Maidstone and The Weald (UK Parliament constituency): Difference between revisions
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|party = English Democrats |
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|candidate = Gary Butler<ref>{{cite web |url=http://steveunclesenglishdemocrats.org/2015-ppc-se/ |title=2015-ppc-se |accessdate=22 February 2015 }}</ref> |
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|party = Liberal Democrats |
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Revision as of 14:08, 2 April 2015
Maidstone and The Weald | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Kent |
Electorate | 70,576 (December 2010)[1] |
Major settlements | Maidstone, Staplehurst and Cranbrook |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 |
Member of Parliament | Helen Grant (Conservative) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Maidstone, Mid Kent, Tunbridge Wells |
Maidstone and The Weald is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Helen Grant, a Conservative.
Boundaries
1997-2010: The Borough of Maidstone wards of Allington, Barming, Boughton Monchelsea, Bridge, Coxheath, Linton, East Farleigh, Heath, High Street, Loose, Marden, North, South, Staplehurst, and Yalding; and the Borough of Tunbridge Wells wards of Benenden, Cranbrook, Frittenden and Sissinghurst, Hawkhurst, and Sandhurst.
2010-present: The Borough of Maidstone wards of Allington, Barming, Bridge, Coxheath and Hunton, East, Fant, Heath, High Street, Loose, Marden and Yalding, North, South, and Staplehurst; and the Borough of Tunbridge Wells wards of Benenden and Cranbrook, Frittenden, and Sissinghurst.
The largest settlement is the central county town of Maidstone in Kent in south-east England with smaller settlements spread throughout agriculture-rich Maidstone borough and partly wooded Tunbridge Wells borough.
History
The constituency was created for the 1997 general election, after the previous Maidstone constituency was split in two: its southeast wards of Shepway and Park Wood of the town itself and the rural wards east of the town joined Faversham in the new Faversham and Mid Kent constituency. The remaining two-thirds of the electorate in west/central Maidstone were reunited with the town wards that had been lost to Mid Kent in 1983 (which was abolished), and joined by a rural part of the Weald to the south of the town, previously in the Tunbridge Wells constituency.
- History of members
The MP for the seat from its creation in 1997 was Ann Widdecombe of the Conservative Party. Widdecombe was MP for the former seat of Maidstone 1987-97, and served as a Home Office Minister (of State) in the government of John Major from 1995 to 1997, and as Shadow Home Secretary from 1999 to 2001. She stood down at the 2010 general election, to be succeeded by its winner, who was Helen Grant, also a Conservative.
Constituency profile
Most of the electorate live in urban Maidstone, which has some light industry but whose economy is increasingly dominated by the service sector (including care, hospitality and insurance). The south of the constituency is rural with significant orchards and market gardens. Many residents commute to London, with the relevant terminus being London Bridge.[n 2] To summarise this is an urban-rural seat in a prosperous part of Kent.[2]
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[3] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 1997 | Ann Widdecombe | Conservative |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 2010 | Helen Grant | Conservative |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Jasper Gerard[5] | ||||
Conservative | Helen Grant[6] | ||||
NHA | Dr Paul Hobday | ||||
Green | Hannah Patton [7] | ||||
UKIP | Eddie Powell | ||||
Labour | Allen Simpson[8] |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Helen Grant | 23,491 | 48.0 | −3.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Peter Carroll | 17,602 | 36.0 | +13.8 | |
Labour | Rav Seeruthun | 4,769 | 9.7 | −12.6 | |
UKIP | Gareth A. Kendal | 1,637 | 3.3 | +0.3 | |
Green | Stuart R. Jeffery | 655 | 1.3 | +0.4 | |
National Front | Gary Butler | 643 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Christian | Heidi A. Simmonds | 131 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 5,889 | 12.0 | −18.5 | ||
Turnout | 48,928 | 68.9 | +3.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −8.5 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ann Widdecombe | 25,670 | 52.7 | +3.1 | |
Labour | Ms. Elizabeth A. Breeze | 10,814 | 22.2 | −4.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark B. Corney | 10,808 | 22.2 | +2.3 | |
UKIP | Anthony 'Felix' Robertson | 1,463 | 3.0 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 14,856 | 30.5 | |||
Turnout | 48,755 | 65.8 | +4.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +3.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ann Widdecombe | 22,621 | 49.6 | +5.5 | |
Labour | Mark Owen Davis | 12,303 | 27.0 | +0.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Miss Allison Joan Wainman | 9,064 | 19.9 | −2.5 | |
UKIP | John Michael Botting | 978 | 2.1 | +1.5 | |
Independent | Neil Hunt | 611 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,318 | 22.6 | |||
Turnout | 45,577 | 61.6 | −12.1 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ann Widdecombe | 23,657 | 44.1 | N/A | |
Labour | John Morgan | 14,054 | 26.2 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Mrs Jane E. Nelson | 11,986 | 22.4 | N/A | |
Referendum | Miss Sarah L. Hopkins | 1,998 | 3.7 | N/A | |
Socialist Labour | Mrs. Maureen Cleator | 979 | 1.8 | N/A | |
Green | Mrs. Penny A. Kemp | 480 | 0.9 | N/A | |
UKIP | Mrs. R. Owens | 339 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Natural Law | John D. Oldbury | 115 | 0.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 9,603 | 17.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 53,608 | 73.7 | N/A | ||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- ^ With some services going further past this and terminating at Blackfriars station, Cannon Street station and Waterloo East station, useful for certain destinations
- References
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ constituency profile The Guardian
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)
- ^ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/maidstoneandtheweald/
- ^ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/maidstone-weald-2015.html
- ^ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/maidstone-weald-2015.html
- ^ http://maidstonegreenpartynews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/hannah-patton-selected-as-green-party.html
- ^ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/maidstone-weald-2015.html
- ^ BBC Election 2010, Maidstone and The Weald
- ^ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/396.htm
Sources
- T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
- Robert Waller, The Almanac of British Politics (1st edition, London: Croom Helm, 1983; 5th edition, London: Routledge, 1996)
- Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)