South Basildon and East Thurrock (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°32′08″N 0°28′48″E / 51.5355°N 0.4800°E / 51.5355; 0.4800
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South Basildon and East Thurrock
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of South Basildon and East Thurrock in Essex
Outline map
Location of Essex within England
CountyEssex
Electorate71,819 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsLaindon, Pitsea, Stanford-le-Hope
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentStephen Metcalfe (Conservative)
SeatsOne
Created fromBasildon, Billericay and Thurrock[2]

South Basildon and East Thurrock is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Stephen Metcalfe, a Conservative.[n 2]

Constituency profile[edit]

The seat has a very similar proportion (4.0%) of jobseekers to the national average of 3.8%, based on The Guardian's November 2012 study. This is higher than the average for the Eastern counties of 3.1% but significantly lower than Bedford, Great Yarmouth, Peterborough, Luton South, Rochford and Southend East, and Thurrock seats.[3]

History[edit]

The seat was created for the 2010 general election following a review of the Parliamentary representation of Essex by the Boundary Commission for England. It was formed from the majority of the abolished constituency of Basildon, but excluding the centre of Basildon itself, together with the town of Pitsea from the abolished Billericay constituency.

Its predecessor seat, Basildon, was a much-referenced bellwether seat, having consistently voted for the most successful party (in terms of number of seats) in each election since its 1974 creation. However, the boundaries of the new South Basildon and East Thurrock seat were considered much more favourable to the Conservatives than those of the old Basildon seat.[4]

Before 1974 the area came within the older version of the Billericay constituency and, for just five years before 1950, this area was the eastern part of the Thurrock seat – from 1885 to 1945 the area was within the South East Essex seat. From 1832 to 1885 the area was in the South Essex seat.

Boundaries[edit]

Map
Map of current boundaries

Current[edit]

  • The Borough of Thurrock wards of Corringham and Fobbing, East Tilbury, Orsett, Stanford East and Corringham Town, Stanford-le-Hope West, and The Homesteads, and;

Despite its long name, this new constituency is to the greatest extent the successor to the Basildon constituency.

The Basildon constituency that existed after 1997 was never wholly within the Basildon district, nor even contained the whole of the Basildon urban area, but it extended south into the Thurrock council area to take in towns such as Stanford-le-Hope and Corringham.

This new seat retained all of the Thurrock wards, lost some areas around central Basildon, and replaced them with Pitsea to the east of Basildon. Additionally, the ward of East Tilbury was added from the Thurrock constituency.

Proposed[edit]

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be (as they existed on 1st December 2020):

  • The Borough of Basildon wards of: Langdon Hills; Nethermayne; Pitsea North West ward; Pitsea South East (polling districts DO, DP, DQ and DR).
  • The Borough of Thurrock wards of: Chadwell St. Mary; Corringham and Fobbing; East Tilbury; Orsett; Stanford East and Corringham Town; Stanford-le-Hope West; The Homesteads.[6]

The Borough of Basildon ward of Vange will be transferred to Basildon and Billericay, and polling district DN in the Pitsea South East ward (equivalent to the civil parish of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet) will be added to Castle Point. To compensate, the Borough of Thurrock ward of Chadwell St Mary will be transferred from Thurrock.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election Member[7] Party
2010 Stephen Metcalfe Conservative

Elections[edit]

Elections in the 2020s[edit]

Next general election: South Basildon and East Thurrock
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Metcalfe[8]
Green Elizabeth Grant
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s[edit]

General election 2019: South Basildon and East Thurrock[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Metcalfe 29,973 66.2 +9.3
Labour Jack Ferguson 10,051 22.2 -10.3
Independent Kerry Smith 3,316 7.3 New
Liberal Democrats Michael Bukola 1,957 4.3 +2.7
Majority 19,922 44.0 +19.6
Turnout 45,297 60.8 -3.2
Conservative hold Swing +9.8
General election 2017: South Basildon and East Thurrock
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Metcalfe 26,811 56.9 +13.5
Labour Byron Taylor 15,321 32.5 +7.3
UKIP Peter Whittle 3,193 6.8 -19.7
Liberal Democrats Nath Banerji 732 1.6 -1.4
Green Sim Harman 680 1.4 New
BNP Paul Borg 383 0.8 New
Majority 11,490 24.4 +7.5
Turnout 47,178 64.0 -0.1
Conservative hold Swing +3.1
General election 2015: South Basildon and East Thurrock[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Metcalfe 19,788 43.4 -0.5
UKIP Ian Luder[11] 12,097 26.5 +20.6
Labour Mike Le-Surf[12] 11,493 25.2 -5.8
Liberal Democrats Geoff Williams[13] 1,356 3.0 -10.4
Independent Kerry Smith[14] 401 0.9 New
Independent None Of The Above X (Terry Marsh) 253 0.6 +0.3
Independent Stuart Hooper[15] 205 0.4 New
Majority 7,692 16.9 +4.0
Turnout 45,593 64.1 +1.9
Conservative hold Swing +2.6
General election 2010: South Basildon and East Thurrock[16][17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Metcalfe 19,624 43.9 +5.3
Labour Co-op Angela Smith* 13,852 31.0 -9.7
Liberal Democrats Geoff Williams 5,977 13.4 +2.8
UKIP Kerry Smith 2,639 5.9 +3.3
BNP Chris Roberts 2,518 5.6 +0.8
Independent None Of The Above X (Terry Marsh) 125 0.3 New
Majority 5,772 12.9 N/A
Turnout 44,735 62.2 -1.9
Conservative hold Swing
* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ^ 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]

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Basildon South and Thurrock East' UK Parliament, 6 May 2010 -". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  4. ^ Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (2007). The Almanac of British Politics (8th ed.). UK: Routledge. pp. 127–128, 160–161. ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9.
  5. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  6. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
  7. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
  8. ^ "Stephen Metcalfe reselected". Basildon Borough Conservatives. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Basildon South & Thurrock East Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
  12. ^ "Say you're with us >>". www.labour.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013.
  13. ^ "LIVE: South Basildon and East Thurrock hustings". Echo.
  14. ^ "Ex-UKIP candidate Kerry Smith 'to run as independent'". BBC News. 7 January 2015.
  15. ^ http://www.yourthurrock.com/List-General-Election-candidates-South-Basildon/story-26317247-detail/story.html[dead link]
  16. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Basildon Council
  17. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Basildon South & Thurrock East". BBC News.
  18. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

51°32′08″N 0°28′48″E / 51.5355°N 0.4800°E / 51.5355; 0.4800