| Eastbourne | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1885 |
| Type: | Borough |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Previous: | East Sussex |
| Electorate: | 73,322 (2023)[1] |
| Mp: | Josh Babarinde |
| Party: | Liberal Democrats |
| Region: | England |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Towns: | Eastbourne |
Eastbourne is a constituency for the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created as one of nine in Sussex in 1885, since when it has reduced in geographic size reflecting the growth of its main settlement, Eastbourne.
The seat was won in 2024 by Josh Babarinde, a Liberal Democrat MP, beating Conservative MP Caroline Ansell. Ansell held the seat from 2015 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2024, in both cases beating the Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd, who held it from 2010 to 2015 and again from 2017 to 2019. Since the seat's creation it has been won by candidates from either of these two political parties (and their early forebears, the Liberal Party and the Unionist Party). The seat has had four by-elections, most recently in 1990.
For 94 years of the 20th Century, the seat was represented by Conservative MPs. The seat in the 1930s saw three unopposed candidates: in 1932, March 1935 and November 1935. More recently, Eastbourne has been considered relative to others a very marginal seat, or swing seat. In the nine elections from 1990 to 2019, the winning majority was never more than 10%, and the seat changed hands between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates in seven of the last ten elections.
The constituency contains urban and suburban developments, with its boundaries since 2024 matching those of Eastbourne Borough Council. Eastbourne itself is on the edge of the London Commuter Belt and is a coastal resort town. The Eastbourne seat has narrowed at every Boundary Commission Periodic Review, as the population of the core town has grown, having previously included neighbouring towns such as Willingdon, East Dean, and Polegate.
Chris Hanretty, the Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway, estimated that Eastbourne voted 57.6% to 42.4% in favour of leaving the European Union during the 2016 referendum.[2]
This seat was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. This zone had been in the East Sussex constituency, which in turn had been created with two seats by the Reform Act 1832 as a division of the 13th century-founded Sussex parliamentary county which had two seats (returned two knights of the shire).
1885–1918: The Corporate Towns of Pevensey and Seaford, the Sessional Divisions of Hailsham and Uckfield (except the parishes of East Hoathly and Waldron), and part of the Sessional Division of Lewes.
1918–1950: The Borough of Eastbourne, the Rural District of Eastbourne, and in the Rural District of Hailsham the parishes of Arlington, Chalvington, Chiddingly, Hailsham, Hellingly, Laughton, and Ripe.
1950–1955: The Boroughs of Eastbourne and Bexhill, and in the Rural District of Hailsham the parishes of East Dean, Friston, Hooe, Jevington, Ninfield, Pevensey, Polegate, Wartling, Westham, and Willingdon.
1955–1974: The Borough of Eastbourne, and part of the Rural District of Hailsham.
1974–1983: The Borough of Eastbourne, and in the Rural District of Hailsham the parishes of East Dean, Friston, Jevington, Pevensey, Polegate, Westdean, Westham, and Willingdon.
1983–1997: The Borough of Eastbourne, and the District of Wealden wards of Polegate North, Polegate South, and Willingdon.
1997–2010: As prior, substituting East Dean for the Polegate wards.
2010–2024: As prior, less East Dean.
2024–present: The Borough of Eastbourne
Reduced to bring its electorate within the permitted range by transferring the parts within District of Wealden to the Lewes constituency.[3]
From 1910 until 1987 the seat returned Conservative Party candidates at every election. The large rural vote within the seat, until boundary changes in 1983, resulted in strong Conservative support – rural English voters tended to be richer and more right-wing (anti-socialist, pro-Empire before 1960s, pro-Established Church and pro-defence) compared to other voters.
The seat became a marginal, or swing seat, from the 1990 by-election onwards, being closely fought for between the two locally dominant parties. A Liberal Democrat gained the seat at the 2010 general election, in a vote which saw Eastbourne return the sixth-lowest Labour share of the vote of the 631 candidates who stood at the election, with only 4.8%.[4] In 2015, the seat was the 9th most marginal of the Conservative Party's 331 seats, by share of the vote.[5]
East Sussex prior to 1885
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Edward Field | Conservative | ||
| 1900 | Sir Lindsay Hogg | Conservative | ||
| 1906 | Hubert Beaumont | Liberal | ||
| January 1910 | Rupert Gwynne | Conservative | ||
| 1924 | Sir George Lloyd | Conservative | ||
| 1925 by-election | Sir Reginald Hall | Conservative | ||
| 1929 | Edward Marjoribanks | Conservative | ||
| 1932 by-election | John Slater | Conservative | ||
| 1935 by-election | Sir Charles Taylor | Conservative | ||
| February 1974 | Ian Gow | Conservative | ||
| 1990 by-election | David Bellotti | Liberal Democrats | ||
| 1992 | Nigel Waterson | Conservative | ||
| 2010 | Stephen Lloyd | Liberal Democrats | ||
| 2015 | Caroline Ansell | Conservative | ||
| 2017 | Stephen Lloyd | Liberal Democrats | ||
| December 2018 | Independent | |||
| September 2019 | Liberal Democrats | |||
| 2019 | Caroline Ansell | Conservative | ||
| 2024 | Josh Babarinde | Liberal Democrats | ||
| 2019 notional result[6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 24,137 | 47.1 | ||
| 21,969 | 42.9 | ||
| 3,560 | 6.9 | ||
| 1,408 | 2.7 | ||
| Others | 185 | 0.4 | |
| Turnout | 51,259 | 69.9 | |
| Electorate | 73,322 | ||
This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus change in share of vote is based on a notional calculation.
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;