Southend East and Rochford (UK Parliament constituency) explained

Southend East and Rochford
Parliament:uk
Year:1997
Type:County
Elects Howmany:One
Electorate:70,094 (2023) [1]
Region:England
County:Essex

Southend East and Rochford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Bayo Alaba, a member of the Labour Party.

Prior to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was known as Rochford and Southend East up until the 2024 general election.[2]

Constituency profile

Rochford and Southend East had a relatively marginal Conservative majority on its 1997 creation, as it had some of Labour's stronger wards in Southend, such as Kursaal, Milton, St. Luke's and Victoria, with the party nearly gaining its predecessor seat Southend East in a by-election in 1980, though in the elections since a much larger majority suggests a Conservative safe seat. In more recent elections, it had become more marginal however than other Essex constituencies that elected Labour MPs in the 21st century such as Harlow and Basildon.

Dependency on social housing[3] and unemployment benefit in the constituency is low[4] and in the Rochford local council only 14.5% of households do not have a car (band 5 of 5 in the 2011 census) whereas 27% of households in the Southend part lack a car (band 2 of 5).[5]

The 2017 election saw a 5% swing to Labour, cutting Duddridge's majority by 3,928 votes. In the 2019 election however, a 7.4% swing from Labour to the Conservatives gave Duddridge a 12,286 majority; his largest ever majority under the seat's current boundaries.

Local government

Currently the 31 Council seats held in Rochford and Southend East are 7 Conservative (from Rochford), 10 Independent, 7 Labour, 5 Conservative and 2 UKIP (from Southend).

History

This seat was created for the 1997 general election primarily from the abolished constituency of Southend East, with the addition of Rochford and Great Wakering, which were previously in the abolished Rochford constituency.

It was held by the Conservatives since its formation until 2024, when the constituency elected its first Labour MP.

Boundaries

1997–2010

2010–2024

Small reduction in electorate due to redistribution of local authority wards.

Current (Southend East and Rochford)

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

St Luke's ward transferred to the newly named constituency of Southend West and Leigh. Minor gain of sparsely populated area to the north of the constituency from Rayleigh and Wickford.

The constituency covers the town of Rochford and the town centre, main seafront and eastern part of Southend-on-Sea, such as Thorpe Bay and Shoeburyness.

Members of Parliament

Southend East and Rochford prior to 1997

ElectionMemberParty
1997Sir Teddy TaylorConservative
2005Sir James DuddridgeConservative
2024Bayo AlabaLabour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[9]
PartyVote%
25,463 59.0
13,521 31.3
2,775 6.4
Others 1,356 3.1
42 0.1
Turnout43,15761.6
Electorate70,094

Elections in the 1990s

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – Eastern . Boundary Commission for England . 27 June 2024 . dmy .
  2. Web site: The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – Eastern Boundary Commission for England . 2023-07-26 . boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk.
  3. Web site: Check Browser Settings . 2015-12-06 . Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.
  4. Web site: Simon Rogers, John Burn-Murdoch and Ami Sedghi . Unemployment: the key UK data and benefit claimants for every constituency . 2015-12-06 . The Guardian.
  5. Web site: 2013-05-16 . 2011 Census Interactive . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160129132219/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/2011-census-interactive-content/index.html . 29 January 2016 . 2015-12-06 . ONS.
  6. Web site: The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995. www.legislation.gov.uk. en. 2019-09-10.
  7. Web site: The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007. www.legislation.gov.uk. 2019-09-10.
  8. Web site: The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023 . Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
  9. Web site: Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019 . 11 July 2024 . Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News . UK Parliament.