Dartford (UK Parliament constituency)

Dartford
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Dartford in Kent.

Location of Kent within England.
Electorate 74,756 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Dartford
Current constituency
Created 1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament Gareth Johnson (Conservative)
Number of members One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency South East England

Dartford 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.

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

Contents

Boundaries

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:

Constituency profile

As its name suggests, the main settlement in the constituency is the town of Dartford, but it also includes a number of other towns and villages, including Swanscombe, Longfield, Greenhithe, and Wilmington. These all add up to create a diverse constituency which covers both urban and rural areas.

The population of the constituency currently stands at around 90,000 people, around 8,000 of whom live in the borough of Sevenoaks, with the remainder living in the borough of Dartford. The constituency is located on the border with the London borough of Bexley, with whom at one time it shared an MP.

Members of Parliament

Since 1945, Dartford has been a key Labour-Conservative marginal. It is one of Britain's few bellwether seats: since 1964 the party winning the seat has gone on to form the government. The current MP is the Conservative Gareth Johnson, elected in 2010.

Election Member [2] Party
1885 Sir William Hart Dyke Conservative
1906 James Rowlands Liberal
Jan 1910 William Foot Mitchell Conservative
Dec 1910 James Rowlands Liberal
1918 Coalition 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
2010 Gareth Johnson Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Dartford[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gareth Johnson 24,428 48.8 +7.6
Labour John Adams 13,800 27.6 -15.5
Liberal Democrat James Willis 7,361 14.7 4.6
English Democrats Gary Rogers 2,178 4.3 +4.3
UKIP Richard Palmer 1,842 3.7 +0.7
Independent Stephane Tindame 264 0.5 +0.5
Fancy Dress Party Ernie Crockford 207 0.4 +0.7
Majority 10,628 21.2
Turnout 50,080 65.7 +2.4
Conservative gain from Labour Swing 11.6

Elections in the 2000s

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
UKIP Mark Croucher 1,407 3.0 +0.8
New England 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
UKIP 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

Elections in the 1990s

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
BNP 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[4]
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 −8.9
Turnout 60,161 83.1 +4.1
Conservative hold Swing −4.4

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)
  3. ^ Dartford, UKPollingReport
  4. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 
Constituencies in South East England (84)
Conservative (74)
Labour (4)
Liberal Democrats (4)
Green (1)
Speaker (1)