Basildon and Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)

Basildon and Billericay /ˈbæzɨldʉn ənd ˈbɨlərɪki/ is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, represented since 2010 by the Conservative Party MP John Baron.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

The seat merged a majority of the previous constituency of Billericay with parts of the former Basildon constituency – mostly around the centre of Basildon.

The Billericay constituency lost Wickford to the new Rayleigh and Wickford constituency, and Pitsea to the South Basildon and East Thurrock seat.

The electoral wards in the constituency are Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Crouch, Fryerns, Laindon Park, Lee Chapel North and St Martin's.

History

The seat was created for the 2010 general election following a review of the Parliamentary representation of Essex by the Boundary Commission for England. The election was won by the Conservative Party by a large majority although it had a nominal Labour Party status based on its electoral wards.

History of former Basildon constituency

Basildon was one of the best known bellwether constituencies in the UK, having voted for the winning party in each election since 1974. The failure of the Labour Party to win it in the 1992 election – Basildon was the first marginal seat to declare a result – notably foreshadowed Labour's fourth straight defeat at the hands of the Conservative Party.

Basildon was a (famously) Conservative seat between 1979 and 1997 as the quintessential "Essex man" constituency based on the new town of Basildon. Much of its population has its origins in the East End of London, which as a group has traditionally voted for the Labour Party.

However, throughout the 1980s and until the Labour landslide victory of 1997, many voters in the area transferred their loyalties to the Conservative Party. The MP during this period was David Amess, who himself originated from Plaistow in East London and now holds the safer seat of Southend West.

Labour took the seat in 1997 and 2001 with a large majority, and in 2005 with a reduced majority, following the national result as all bellwether seats.

History of former Billericay constituency

Billericay was not a bellwether: from 2001 until the 2010 boundary change it had a Conservative MP, John Baron, who secured re-election in the new seat at the 2010 election.

During the late 20th century the seat elected two non-conforming characters to Westminster: Harvey Proctor, a right-wing MP who resigned over gay sex charges with underage rent boys, for which he was prosecuted, and Teresa Gorman, anti-Maastricht rebel who stood down after accusing the Standards and Privileges Committee of the House of Commons of sexism over questions surrounding her registered business dealings.

Members of Parliament

The current MP is the Conservative John Baron.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament

See also

• South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes and references

Notes

References

Coordinates: 51°36′N 0°26′E / 51.60°N 0.44°E / 51.60; 0.44