Dartford (UK Parliament constituency)

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Dartford County constituency
Dartford shown within Kent, and Kent shown within England
Created:	1885
MP:	Howard Stoate
Party:	Labour
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Kent
EP constituency:	South East England

Dartford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

It was the first seat contested by Margaret Thatcher (then known as Margaret Roberts), at the 1950 and 1951 general elections.

Since the 1970s it has been a key Labour-Tory marginal seat, with the party winning it going on to form the government.

Contents 1 Boundaries 1.1 Boundary review 2 Members of Parliament 3 Elections 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency currently covers the Borough of Dartford as well as the civil parishes of Hartley, Fawkham, and Horton Kirby and South Darenth in the District of Sevenoaks.

[edit] Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Kent, the Boundary Commission for England has made major changes to the existing constituency boundaries as a consequence of population changes. The existing Dartford constituency has been maintained, with the following electoral wards used in its formation:

• The entire borough of Dartford
• The Sevenoaks ward of Hartley and Hodsoll Street

[edit] Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
1885		constituency created
	1885	Sir William Hart Dyke	Conservative
	1906	James Rowlands	Liberal
	Jan 1910	William Foot Mitchell	Conservative
	Dec 1910	James Rowlands	Liberal
	1920 by-election	John Edmund Mills	Labour
	1922	George William Symonds Jarrett	Constitutionalist
	1923	John Edmund Mills	Labour
	1924	Angus McDonnell	Conservative
	1929	John Edmund Mills	Labour
	1931	Frank Edward Clarke	Conservative
	1938 by-election	Janet Adamson	Labour
1945		constituency split, with half becoming the new Bexley seat
	1945	Norman Dodds	Labour Co-operative
	1955	Sydney Irving	Labour Co-operative
	1970	Peter Trew	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Sydney Irving	Labour Co-operative
	1979	Bob Dunn	Conservative
	1997	Howard Stoate	Labour

[edit] Elections

Confirmed candidates for the next UK general election [1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gareth Johnson
	Labour	Howard Stoate
	English Democrats	Gary Rogers

General Election 2005: Dartford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Howard Stoate	19,909	42.6	-5.4
	Conservative	Gareth Johnson	19,203	41.1	+0.5
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Bucklitsch	5,036	10.8	+2.3
	UK Independence	Mark Croucher	1,407	3.0	+0.8
	English Democrats	Michael Tibby	1,224	2.6	+2.6
Majority			706	1.5
Turnout			46,779	63.2	1.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.9

General Election 2001: Dartford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Howard Stoate	21,466	48.0	-0.6
	Conservative	Bob Dunn	18,160	40.6	+0.3
	Liberal Democrat	Graham Morgan	3,781	8.5	-0.9
	UK Independence	Mark Croucher	989	2.2	N/A
	Fancy Dress Party	Keith Davenport	344	0.8	+0.3
Majority			3,306	7.4
Turnout			44,740	61.9	-12.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Dartford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Howard Stoate	25,278	48.6	+12.4
	Conservative	Bob Dunn	20,950	40.3	-10.6
	Liberal Democrat	Dorothy Webb	4,872	9.4	-2.8
	British National	Paul McHale	424	0.8	N/A
	Fancy Dress Party	Peter Homden	287	0.5	+0.1
	Christian Democrat	James Pollitt	228	0.4	N/A
Majority			4,328	8.3
Turnout			52,039	74.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1992: Dartford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Dunn	31,194	51.9	-1.6
	Labour	Howard Stoate	20,880	34.7	+7.2
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Bryden	7,584	12.6	-5.6
	Fancy Dress Party	A Munro	262	0.4	-0.4
	Natural Law	Angela Holland	241	0.4	N/A
Majority			10,314	17.2
Turnout			60,161	83.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Kent

v • d • e Constituencies in South East England Conservative Aldershot · Arundel and South Downs · Ashford · Aylesbury · Banbury · Basingstoke · Beaconsfield · Bexhill and Battle · Bognor Regis and Littlehampton · Bracknell · Canterbury · Chesham and Amersham · Chichester · East Hampshire · East Surrey · East Worthing and Shoreham · Eastbourne · Epsom and Ewell · Esher and Walton · Fareham · Faversham and Mid Kent · Folkestone and Hythe · Gosport · Gravesham · Guildford · Havant · Henley · Horsham · Isle of Wight · Maidenhead · Maidstone and The Weald · Mid Sussex · Mole Valley · New Forest East · New Forest West · Newbury · North East Hampshire · North East Milton Keynes · North Thanet · North West Hampshire · Reading East · Reigate · Runnymede and Weybridge · Sevenoaks · South West Surrey · Spelthorne · Surrey Heath · Tonbridge and Malling · Tunbridge Wells · Wantage · Wealden · Windsor · Witney · Woking · Wokingham · Worthing West · Wycombe Labour Brighton Kemptown · Brighton Pavilion · Chatham and Aylesford · Crawley · Dartford · Dover · Gillingham · Hastings and Rye · Hove · Medway · Milton Keynes South West · Oxford East · Portsmouth North · Reading West · Sittingbourne and Sheppey · Slough · Southampton Itchen · Southampton Test · South Thanet Liberal Democrat Eastleigh · Lewes · Oxford West and Abingdon · Portsmouth South · Romsey · Winchester Speaker Buckingham South East European constituency: Conservative (4) · UKIP (2) · Liberal Democrats (2) · Green (1) · Labour (1)

[edit] References

1. ^ Dartford, UKPollingReport