Maidstone and The Weald (UK Parliament constituency)
Maidstone and The Weald | |
---|---|
Formercounty constituency for theHouse of Commons | |
County | Kent |
Electorate | 70,576 (December 2010)[1] |
Major settlements | Maidstone,StaplehurstandCranbrook |
1997–2024 | |
Seats | One |
Created from | Maidstone,Mid Kent,Tunbridge Wells |
Replaced by | Maidstone and Malling |
Maidstone and The Wealdwas aconstituency[n 1]inKentrepresented in theHouse of Commonsof theUK Parliament.From the2010 general electionit was represented byHelen Grantof theConservative Party.She succeeded fellow party memberAnn Widdecombe,who had held the seat since it was created for the1997 general election.
Further to the completion of the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies,the seat was abolished. Subject to boundary changes - losing southern, rural areas ( "The Weald" ) to the newly created constituency ofWeald of Kent,and gaining parts of theBorough of Tonbridge and Malling,including the town ofWest Malling,it will be reformed asMaidstone and Malling,to be first contested in the2024 general election.[2]
Boundaries
[edit]1997–2010:The Borough of Maidstone wards of Allington, Barming, Boughton Monchelsea, Bridge, Coxheath, East, Farleigh, Heath, High Street, Loose, Marden, North, South, Staplehurst, Yalding; and the Borough of Tunbridge Wells wards of Benenden, Cranbrook, Frittenden and Sissinghurst, Hawkhurst, Sandhurst.
2010–2024:The Borough of Maidstone wards of Allington, Barming, Bridge, Coxheath and Hunton, East, Fant, Heath, High Street, Loose, Marden and Yalding, North, South, Staplehurst; and the Borough of Tunbridge Wells wards of Benenden and Cranbrook, Frittenden and Sissinghurst.
The largest settlement was the centralcounty townofMaidstoneinKentin southeastEngland,with smaller settlements spread throughout agriculture-richMaidstoneborough and partly woodedTunbridge Wellsborough.
History
[edit]The constituency was created for the1997 general election,after the previousMaidstoneconstituency was split in two: its southeast wards of Shepway andPark Woodof the town itself and the rural wards east of the town joinedFavershamin the newFaversham and Mid Kentconstituency. The remaining two-thirds of the electorate in west-central Maidstone were reunited with the town wards that had been lost in 1983 toMid Kent(which was abolished), as well as joined by a rural part of the Weald to the south of the town, previously in theTunbridge Wellsconstituency.
- History of members
TheMember of Parliament(MP) for the seat from its creation in 1997 was Ann Widdecombe of the Conservative Party. Widdecombe was the MP for the former seat of Maidstone (1987–1997); she served as aHome OfficeMinister of State in thegovernmentofJohn Majorfrom 1995 to 1997 and later as Shadow Home Secretary from 1999 to 2001. She stood down at the 2010 general election and was succeeded by Helen Grant, also a member of the Conservative Party.
Constituency profile
[edit]Most of the electorate live in urban Maidstone, which has some light industry but whose economy is increasingly dominated by the service sector (including care, hospitality and insurance). The south of the constituency is rural with significant orchards and market gardens. Many residents commute daily toLondon.To summarise this is an urban-rural seat in a prosperous part of Kent.[3]
Members of Parliament
[edit]Election | Member[4] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Ann Widdecombe | Conservative | |
2010 | Helen Grant | Conservative |
Elections
[edit]Elections in the 2010s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Helen Grant | 31,220 | 60.4 | +4.0 | |
Labour | Dan Wilkinson | 9,448 | 18.3 | −3.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | James Willis | 8,482 | 16.4 | 0.0 | |
Green | Stuart Jeffery | 2,172 | 4.2 | +2.5 | |
Independent | Yolande Kenward | 358 | 0.7 | +0.4 | |
Majority | 21,772 | 42.1 | +7.8 | ||
Turnout | 51,680 | 67.9 | −0.7 | ||
Conservativehold | Swing | +3.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Helen Grant | 29,156 | 56.4 | +10.9 | |
Labour | Allen Simpson | 11,433 | 22.1 | +11.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Emily Fermor | 8,455 | 16.4 | −7.7 | |
UKIP | Pamela Watts | 1,613 | 3.1 | −12.8 | |
Green | Stuart Jeffery | 888 | 1.7 | −1.1 | |
Independent | Yolande Kenward | 172 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 17,704 | 34.3 | +12.9 | ||
Turnout | 51,717 | 68.6 | +0.3 | ||
Conservativehold | Swing | -0.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Helen Grant | 22,745 | 45.5 | −2.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jasper Gerard | 12,036 | 24.1 | −11.9 | |
UKIP | Eddie Powell | 7,930 | 15.9 | +12.6 | |
Labour | Allen Simpson | 5,268 | 10.5 | +0.8 | |
Green | Hannah Patton | 1,396 | 2.8 | +1.5 | |
NHA | Paul Hobday | 583 | 1.2 | New | |
