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The county of Essex (which includes the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock) is divided into 18 parliamentary constituencies (sub-classified into six of borough type and twelve of county status affecting the level of expenses permitted and status of returning officer). The county saw the majority of its population and seats removed on the creation of the county of Greater London in 1965. Since then, the Conservatives have won a majority of the seats in the revised county, with all of Essex's seats being won by Conservative MPs by more than 50% of the vote at the 2019 United Kingdom general election.

Constituencies[edit]

  Conservative†   Labour‡   Liberal Democrat¤

Constituency[nb 1] Electorate[1] Majority[2][nb 2] Majority
(percentage)
Member of Parliament[2] Nearest opposition[2] Map
Basildon and Billericay BC 69,906 20,412 46.3%   John Baron   Andrew Gorgon ‡
Braintree CC 75,208 24,673 49.1%   James Cleverly   Joshua Garfield ‡
Brentwood and Ongar CC 75,255 29,065 54.9%   Alex Burghart   Oliver Durose ‡
Castle Point BC 69,608 26,634 60.1%   Rebecca Harris   Katie Curtis ‡
Chelmsford BC 80,394 17,621 30.8%   Vicky Ford   Marie Goldman ¤
Clacton CC 70,930 24,702 56.8%   Giles Watling   Kevin Bonavia‡
Colchester BC 82,625 9,423 17.6%   Will Quince   Tina McKay ‡
Epping Forest CC 74,304 22,173 44.1%   Eleanor Laing   Vicky Ashworth Te Velde ‡
Harlow CC 68,078 14,063 32.5%   Robert Halfon   Laura McAlpine ‡
Harwich and North Essex CC 74,153 20,182 38.9%   Bernard Jenkin   Stephen Rice ‡
Maldon CC 72,438 30,041 59.6%   John Whittingdale   Stephen Capper ‡
Rayleigh and Wickford CC 78,930 31,000 56.5%   Mark Francois   David Flack ‡
Rochford and Southend East CC 75,624 12,286 26.7%   James Duddridge   Ashley Dalton ‡
Saffron Walden CC 87,017 27,594 43.8%   Kemi Badenoch   Mike Hibbs ¤
South Basildon and East Thurrock CC 74,441 19,922 44.0%   Stephen Metcalfe   Jack Ferguson ‡
Southend West BC 69,043 12,280 82.7%   Anna Firth   Jason Pilley
Thurrock BC 79,659 11,482 24.4%   Jackie Doyle-Price   John Kent ‡
Witham CC 70,402 24,082 48.8%   Priti Patel   Martin Edobor ‡

2010 boundary changes[edit]

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England increased Essex's representation from 17 to 18 MPs, with the creation of the constituency of Witham. This had a significant impact on the boundaries of the majority of the existing constituencies and also resulted in several name changes.

Former name Boundaries 1997-2010 Current name Boundaries 2010–present
  1. Basildon BC
  2. Billericay CC
  3. Braintree CC
  4. Brentwood and Ongar CC
  5. Castle Point BC
  6. Colchester BC
  7. Epping Forest CC
  8. Harlow CC
  9. Harwich CC
  10. Maldon and East Chelmsford CC
  11. North Essex CC
  12. Rayleigh CC
  13. Rochford and Southend East CC
  14. Saffron Walden CC
  15. Southend West BC
  16. Thurrock BC
  17. West Chelmsford CC
  1. Basildon and Billericay BC
  2. Braintree CC
  3. Brentwood and Ongar CC
  4. Castle Point BC
  5. Chelmsford BC
  6. Clacton CC
  7. Colchester BC
  8. Epping Forest CC
  9. Harlow CC
  10. Harwich and North Essex CC
  11. Maldon CC
  12. Rayleigh and Wickford CC
  13. Rochford and Southend East CC
  14. Saffron Walden CC
  15. South Basildon and East Thurrock CC
  16. Southend West BC
  17. Thurrock BC
  18. Witham CC

Proposed boundary changes[edit]

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.[3] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission has proposed retaining the current number of constituencies in Essex, as detailed below, with minor boundary changes to reflect changes to electoral wards within the county and to bring the electorates within the statutory range. It is proposed that Southend West be renamed Southend West and Leigh, and Rochford and Southend East renamed Southend East and Rochford to acknowledge that Southend-on-Sea had achieved city status during the course of the review.[4] In addition, Saffron Walden will be abolished and replaced with North West Essex.

