Witham (UK Parliament constituency)

Witham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Priti Patel, a Conservative who became the Home Secretary in July 2019, in the Johnson ministry.

Witham
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Witham in Essex
Location of Essex within England
CountyEssex
Electorate67,451 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsHatfield Peverel, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, White Notley, Witham
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentPriti Patel (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromBraintree, Maldon and East Chelmsford, North Essex, Colchester

History

The seat was created for the 2010 general election following a review of the Parliamentary representation of Essex by the Boundary Commission for England which resulted in radical alterations to existing constituencies to allow for an extra seat to be created due to increased population. As a consequence, the new seat of Witham was created which included parts of the constituencies of Braintree, Colchester, North Essex, and Maldon and East Chelmsford.

Boundaries

The District of Braintree wards, which comprised approximately half the electorate, were transferred from the Braintree constituency; the District of Maldon wards from the abolished constituency of Maldon and Chelmsford East; and the Borough of Colchester wards from the abolished constituency of North Essex, except for Stanway ward which had been in the Colchester constituency.

Constituency profile

Witham is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, although the town of Witham within it is the only area of real Labour strength in the region, being represented by one District Councillor alongside seven Conservative Councillors.

Witham itself is an industrial town, on the Great Eastern main line railway from London to Norwich, with some heavy industry and London commuter belt residential areas – the strength of the Labour vote here was just enough to turn the former Braintree seat red in 1997, and in 2001, on the previous boundaries.

However, the town is small, and the Witham seat extends to cover a huge part of rural central Essex, with affluent commuter villages and farming communities that show high levels of Conservative support.

Members of Parliament
Parliament Years Member[3] Party Notes
Constituency created from Braintree, Maldon and East Chelmsford, North Essex and Colchester
55th 2010–2015 Priti Patel Conservative Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (2014 to 2015)

Secretary of State for International Development (July 2016 to November 2017)

Home Secretary (July 2019 to present)

56th 2015–2017
57th 2017–2019
58th 2019–present

Elections
General election 2019: Witham[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Priti Patel 32,876 66.6 2.3
Labour Martin Edobor 8,794 17.8 8.6
Liberal Democrats Sam North 4,584 9.3 3.8
Green James Abbott 3,090 6.3 2.6
Majority 24,082 48.8 10.9
Turnout 49,344 70.1 1.4
Conservative hold Swing 5.5
General election 2017: Witham[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Priti Patel 31,670 64.3 6.8
Labour Phil Barlow 13,024 26.4 10.6
Liberal Democrats Josephine Hayes 2,715 5.5 0.6
Green James Abbott 1,832 3.7 0.6
Majority 18,646 37.9 3.6
Turnout 49,400 71.5 1.2
Conservative hold Swing 1.9
General election 2015: Witham[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Priti Patel 27,123 57.5 5.3
UKIP Garry Cockrill[7] 7,569 16.0 9.5
Labour John Clarke 7,467 15.8 2.7
Liberal Democrats Josephine Hayes 2,891 6.1 13.7
Green James Abbott[8] 2,038 4.3 1.3
CPA Doreen Scrimshaw[9] 80 0.2 New
Majority 19,554 41.5 9.1
Turnout 47,168 70.3 0.1
Conservative hold Swing 9.5
General election 2010: Witham[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Priti Patel 24,448 52.2 2.5
Liberal Democrats Margaret Phelps 9,252 19.8 4.6
Labour John Spademan 8,656 18.5 13.9
UKIP David Hodges 3,060 6.5 New
Green James Abbott 1,419 3.0 New
Majority 15,196 32.4 N/A
Turnout 46,835 70.2 6.6
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references
  1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
  4. "Witham Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  5. Daynes, Steve. "Parliamentary Election Results". www.braintree.gov.uk.
  6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. http://meetyournextmp.com/area/287-witham/humans
  8. http://witham-braintree.greenparty.org.uk/news/2014-11-19-candidates.html
  9. "CPA Candidates for the General Election". Christian Peoples Alliance. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

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