Independent | Robin Kinrade | 52 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 10,709 | 21.4 | +9.4 | ||
Turnout | 50,010 | 68.3 | −0.6 | ||
Conservativehold | Swing | +4.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Helen Grant | 23,491 | 48.0 | −3.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Peter Carroll | 17,602 | 36.0 | +13.8 | |
Labour | Rav Seeruthun | 4,769 | 9.7 | −12.6 | |
UKIP | Gareth A. Kendal | 1,637 | 3.3 | +0.3 | |
Green | Stuart R. Jeffery | 655 | 1.3 | +0.4 | |
National Front | Gary Butler | 643 | 1.3 | New | |
Christian | Heidi A. Simmonds | 131 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 5,889 | 12.0 | −18.5 | ||
Turnout | 48,928 | 68.9 | +3.1 | ||
Conservativehold | Swing | −8.5 |
Elections in the 2000s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ann Widdecombe | 25,670 | 52.7 | +3.1 | |
Labour | Elizabeth Breeze | 10,814 | 22.2 | −4.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark Corney | 10,808 | 22.2 | +2.3 | |
UKIP | Anthony 'Felix' Robertson | 1,463 | 3.0 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 14,856 | 30.5 | +7.9 | ||
Turnout | 48,755 | 65.8 | +4.2 | ||
Conservativehold | Swing | +3.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ann Widdecombe | 22,621 | 49.6 | +5.5 | |
Labour | Mark Davis | 12,303 | 27.0 | +0.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Allison Wainman | 9,064 | 19.9 | −2.5 | |
UKIP | John Botting | 978 | 2.1 | +1.5 | |
Independent | Neil Hunt | 611 | 1.3 | New | |
Majority | 10,318 | 22.6 | +4.7 | ||
Turnout | 45,577 | 61.6 | −12.1 | ||
Conservativehold | Swing |
Elections in the 1990s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ann Widdecombe | 23,657 | 44.1 | ||
Labour | John Morgan | 14,054 | 26.2 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Jane Nelson | 11,986 | 22.4 | ||
Referendum | Sarah Hopkins | 1,998 | 3.7 | ||
Socialist Labour | Maureen Cleator | 979 | 1.8 | ||
Green | Penelope Kemp | 480 | 0.9 | ||
UKIP | Ruth Owens | 339 | 0.6 | ||
Natural Law | John Oldbury | 115 | 0.2 | ||
Majority | 9,603 | 17.9 | |||
Turnout | 53,608 | 73.7 | |||
Conservativewin(new seat) |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^Acounty constituency(for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
References
[edit]- ^"Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England".2011 Electorate Figures.Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 6 November 2010.Retrieved13 March2011.
- ^"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South East | Boundary Commission for England".boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk.Retrieved31 July2023.
- ^"Maidstone and The Weald: Constituency".The Guardian.Archived fromthe originalon 27 December 2013.Retrieved7 July2021.
- ^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)
- ^"Maidstone & The Weald Parliamentary constituency".BBC News.Retrieved26 November2019.
- ^"Parliamentary Election - Thursday 8th June, 2017".maidstone.gov.uk.Retrieved11 November2019.
- ^"Election Data 2015".Electoral Calculus.Archived fromthe originalon 17 October 2015.Retrieved17 October2015.
- ^"Maidstone & The Weald parliamentary constituency - Election 2019"– via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^"Election Data 2010".Electoral Calculus.Archived fromthe originalon 26 July 2013.Retrieved17 October2015.
- ^"BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Maidstone & The Weald".news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^"Election Data 2005".Electoral Calculus.Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2011.Retrieved18 October2015.
- ^"BBC NEWS | Election 2005 | Results | Maidstone & The Weald".news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^"Election Data 2001".Electoral Calculus.Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2011.Retrieved18 October2015.
- ^ab"BBC NEWS | VOTE 2001 | RESULTS & CONSTITUENCIES | Maidstone & The Weald".news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^"Election Data 1997".Electoral Calculus.Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2011.Retrieved18 October2015.
- ^"Maidstone and the Weald".Archived fromthe originalon 3 June 2012.Retrieved7 July2021.
Sources
[edit]- T. H. B. Oldfield,The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland(London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
- Robert Waller,TheAlmanac of British Politics(1st edition, London: Croom Helm, 1983; 5th edition, London: Routledge, 1996)
- Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London:Royal Historical Society,1979)
External links
[edit]- Maidstone and the Weald UK Parliament constituency(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) atMapIt UK
- Maidstone and The Weald UK Parliament constituency(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) atMapIt UK