The proposed constituencies are a follows: [5][6]

Containing electoral wards from Basildon

Containing electoral wards from Braintree

Containing electoral wards from Brentwood

Containing electoral wards from Castle Point

  • Castle Point (part)

Containing electoral wards from Chelmsford

Containing electoral wards from Colchester

Containing electoral wards from Epping Forest

Containing electoral wards from Harlow

  • Harlow (part)

Containing electoral wards from Maldon

  • Maldon (part)
  • Witham (part)

Containing electoral wards from Rochford

Containing electoral wards from Southend-on-Sea

Containing electoral wards from Tendring

  • Clacton
  • Harwich and North Essex (part)

Containing electoral wards from Thurrock

  • South Basildon and East Thurrock (part)
  • Thurrock

Containing electoral wards from Uttlesford

  • Braintree (part)
  • Harlow (part)
  • North West Essex (part)

Results history[edit]

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[7]

2019[edit]

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Essex in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party Votes % Change from 2017 Seats Change from 2017
Conservative 577,118 64.5% Increase6.0% 18 0
Labour 189,471 21.2% Decrease7.8% 0 0
Liberal Democrats 95,078 10.6% Increase4.8% 0 0
Greens 20,438 2.3% Increase0.8% 0 0
Others 12,502 1.4% Decrease3.8% 0 0
Total 894,607 100.0 18

Percentage votes[edit]

Election year 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative 40.3 40.9 52.5 51.9 54.1 53.9 40.3 42.8 46.0 49.2 50.3 58.5 64.5
Labour 32.9 35.2 28.9 17.8 18.9 23.5 36.4 34.7 28.9 18.6 18.4 29.0 21.2
Liberal Democrat1 26.7 23.8 17.7 29.7 26.6 21.7 18.2 16.7 19.1 21.3 6.7 5.8 10.6
Green Party - - - - * * * * * 1.0 3.0 1.5 2.3
UKIP - - - - - - * * * 4.1 20.5 4.6 *
Other - 0.1 0.9 0.6 0.3 1.0 5.0 5.8 6.0 5.8 1.1 0.6 1.4

11974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Seats[edit]

Election year 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative 11 11 12 15 16 15 10 11 13 17 17 18 18
Labour 3 3 2 1 0 1 6 5 3 0 0 0 0
Liberal Democrat1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
UKIP - - - - - - 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Total 14 14 14 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 18 18

11974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps[edit]

1885-1910[edit]

1918-1945[edit]

1950-1970[edit]

1974-present[edit]

Historical representation by party[edit]

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

Key: bulk or all of areas marked † form part of present-day Greater London.

1885 to 1918[edit]

  Conservative   Independent Labour   Independent Labour Party   Labour   Liberal   Liberal-Labour

Constituency 1885 1886 88 92 1892 93 94 95 1895 97 1900 01 1906 08 Jan 1910 Dec 1910 11 12 17
Chelmsford Beadel Usborne Rasch Pretyman
Colchester Trotter Greville Naylor-Leyland Pearson Worthington-Evans
Epping Selwin-Ibbetson Lockwood Colvin
Essex South East Makins Rasch Tufnell Whitehead Kirkwood Guinness
Harwich Round Lever Newton
Maldon Kitching Gray Dodd Strutt T. Bethell Flannery
Saffron Walden Gardner Gold Wodehouse Pease Proby Beck
Romford Westlake Theobald Money-Wigram Sinclair J. Bethell
Walthamstow Buxton Makins Byrne Woods Morgan Simon
West Ham North Cook Fulton Grove Gray Masterman de Forest
West Ham South Leicester Banes Hardie Banes Thorne

1918 to 1945[edit]

  British Socialist (1919-20) / Communist (1920-22)   Coalition Liberal (1918-22) / National Liberal (1922-23)   Coalition National Democratic & Labour   Common Wealth   Conservative   Constitutionalist   Independent   Labour   Liberal   National Liberal (1931-68)   National Socialist

