Sittingbourne and Sheppey (UK Parliament constituency)
Sittingbourne and Sheppey | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Kent |
Electorate | 76,818 (2023)[1] |
Major settlements | Sheerness, Minster, Sittingbourne, Kemsley |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 |
Member of Parliament | Kevin McKenna (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Faversham |
Sittingbourne and Sheppey is a constituency[n 1] in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2024 general election by Kevin McKenna, a Labour politician and qualified nurse.[n 2]
Boundaries
[edit]1997–2010: The Borough of Swale wards of Borden, Eastern, Grove, Hartlip and Upchurch, Iwade and Lower Halstow, Kemsley, Milton Regis, Minster Cliffs, Murston, Newington, Queenborough and Halfway, Roman, Sheerness East, Sheerness West, Sheppey Central, West Downs, Woodstock.
2010–2015: The Borough of Swale wards of Borden, Chalkwell, Grove, Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch, Iwade and Lower Halstow, Kemsley, Leysdown and Warden, Milton Regis, Minster Cliffs, Murston, Queenborough and Halfway, Roman, St Michael's, Sheerness East, Sheerness West, Sheppey Central, Teynham and Lynsted, West Downs, Woodstock.
2015–2024: The Borough of Swale wards of Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow; Borden and Grove Park; Chalkwell; Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch; Homewood; Kemsley; Milton Regis; Minster Cliffs; Murston; Queenborough and Halfway; Roman; Sheerness; Sheppey Central; Sheppey East; Teynham and Lynsted; The Meads; West Downs; and Woodstock.
2024–present: Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
- The Borough of Swale wards of Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow; Borden and Grove Park; Chalkwell; Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch; Homewood; Kemsley; Milton Regis; Minster Cliffs; Murston; Queenborough and Halfway; Roman; Sheerness; Sheppey Central; Sheppey East; The Meads; and Woodstock.[2]
Reduced in size to bring its electorate within the permitted range by transferring the wards of Teynham and Lynstead, and West Downs to Faversham and Mid Kent.
The constituency was created in 1997, mostly from the former seat of Faversham. It covers some of the district of Swale, including Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey.[3]
Constituency profile
[edit]The seat includes the industrial town of Sittingbourne, the port of Sheerness, as well as significant areas of natural conservation. Some of the traditional fruit-growing sector remains in this part of North Kent.[4] Residents voted strongly for Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, and are slightly poorer and less healthy than the UK average.[5]
History
[edit]The constituency was created in 1997 as the successor to the former Faversham constituency, containing around 75% of the electors of the former seat.[6] The removal of the town of Faversham itself (to the new seat of Faversham and Mid Kent) led to the name change, but Sittingbourne had already been the largest town in the former constituency.[7]
Sittingbourne and Sheppey has been a bellwether of the national result since its creation in 1997, and taken together with its predecessor seat of Faverhsam, the bellwether streak stretches back to 1979. The seat came extremely close to losing this status in the 2005 general election, when Labour held the seat by just 79 votes after a recount, even though the sitting MP, Derek Wyatt, was expecting to lose.[8]
Boundary changes which came into effect for the 2010 general election suggest that the Conservatives would have won the seat in 2005 on the new boundaries, though the estimated notional Conservative majority was extremely small, so that it could have gone either way.
Maintaining its bellwether status, the seat was held by Conservative Gordon Henderson at the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 elections with very strong majorities, then taken by Labour's Kevin McKenna in 2024. However, McKenna has a majority of only 0.9% having received under 30% of the vote. This was aided by a collapse in the Conservative vote, most of which went to Reform UK, making the seat a 3-way marginal for the next election.
