Sittingbourne_and_Sheppey_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
Sittingbourne and Sheppey is a constituency[n 1] in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Gordon Henderson, a Conservative.[n 2]
| Sittingbourne and Sheppey | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Sittingbourne and Sheppey in Kent | |
Location of Kent within England | |
| County | Kent |
| Electorate | 74,796 (December 2010)[1] |
| Major settlements | Sheerness, Sittingbourne |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of Parliament | Gordon Henderson (Conservative) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Faversham |
1997–2010: The Borough of Swale wards of Borden, Eastern, Grove, Hartlip and Upchurch, Iwade and Lower Halstow, Kemsley, Milton Regis, Minster Cliffs, Murston, Newington, Queenborough and Halfway, Roman, Sheerness East, Sheerness West, Sheppey Central, West Downs, Woodstock.
2010–2015: The Borough of Swale wards of Borden, Chalkwell, Grove, Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch, Iwade and Lower Halstow, Kemsley, Leysdown and Warden, Milton Regis, Minster Cliffs, Murston, Queenborough and Halfway, Roman, St Michael's, Sheerness East, Sheerness West, Sheppey Central, Teynham and Lynsted, West Downs, Woodstock.
2015–present: The Borough of Swale wards of Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow, Borden and Grove Park, Chalkwell, Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch, Homewood, Kemsley, Milton Regis, Minster Cliffs, Murston, Queenborough and Halfway, Roman, Sheerness, Sheppey Central, Sheppey East, Teynham and Lynsted, The Meads, West Downs, Woodstock.
The constituency was created in 1997, mostly from the former seat of Faversham. It covers some of the district of Swale, including Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey.[2]
Proposed
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 reduced to bring its electorate within the permitted range by transferring the wards of Teynham and Lynstead, and West Downs to Faversham and Mid Kent.[3]
The seat includes the industrial town of Sittingbourne, the port of Sheerness, as well as significant areas of natural conservation. Some of the traditional fruit-growing sector remains in this part of North Kent.[4] Residents voted strongly for Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, and are slightly poorer and less healthy than the UK average.[5]
The constituency has been a bellwether of the national result since its creation in 1997. The seat came extremely close to losing this status in the 2005 general election, when Labour held the seat by just 79 votes after a recount, even though the sitting MP, Derek Wyatt, was expecting to lose.[6]
Boundary changes which came into effect for the 2010 general election suggest that the Conservatives would have won the seat in 2005 on the new boundaries, though the estimated notional Conservative majority is extremely small, so that it could have gone either way.
| Election | Member[7] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Derek Wyatt | Labour | |
| 2010 | Gordon Henderson | Conservative | |
Elections in the 2020s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Aisha Cuthbert[8] | ||||
| Reform UK | William Fotheringham-Bray[9] | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Frances Kneller[10] | ||||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | |||||
| Registered electors | |||||
| Swing | |||||
Elections in the 2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 34,742 | 67.6 | +7.4 | |
| Labour | Clive Johnson | 10,263 | 20.0 | –10.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ben J Martin | 3,213 | 6.3 | +3.6 | |
| Independent | Monique Bonney | 1,257 | 2.4 | New | |
| Green | Sam Collins | 1,188 | 2.3 | +1.2 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 404 | 0.8 | 0.0 | |
| Independent | Lee McCall | 327 | 0.6 | 0.0 | |
| Majority | 24,479 | 47.6 | +18.0 | ||
| Turnout | 51,394 | 61.2 | –1.5 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +9.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 30,911 | 60.2 | +10.7 | |
| Labour | Mike Rolfe | 15,700 | 30.6 | +11.0 | |
| Independent | Mike Baldock | 2,133 | 4.2 | New | |
| Liberal Democrats | Keith Nevols | 1,392 | 2.7 | –0.5 | |
| Green | Mark Lindop | 558 | 1.1 | –1.3 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 403 | 0.8 | +0.2 | |
| Independent | Lee McCall | 292 | 0.6 | New | |
| Majority | 15,211 | 29.6 | +4.9 | ||
| Turnout | 51,389 | 62.7 | –2.3 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | –0.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 24,425 | 49.5 | –0.5 | |
| UKIP | Richard Palmer[14] | 12,257 | 24.8 | +19.4 | |
| Labour | Guy Nicholson | 9,673 | 19.6 | –5.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Keith Nevols | 1,563 | 3.2 | –13.2 | |
| Green | Gary Miller | 1,185 | 2.4 | New | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 275 | 0.6 | –0.1 | |
| Majority | 12,168 | 24.7 | –0.7 | ||
| Turnout | 49,378 | 65.0 | +0.5 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | –10.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 24,313 | 50.0 | +8.2 | |
| Labour | Angela Harrison | 11,930 | 24.6 | –17.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Keith Nevols | 7,943 | 16.4 | +3.5 | |
| UKIP | Ian Davison | 2,610 | 5.4 | +3.1 | |
| BNP | Lawrence Tames | 1,305 | 2.7 | New | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 319 | 0.7 | New | |
| Independent | David Cassidy | 158 | 0.3 | New | |
| Majority | 12,383 | 25.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 48,578 | 64.5 | +10.8 | ||
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +12.7 | |||
Elections in the 2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Derek Wyatt | 17,051 | 41.8 | –4.0 | |
| Conservative | Gordon Henderson | 16,972 | 41.6 | +5.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jane Nelson | 5,183 | 12.7 | –1.4 | |
| UKIP | Stephen Dean | 926 | 2.3 | +0.6 | |
| Rock 'n' Roll Loony | Mad Mike Young | 479 | 1.2 | –0.6 | |
| Veritas | David Cassidy | 192 | 0.5 | New | |
| Majority | 79 | 0.2 | –9.1 | ||
| Turnout | 40,803 | 53.7 | –3.8 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | –4.6 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Derek Wyatt | 17,340 | 45.8 | +5.2 | |
| Conservative | Adrian Lee | 13,831 | 36.5 | +0.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Elvina Lowe | 5,353 | 14.1 | –4.2 | |
| Rock 'n' Roll Loony | Mad Mike Young | 673 | 1.8 | New | |
| UKIP | Robert Oakley | 661 | 1.7 | +0.7 | |
| Majority | 3,509 | 9.3 | +5.1 | ||
| Turnout | 37,858 | 57.5 | –14.8 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +2.5 | |||
Elections in the 1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Derek Wyatt | 18,723 | 40.6 | |
| Conservative | Roger Moate | 16,794 | 36.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Roger Truelove | 8,447 | 18.3 | |
| Referendum | Peter Moull | 1,082 | 2.3 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Chris "Screwy" Driver | 644 | 1.4 | |
| UKIP | Nico Risi | 472 | 1.0 | |
| Majority | 1,929 | 4.2 | ||
| Turnout | 46,162 | 72.3 | ||
| Labour gain from Conservative | ||||
- A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- 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.
- Although the constituency was won by Labour in 2005, boundary changes had made it a notionally Conservative seat, so it was thus listed as a Conservative hold by the media.
- "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.
- "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
- "Education and Health: 2 Jun 2010: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou.
- "Candidates. Cuthbert selected in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. Thompson selected in Heywood and Middleton". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- "Sittingbourne and Sheppey Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- "Sittingbourne & Sheppey Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- "Loony Party Candidates". Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.