in England and Wales, with 1 as the worst-performing:

1. Boston
2. Wisbech
3. Oldham
4. Spalding
5. Bradford
6. Batley
7. Halifax
8. Blackburn
9. Keighley
10. Accrington

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579309/s/4d2d62a2/sc/13/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cpolitics0CJeremy0ICorbyn0C121251560CJeremy0ECorbyns0Econstituency0Eless0Eracially0Eintegrated0Ethan0Ecommuter0Ebelt0Esays0Ereport0Bhtml/story01.htm