Gravesham (UK Parliament constituency)

Gravesham
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Gravesham in Kent for the 2010 general election.

Outline map

Location of Kent within England.
County Kent
Electorate 70,412 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Gravesend
Current constituency
Created 1983
Member of parliament Adam Holloway (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from Gravesend
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency South East England

Gravesham /ˈɡreɪvʃəm/ is a constituency[n 1] in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Adam Holloway, a Conservative.[n 2]

History

From its first MP in 1983 (a Conservative) until its 1997-2005 MP (of Labour) the winning candidate was from the winning party nationally. Adam Holloway captured the seat for "the Tories" by being one of 36 Conservative candidates to gain a seat from other parties in 2005 and held the seat with an expanded majority in their much improved 2010 General Election showing in which the party gained 100 MPs and had a net gain of 97.

Boundaries

The constituency shares similar borders to that of the Borough of Gravesham. The largest town in the constituency is Gravesend.

The boundaries of this constituency are due to change slightly under initial proposals published by the Boundary Commission to include 4,784 electors currently situated in the neighbouring constituency of Dartford.[2] In these proposals the new name for the constituency will be Gravesend, reflecting the fact it extends beyond the local government district yet has at its heart one large town.

History

This particular name of the seat was created in 1983 effectively as the new name for the Gravesend seat.

Previous bellwether status

The constituency and its predecessor together was considered a bellwether seat: from World War I until 2005 with the exceptions of the General Elections in 1929 Election and 1951, its winner came from the winning party.[n 3] Since the 2005 result conflicted with the UK outcome, the seat is regarded as having lost its bellwether status.[3]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[4] Party
1983 Timothy Brinton Conservative
1987 Jacques Arnold Conservative
1997 Chris Pond Labour
2005 Adam Holloway Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Gravesham[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrat Anne-Marie Bunting
Conservative Adam Holloway
Labour Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi[6]
Green Mark Lindop
UKIP Sean Marriott
General Election 2010: Gravesham[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Adam Holloway 22,956 48.5 +4.8
Labour Co-op Kathryn Smith 13,644 28.8 -13.4
Liberal Democrat Anna Arrowsmith 6,293 13.3 +2.6
UKIP Geoffrey Clark 2,265 4.8 +2.9
English Democrats Steve Uncles 1,005 2.1 N/A
Green Richard Crawford 675 1.4 N/A
Independent Alice Dartnell 465 1 N/A
Majority 9,312 19.7
Turnout 47,303 67.4
Conservative hold Swing +9.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Gravesham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Adam Holloway 19,739 43.7 +4.9
Labour Chris Pond 19,085 42.2 -7.7
Liberal Democrat Bruce Parmenter 4,851 10.7 +1.5
UKIP Geoff Coates 850 1.9 -0.2
English Independence Party Christopher Nickerson 654 1.4 +1.4
Majority 654 1.4
Turnout 45,179 65.8 3.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +6.3
General Election 2001: Gravesham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Chris Pond 21,773 49.9 +0.2
Conservative Jacques Arnold 16,911 38.8 -0.1
Liberal Democrat Bruce Parmenter 4,031 9.2 +1.5
UKIP William Jenner 924 2.1 N/A
Majority 4,862 11.1
Turnout 43,639 62.7 -14.1
Labour hold Swing −0.2

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Gravesham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Chris Pond 26,460 49.69
Conservative Jacques Arnold 20,681 38.84
Liberal Democrat J Canet 4,128 7.75
Referendum Party P Curtis 1,441 2.71
Independent A Leyshon 414 0.78
Natural Law D Palmer 129 0.24
Majority 5,779 10.85
Turnout 76.86
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election 1992: Gravesham[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jacques Arnold 29,322 49.7 −0.4
Labour Graham A Green 23,829 40.4 +5.5
Liberal Democrat Derek R Deedman 5,269 8.9 −6.2
Independent AJ Bunstone 273 0.5 N/A
Independent Conservative REB Khilkoff-Boulding 187 0.3 N/A
Independent Socialist BJ Buxton 174 0.3 N/A
Majority 5,493 9.3 −5.9
Turnout 59,054 83.4 +4.1
Conservative hold Swing −3.0

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Gravesham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jacques Arnold 28,891 50.06
Labour MA Coleman 20,099 34.83
Liberal RI Crawford 8,724 15.12
Majority 8,792 15.23
Turnout 79.32
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: Gravesham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Brinton 25,968 47.37
Labour John Ovenden 17,505 31.93
Social Democratic M Horton 10,826 19.75
National Front P Johnson 420 0.77
Ecology M Sewell 103 0.19
Majority 8,463 15.44
Turnout 77.05
Conservative hold Swing

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A county 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.
  3. ↑ Nonetheless, in the 1929 and 1951 elections, the seat elected into office the candidate from the party with the largest national share of the vote
References
  1. ↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ↑ BBC News (PDF) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/13_09_11_south_east.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ Jones, Ian. "Is the bell about to toll for bellwether seats?". May 2015 Election. New Statesman. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
  5. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/gravesham/
  6. ↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/gravesham-2015.html
  7. ↑ http://www.gravesham.gov.uk/media/word/6/s/nomination2010.doc
  8. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.

Coordinates: 51°24′N 0°22′E / 51.400°N 0.367°E