 At the time, Paddington North was safe Labour, while Paddington South was safe Conservative, and the new constituency had some sharp social contrasts.A merger of the two was expected to be marginal, although in the 1970 election the Labour Party was ahead by 442 votes.When the first general election was called on the new boundaries, both sitting MPs, Arthur Latham (North) and Nicholas Scott (South), stood in the new constituency.