Castle Point (UK Parliament constituency)

Castle Point is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rebecca Harris, a Conservative.[n 2]

Castle Point
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Castle Point in Essex
Location of Essex within England
CountyEssex
Population88,011 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate64,562 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlementsCanvey Island, South Benfleet
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentRebecca Harris (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromSouth East Essex

History

This seat was created for the 1983 general election from the former seat of South East Essex. It comprised the District of Castle Point which was formed from the former Urban Districts of Canvey Island and Benfleet and includes Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley.

In all but one election, it has been won by a Conservative candidate, passing to Labour once, in the 1997 election. The former MP defeated in 1997, Bob Spink, regained the seat in 2001. He was re-elected in 2005 but subsequently resigned from the Conservative Party on 22 April 2008. Spink briefly joined UKIP,[3] but resigned the whip shortly afterwards and sat as an Independent MP.[4] In the 2010 election, Spink lost in Castle Point to the Conservative candidate, Rebecca Harris.

After the 2017 election Castle Point has the largest Conservative majority of any constituency to have elected a Labour MP in the 1997–2010 government, at 42.2%.

Boundaries

Since its creation, the Castle Point constituency has been contiguous with the boundaries of the district council of the same name. The seat is one of only a very few that were unchanged by the boundary reviews which came into effect in 1997 and 2010, having seen population growth in line with the average seat (which is slightly larger), including development in the designated development plans of the Thames Gateway.

Constituency profile

The seat is coterminous with the Castle Point local authority, taking its name from Hadleigh Castle and Canvey Point, and covering the Canvey Island at the seaside end of the Thames Estuary plus a segment of the adjoining mainland.

In 2001, Castle Point was characterised by skilled manual workers, commuters and the self-employed. Levels of home and car ownership in Hadleigh and Canvey were very high while social deprivation was relatively low.[5]

Of all the constituencies of the UK, it has one of the lowest levels of graduates.[6]

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[7][8] Party
1983 Sir Bernard Braine Conservative
1992 Bob Spink Conservative
1997 Christine Butler Labour
2001 Bob Spink Conservative
Apr 2008 UKIP
2010 Rebecca Harris Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Castle Point[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rebecca Harris 33,971 76.7 +9.4
Labour Katie Curtis 7,337 16.6 -8.5
Liberal Democrats John Howson 2,969 6.7 +4.4
Majority 26,634 60.1 +17.9
Turnout 44,277 63.6 -0.8
Conservative hold Swing +9.0

This was the largest Conservative vote share at the 2019 general election.[10]

General election 2017: Castle Point[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rebecca Harris 30,076 67.3 +16.4
Labour Joseph Cooke 11,204 25.1 +11.3
UKIP David Kurten 2,381 5.3 −25.9
Liberal Democrats Tom Holder 1,049 2.3 +0.5
Majority 18,872 42.2 +22.5
Turnout 44,710 64.4 −2.3
Conservative hold Swing +2.6
See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Castle Point
General election 2015: Castle Point[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rebecca Harris 23,112 50.9 +6.9
UKIP Jamie Huntman [14] 14,178 31.2 New
Labour Joe Cooke [15] 6,283 13.8 −0.9
Green Dom Ellis[16] 1,076 2.4 New
Liberal Democrats Sereena Davey [17] 801 1.8 −7.6
Majority 8,934 19.7 +2.7
Turnout 45,450 66.7 −0.2
Conservative hold Swing −24.3
General election 2010: Castle Point[18][19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rebecca Harris 19,806 44.0 −4.3
Independent Save Our Green Belt Bob Spink 12,174 27.0 New
Labour Julian Ware-Lane 6,609 14.7 −15.7
Liberal Democrats Brendan D'Cruz 4,232 9.4 −0.9
BNP Philip Howell 2,205 4.9 New
Majority 7,632 17.0 +0.9
Turnout 45,026 66.9 +1.0
Conservative hold Swing -15.7

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Castle Point[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bob Spink 22,118 48.3 +3.7
Labour Luke Akehurst 13,917 30.4 −11.7
Liberal Democrats James Sandbach 4,719 10.3 +2.5
UKIP Neil Hamper 3,431 7.5 +4.3
Green Irene Willis 1,617 3.5 New
Majority 8,201 17.9 +15.4
Turnout 45,802 65.9 +7.5
Conservative hold Swing +7.7
General election 2001: Castle Point[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bob Spink 17,738 44.6 +4.5
Labour Christine Butler 16,753 42.1 −0.3
Liberal Democrats Billy Boulton 3,116 7.8 −1.4
UKIP Ronald Hurrell 1,273 3.2 New
Independent Douglas Roberts 663 1.7 New
Truth Party Nik Searle 223 0.6 New
Majority 985 2.5 N/A
Turnout 39,766 58.4 −13.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +2.4

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Castle Point[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christine Butler 20,605 42.4 +18.4
Conservative Bob Spink 19,462 40.1 −15.5
Liberal Democrats Michael Baker 4,477 9.2 −10.0
Referendum Hugh Maulkin 2,700 5.6 New
Independent Linda Kendall 1,301 2.7 New
Majority 1,143 2.3 N/A
Turnout 48,545 72.1 -8.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +17.0
General election 1992: Castle Point[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bob Spink 29,629 55.6 −4.3
Labour David Flack 12,799 24.0 +5.0
Liberal Democrats Allan Petchey 10,208 19.2 −1.9
Green Irene Willis 643 1.2 New
Majority 16,830 31.6 −7.2
Turnout 53,279 80.4 +5.9
Conservative hold Swing −4.7

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: Castle Point[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bernard Braine 29,681 59.9 +1.4
SDP Anne Bastow 10,433 21.1 −3.7
Labour William Deal 9,422 19.0 +2.3
Majority 19,248 38.8 +5.1
Turnout 49,536 74.5 +3.2
Conservative hold Swing +2.6
General election 1983: Castle Point[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bernard Braine 26,730 58.5
SDP Anne Bastow 11,313 24.8
Labour Lynne Cunningham 7,621 16.7
Majority 15,417 33.7
Turnout 45,664 71.3
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references
Notes
  1. A borough 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.
References
  1. "Castle Point: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  2. "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.
  3. "Ex-Tory MP Spink defects to UKIP". BBC News. 22 April 2008.
  4. "Tory? UKIP? Now I'm just an inde says MP Bob". Echo. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  5. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  6. Kelly, Jon (June 27, 2016). "Was there a Brexit graduate gap?" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  7. "Castle Point 1983-". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
  9. "Castle Point Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  10. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf
  11. "Castle Point". Election 2017. BBC News. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. "Castle Point parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. "Cllr Jamie Huntman". UKIP Essex. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  15. "UK ELECTION RESULTS: CASTLE POINT 2015".
  16. "Candidates". Eastern Green Party. Archived from the original on 2015-03-11. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  17. "List of selected candidates". Liberal Democrats. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  18. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  19. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-05-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Castle Point". BBC News.
  21. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  26. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Cardiff South and Penarth		 Constituency represented by the Father of the House
1987–1992		 Succeeded by
Old Bexley and Sidcup

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