Hastings and Rye (UK Parliament constituency)

Hastings and Rye
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Hastings and Rye in East Sussex.
Location of East Sussex within England.
County	East Sussex
Electorate	76,422 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Amber Rudd (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Hastings and Rye
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Hastings and Rye is a county 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.

Boundaries

As of the 2010 general election, Hastings and Rye constituency includes all 16 electoral wards from Hastings Borough Council:

• Ashdown; Baird; Braybrooke; Castle; Central St Leonards; Conquest; Gensing; Hollington; Maze Hill; Old Hastings; Ore; St Helens; Silverhill; Tressell; West St Leonards; Wishing Tree.

The seat also includes four electoral wards from Rother District Council:

• Brede Valley; Eastern Rother; Marsham; Rye.

Constituency profile

The main settlements in the constituency are the seaside resort of Hastings and smaller nearby tourist town of Rye. The constituency also includes the Cinque Port of Winchelsea (the smallest town in Britain) and the villages of Fairlight, Winchelsea Beach, Three Oaks, Guestling, Icklesham, Playden, Iden, Rye Harbour, East Guldeford, Camber, and Pett.

The constituency is set in a relatively isolated part of Sussex and so does not enjoy some of the more general affluence of this part of the country. It is considered a deprived area. Hastings has some light industry, while Rye has a small port.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Hastings and Rye. The Conservative MP for Hastings since 1970, Kenneth Warren, won the new seat, while the Conservative MP for Rye since 1955, Bryant Godman Irvine, retired. Warren held the seat until his retirement in 1992; during this period it was a Conservative stronghold, with the Liberal Party (now the Liberal Democrats) regularly coming second. Jacqui Lait held the seat for the Conservatives on Warren's retirement. However, in 1997 the Labour candidate Michael Foster narrowly defeated Lait, becoming the second-least expected Labour MP in the landslide of that year and turning the seat into a three-way marginal. Foster held the seat, again with slim majorities over the Conservatives, in 2001 and 2005, but lost it to the Conservative Amber Rudd in 2010. The Liberal Democrat vote has fallen considerably, leaving them in a distant third place.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Kenneth Warren	Conservative
	1992	Jacqui Lait	Conservative
	1997	Michael Foster	Labour
	2010	Amber Rudd	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Hastings and Rye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amber Rudd	20,468	41.1	+3.0
	Labour	Michael Foster	18,475	37.1	-3.5
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Perry	7,825	15.7	+0.6
	UKIP	Anthony Smith	1,397	2.8	+0.1
	BNP	Nick Prince	1,310	2.6	+2.6
	English Democrats	Rod Bridger	339	0.7	+0.7
Majority			1,993	4.0
Turnout			49,814	63.9	+4.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Hastings and Rye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Foster	18,107	42.1	-5.0
	Conservative	Mark Coote	16,081	37.4	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Stevens	6,479	15.1	+4.8
	UKIP	Terry Grant	1,098	2.6	+0.4
	Green	Sally Phillips	1,032	2.4	+0.7
	Monster Raving Loony	Viscount Clarkey of Rochdale Canal Ord-Clarke	207	0.5	0.0
Majority			2,026	4.7
Turnout			43,004	67.8	9.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.9

General Election 2001: Hastings and Rye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Foster	19,402	47.1	+12.7
	Conservative	Mark Coote	15,094	36.6	+7.5
	Liberal Democrat	Graem Peters	4,266	10.3	-17.6
	UKIP	Alan Coomber	911	2.2	+1.2
	Green	Sally Phillips	721	1.7	N/A
	Independent (politician)	Gillian Bargery	486	1.2	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	John Ord-Clarke	198	0.5	+0.2
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Brett McLean	140	0.3	N/A
Majority			4,308	10.5
Turnout			41,218	58.3	-11.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Hastings and Rye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Foster	16,867	34.4	+18.6
	Conservative	Jacqui Lait	14,307	29.2	-18.4
	Liberal Democrat	Monroe Palmer	13,717	28.0	-7.3
	Referendum Party	Christopher McGovern	2,511	5.1	N/A
	Liberal	Jane Amstad	1,046	2.1	N/A
	UKIP	W N Andrews	472	1.0	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Derek Tiverton	149	0.3	0.0
Majority			2,560	5.2
Turnout			49,069	69.7	-5.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+18.5

General Election 1992: Hastings and Rye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacqui Lait	25,573	47.6	-2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Monroe Palmer	18,939	35.2	-0.8
	Labour	Richard Stevens	8,458	15.7	+2.6
	Green	Sally Philips	640	1.2	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Derek Tiverton	168	0.3	-0.1
Majority			6,634	12.4
Turnout			53,778	74.9	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.9

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Hastings and Rye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Warren	26,163	50.1	-3.2
	Liberal	David J Amies	18,816	36.0	+5.5
	Labour	Richard Stevens	6,825	13.1	-2.1
	Monster Raving Loony	Derek Tiverton	242	0.4	N/A
	Independent	S P Davies	194	0.4	N/A
Majority			7,347	14.1
Turnout			52,240	71.8	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.4

General Election 1983: Hastings and Rye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Warren	25,626	53.3
	Liberal	David J Amies	14,646	30.5
	Labour	N Knowles	7,304	15.2
	Independent	G L McNally	503	1.0
Majority			10,980	22.8
Turnout			48,079	68.9

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in East Sussex

Sources

• Election result, 2005 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1983 - 1992 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1992 - 2005 (Guardian)