Constituency 1918 18 19 20 21 1922 1923 1924 24 26 27 28 1929 31 1931 34 1935 37 40 42 45
Chelmsford Pretyman Robinson Curtis-Bennett Howard-Bury Henderson Macnamara Millington
Colchester Worthington-Evans Lewis
Epping Colvin Lyle Churchill
Essex South East Hilder Hoffman Looker Oldfield Raikes
Harwich Newton Hillary Rice Pybus Holmes
Maldon Flannery Ruggles-Brise Crittall Ruggles-Brise Driberg
Saffron Walden Beck Mitchell Butler
Southend R. Guinness G. Guinness H. Channon
Romford Martin Rhys Muggeridge Hutchison Parker
Walthamstow East Johnson Greenwood Wallace Beauchamp
Walthamstow West Jesson McEntee Crawfurd McEntee
Leyton East Malone Alexander Church Alexander Brockway Mills
Leyton West Wrightson Newbould Cassels Sorensen Sugden Sorensen
Silvertown Jones Hollins
Stratford Lyle Groves
East Ham North Bethell Crook Lawrence Crook Lawrence Mayhew
East Ham South Edwards Barnes Campbell-Jn Barnes
Ilford Griggs Wise Hamilton Hutchinson
Plaistow Thorne
Upton Wild Margesson Gardner Holt Gardner Chotzner Gardner

1945 to 1974[edit]

  Common Wealth   Conservative   Labour Independent Group (1949-50)   Labour   National Liberal (1931-68)

Constituency 1945 46 49 1950 1951 54 1955 56 57 59 1959 61 1964 1966 67 68 69 1970
Leyton East Bechervaise
Silvertown Comyns
Stratford Nicholls
Chelmsford Millington Ashton St John-Stevas
Colchester Smith Alport Buck
East Ham North Daines Prentice
East Ham South Barnes Oram
Epping Manning Davies Finlay Newens Tebbit
Essex South East Gunter Braine
Harwich Holmes Ridsdale
Ilford North Ridealgh Hutchinson Iremonger
Leyton West / Leyton (1950)† Sorensen
Maldon Driberg Harrison
Romford Macpherson Lockwood Ledger Leonard
Saffron Walden Butler
Southend / Southend W (1950) H. Channon P. Channon
Walthamstow E Wallace Harvey Robinson McNair-Wilson
Walthamstow W McEntee Attlee Redhead Silvester Deakins
West Ham S Elwyn Jones
West Ham N Lewis
Woodford / Woodford & Wanstead (1964)† Churchill Jenkin
Ilford South Ranger Cooper Shaw Thorne
Barking Hastings Driberg
Dagenham Parker
Hornchurch Bing Lagden Lee Williams Squire
Thurrock Solley Delargy
Southend East McAdden
Billericay Braine Body Gardner Moonman McCrindle
Chigwell Biggs-Davison

1974 to present[edit]

  Conservative   Independent   Labour   Liberal Democrats   UKIP

Constituency Feb 74 Oct 74 76 77 1979 80 1983 1987 88 1992 1997 2001 2005 08 08 2010 14 2015 17 2017 2019 22
Essex South East / Castle Point (1983) Braine Spink Butler Spink Harris
Colchester (1974–83, 1997-) / Colchester North (1983-97) Buck Jenkin Russell Quince
Epping Forest Biggs-Davison Norris Laing
Harlow Newens Hayes Rammell Halfon
Harwich / Clacton (2010) Ridsdale Sproat Henderson Carswell Watling
Maldon (74-83, 2010-) / S Colchester & Maldon (83-97)
/ Maldon & East Chelmsford (1997)
Wakeham Whittingdale
Southend East / Rochford & Southend East (1997) McAdden Taylor Duddridge
Saffron Walden Kirk Haselhurst Badenoch
Southend West Channon Amess Firth
Thurrock Delargy McDonald Janman MacKinlay Doyle-Price
Chelmsford (1974-97, 2010-) / West Chelmsford (1997-2010) St John-Stevas Burns Ford
Billericay / Basildon & Billericay (2010) Proctor Gorman Baron
Basildon / South Basildon & East Thurrock (2010) Moonman Proctor Amess Smith Metcalfe
Braintree Newton Hurst Newmark Cleverly
Brentwood and Ongar McCrindle Pickles Burghart
Rochford / Rayleigh (1997) / Rayleigh & Wickford (2010) Clark Francois
North Essex / Harwich & North Essex (2010) Jenkin
Witham Patel

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. ^ The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ^ "2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  4. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – Eastern | Boundary Commission for England | Page 5". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. para 379. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Parliamentary constituency changes affect Norfolk/Suffolk border". BBC News. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  6. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. paras 321-386. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  7. ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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