Members of Parliament
[edit]Faversham prior to 1997
Election | Member[9] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Derek Wyatt | Labour | |
2010 | Gordon Henderson | Conservative | |
2024 | Kevin McKenna | Labour |
Elections
[edit]Elections in the 2020s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Kevin McKenna[11] | 11,919 | 29.1 | +8.2 | |
Conservative | Aisha Cuthbert[12] | 11,564 | 28.2 | −38.3 | |
Reform UK | William Fotheringham-Bray[13] | 10,512 | 25.6 | N/A | |
Swale Ind. | Mike Baldock[14] | 3,238 | 7.9 | N/A | |
Green | Sam Banks[15] | 1,692 | 4.1 | +1.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Frances Kneller[16] | 1,321 | 3.2 | −3.1 | |
Independent | Matt Brown | 529 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 223 | 0.5 | −0.4 | |
Majority | 355 | 0.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 40,998 | 51.9 | −9.0 | ||
Registered electors | 79,067 | ||||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | 23.3 |
Elections in the 2010s
[edit]2019 notional result[17] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Vote | % | |
Conservative | 31,106 | 66.5 | |
Labour | 9,769 | 20.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2,962 | 6.3 | |
Others | 1,883 | 4.1 | |
Green | 1,043 | 2.2 | |
Turnout | 46,763 | 60.9 | |
Electorate | 76,818 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 34,742 | 67.6 | +7.4 | |
Labour | Clive Johnson | 10,263 | 20.0 | –10.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ben Martin | 3,213 | 6.3 | +3.6 | |
Independent | Monique Bonney | 1,257 | 2.4 | N/A | |
Green | Sam Collins | 1,188 | 2.3 | +1.2 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 404 | 0.8 | 0.0 | |
Independent | Lee McCall | 327 | 0.6 | 0.0 | |
Majority | 24,479 | 47.6 | +18.0 | ||
Turnout | 51,394 | 61.2 | –1.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +9.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 30,911 | 60.2 | +10.7 | |
Labour | Mike Rolfe | 15,700 | 30.6 | +11.0 | |
Independent | Mike Baldock | 2,133 | 4.2 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Keith Nevols | 1,392 | 2.7 | –0.5 | |
Green | Mark Lindop | 558 | 1.1 | –1.3 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 403 | 0.8 | +0.2 | |
Independent | Lee McCall | 292 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 15,211 | 29.6 | +4.9 | ||
Turnout | 51,389 | 62.7 | –2.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | –0.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 24,425 | 49.5 | –0.5 | |
UKIP | Richard Palmer[21] | 12,257 | 24.8 | +19.4 | |
Labour | Guy Nicholson | 9,673 | 19.6 | –5.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Keith Nevols | 1,563 | 3.2 | –13.2 | |
Green | Gary Miller | 1,185 | 2.4 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 275 | 0.6 | –0.1 | |
Majority | 12,168 | 24.7 | –0.7 | ||
Turnout | 49,378 | 65.0 | +0.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | –10.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 24,313 | 50.0 | +8.2 | |
Labour | Angela Harrison | 11,930 | 24.6 | –17.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Keith Nevols | 7,943 | 16.4 | +3.5 | |
UKIP | Ian Davison | 2,610 | 5.4 | +3.1 | |
BNP | Lawrence Tames | 1,305 | 2.7 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 319 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Independent | David Cassidy | 158 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 12,383 | 25.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 48,578 | 64.5 | +10.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +12.7 |
Although its predecessor seat was narrowly retained by Labour in 2005, intervening boundary changes made the constituency notionally Conservative prior to the 2010 general election, and it is therefore listed as a hold rather than a gain. [23][24]
Elections in the 2000s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Derek Wyatt | 17,051 | 41.8 | –4.0 | |
Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 16,972 | 41.6 | +5.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jane Nelson | 5,183 | 12.7 | –1.4 | |
UKIP | Stephen Dean | 926 | 2.3 | +0.6 | |
Rock 'n' Roll Loony | Mad Mike Young | 479 | 1.2 | –0.6 | |
Veritas | David Cassidy | 192 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 79 | 0.2 | –9.1 | ||
Turnout | 40,803 | 53.7 | –3.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –4.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Derek Wyatt | 17,340 | 45.8 | +5.2 | |
Conservative | Adrian Lee | 13,831 | 36.5 | +0.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Elvina Lowe | 5,353 | 14.1 | –4.2 | |
Rock 'n' Roll Loony | Mad Mike Young | 673 | 1.8 | N/A | |
UKIP | Robert Oakley | 661 | 1.7 | +0.7 | |
Majority | 3,509 | 9.3 | +5.1 | ||
Turnout | 37,858 | 57.5 | –14.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.5 |
Elections in the 1990s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Derek Wyatt | 18,723 | 40.6 | ||
Conservative | Roger Moate | 16,794 | 36.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Roger Truelove | 8,447 | 18.3 | ||
Referendum | Peter Moull | 1,082 | 2.3 | ||
Monster Raving Loony | Chris "Screwy" Driver | 644 | 1.4 | ||
UKIP | Nico Risi | 472 | 1.0 | ||
Majority | 1,929 | 4.2 | |||
Turnout | 46,162 | 72.3 | |||
Labour win (new seat) |
See also
[edit]- List of parliamentary constituencies in Kent
- List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)
Notes
[edit]- ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- ^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
[edit]- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
- ^ 2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
- ^ Orchards http://www.englandinparticular.info/orchards/o-kent.html
- ^ Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Sittingbourne+and+Sheppey
- ^ Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (1995). The Almanac of British Politics (5th ed.). UK: Routledge. p. 743. ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9.
- ^ Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (1991). The Almanac of British Politics (4th ed.). UK: Routledge. p. 402. ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9.
- ^ "Education and Health: 2 Jun 2010: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
- ^ Sittingbourne and Sheppey
- ^ https://kevinmckenna.co.uk/ [bare URL]
- ^ "Candidates. Cuthbert selected in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. Thompson selected in Heywood and Middleton". ConservativeHome. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Sittingbourne and Sheppey Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ Harbert, Joe (1 March 2024). "Swale Independents select leader Mike Baldock as parliamentary candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey at next general election". Kent Online. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "Sam Banks for Sittingbourne and Sheppey". Swale Green Party. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Sittingbourne & Sheppey Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ "Loony Party Candidates". Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "UK Polling Report". Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "The new Westminster constituencies - full list and how they've changed". The Guardian. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "BBC News Election 2010: results by constituency". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
External links
[edit]- Sittingbourne and Sheppey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Sittingbourne and Sheppey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Sittingbourne and Sheppey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK