Gillingham (UK Parliament constituency)

Gillingham
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Gillingham in Kent for the 2005 general election.
Location of Kent within England.
County	Kent
1918–2010
Replaced by	Gillingham and Rainham

Gillingham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency was based around the towns of Gillingham and Rainham, which at that time were in Kent.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Kent, the Boundary Commission for England abolished Gillingham, replacing it with the renamed constituency of Gillingham and Rainham.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[1]	Party
1918	Sir Gerald Fitzroy Hohler	Conservative
1929	Sir Robert Vaughan Gower	Conservative
1945	Joseph Binns	Labour
1950	Sir Frederick Burden	Conservative
1983	James Couchman	Conservative
1997	Paul Clark	Labour
2010	Constituency abolished: see extended constituency of Gillingham and Rainham.

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Gillingham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Clark	18,621	41.2	-3.3
	Conservative	Tim Butcher	18,367	40.7	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Stamp	6,734	14.9	+1.3
	UKIP	Craig Mackinlay	1,191	2.6	+0.4
	Independent	Gordon Bryan	254	0.6	+0.6
Majority			254	0.6
Turnout			45,167	62.5	+3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.4

General Election 2001: Gillingham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Clark	18,782	44.5	+4.7
	Conservative	Tim Butcher	16,510	39.1	+3.2
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan Hunt	5,755	13.6	-5.4
	UKIP	Tony Scholefield	933	2.2	+1.0
	Socialist Alliance	Wynford Thomas	232	0.5	N/A
Majority			2,272	5.4
Turnout			42,212	59.5	-12.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Gillingham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Clark	20,187	39.8	N/A
	Conservative	James Couchman	18,207	35.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Sayer	9,649	19.0	N/A
	Referendum Party	Geoffrey Cann	1,492	2.9	N/A
	UKIP	Craig Mackinlay	590	1.2	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	David Robinson	305	0.6	N/A
	BNP	Christopher Jury	194	0.4	N/A
	Natural Law	Gabriel Duguay	58	0.1	N/A
Majority			1980	3.0	N/A
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+16

General Election 1992: Gillingham^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Couchman	30,201	52.3	-0.7
	Labour	Paul Clark	13,563	23.5	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Wallabank	13,509	23.4	-6.5
	Independent	Craig Mackinlay	248	0.4	+0.4
	Natural Law	Daniel Jolicoeur	190	0.3	+0.3
Majority			16,638	28.8	+5.6
Turnout			57,711	80.3	+4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Gillingham^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Couchman	28,711	53.07
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Leighton Andrews	16,162	29.87
	Labour	DJ Bishop	9,230	17.06
Majority			12,549	23.19
Turnout			54,100	75.3

General Election 1983: Gillingham^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Couchman	26,381	51.72
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	C Lewcock	15,538	30.46
	Labour	AS West	9,084	17.81
Majority			10,843	21.26
Turnout			51,000	73.64

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Gillingham^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Burden	26,791	53.13
	Labour	S Love	16,292	32.31
	Liberal	D Sidebottom	6,219	12.33
	National Front	S Campbell	528	1.05
	Ecology	S Fry	501	0.99
	Workers Revolutionary	T Beckwith	92	0.18
Majority			10,499	20.82
Turnout			50,425	78.85

General Election October 1974: Gillingham^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Burden	19,042	40.39
	Labour	HGN Clothier	15,046	31.92
	Liberal	T Jones	12,131	25.73
	National Front	S Campbell	922	1.96
Majority			3,996	8.48
Turnout			47,139	75.91

General Election February 1974: Gillingham^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Burden	20,934	41.18
	Liberal	R Sayer	15,052	29.61
	Labour	HGN Clother	14,850	29.21
Majority			5,882	11.57
Turnout			50,834	82.66

General Election 1970: Gillingham^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Burden	25,813	58.84
	Labour	R Bean	18,057	41.16
Majority			7,756	17.68
Turnout			43,869	73.36

Notes and references

↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge87/i09.htm
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge83/i09.htm
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/i09.htm
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74b/i09.htm
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74a/i09.htm
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge70/i09.htm

Coordinates: 51°23′N 0°33′E / 51.383°N 0.550°E / 51.383; 0.550