Castle Point (UK Parliament constituency)

Castle Point
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Castle Point in Essex.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
Population	88,011 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	64,562 (December 2010)[2]
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Rebecca Harris (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	South East Essex
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

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

History

This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of South East Essex. Covering the area of Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley and in all but one election 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 the United Kingdom Independence Party^[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.

Boundaries

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England has created a Castle Point constituency based entirely within the boundaries of the district council of the same name. The seat is one of only a very few to undergo 1990s and 2000s boundary reviews without any changes at all, 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.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[6][7]	Party
	1983	Sir Bernard Braine	Conservative
	1992	Bob Spink	Conservative
	1997	Christine Butler	Labour
	2001	Bob Spink	Conservative
	Apr 2008		UKIP
	Nov 2008		Independent
	2010	Rebecca Harris	Conservative
	2015

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Castle Point^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	23,112	50.9	+6.9
	UKIP	Jamie Huntman [10]	14,178	31.2	+31.2
	Labour	Joe Cooke [11]	6,283	13.8	−0.9
	Green	Dom Ellis[12]	1,076	2.4	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Sereena Davey [13]	801	1.8	−7.6
Majority			8,934	19.7	+2.7
Turnout			45,450	66.7	−0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Castle Point^[14][15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	19,806	44.0	−4.3
	Independent Save Our Green Belt	Bob Spink	12,174	27.0	N/A
	Labour	Julian G.S. Ware-Lane	6,609	14.7	−15.7
	Liberal Democrat	Brendan T. D'Cruz	4,232	9.4	−0.9
	BNP	Philip D. Howell	2,205	4.9	N/A
Majority			7,632	17.0
Turnout			45,026	66.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Castle Point^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bob Spink	22,118	48.3	+3.7
	Labour	Luke Akehurst	13,917	30.4	−11.7
	Liberal Democrat	James P.C. Sandbach	4,719	10.3	+2.5
	UKIP	Neil D. Hamper	3,431	7.5	+4.3
	Green	Mrs Irene L. Willis	1,617	3.5	N/A
Majority			8,201	17.9
Turnout			45,802	65.9	+7.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.7

General Election 2001: Castle Point^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bob Spink	17,738	44.6	+4.5
	Labour	Christine Butler	16,753	42.1	−0.3
	Liberal Democrat	Billy Boulton	3,116	7.8	−1.4
	UKIP	Ronald Hurrell	1,273	3.2	N/A
	Independent	Douglas Charles Roberts	663	1.7	−1.0
	Truth Party	Nik Searle	223	0.6	N/A
Majority			985	2.5
Turnout			39,766	58.4	−13.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Castle Point^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Christine Butler	20,605	42.4	+18.4
	Conservative	Bob Spink	19,462	40.1	−15.5
	Liberal Democrat	Michael David Baker	4,477	9.2	−9.9
	Referendum	Hugh Alexander Maulkin	2,700	5.6	N/A
	Independent	Miss Linda Diana Margaret Kendall	1,301	2.7	N/A
Majority			1,143	2.3
Turnout			48,545	72.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1992: Castle Point^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bob Spink	29,629	55.6	−4.3
	Labour	David Frederick Leonard Flack	12,799	24.0	+5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Allan Raymond Kenneth Petchey	10,208	19.2	−1.9
	Green	Mrs Irene Lilian Willis	643	1.2	N/A
Majority			16,830	31.6	−7.3
Turnout			53,279	80.4	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Castle Point^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bernard Braine	29,681	59.9	+1.4
	Social Democratic	Miss Anne Penelope Bastow	10,433	21.1	−3.7
	Labour	William Albert Deal	9,422	19.0	+2.3
Majority			19,248	38.8
Turnout			49,536	74.5	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Castle Point^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bernard Braine	26,730	58.5	N/A
	Social Democratic	Miss Anne Penelope Bastow	11,313	24.8	N/A
	Labour	Miss Lynne Cunningham	7,621	16.7	N/A
Majority			15,417	33.7	N/A
Turnout			45,664	71.3	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

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. http://www.echo-news.co.uk/search/4179128.Tory__UKIP__Now_I_m_just_an_inde_says_MP_Bob
5. 2001 Census
6. "Castle Point 1983-". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
8. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
9. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000622
10. "Cllr Jamie Huntman". UKIP Essex. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
11. http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/castle-point-2015.html
12. "Candidates". Eastern Green Party. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
13. "List of selected candidates". Liberal Democrats. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. http://www.castlepoint.gov.uk/documents/Electoral%20Services%2Felections%2Epdf
16. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Castle Point". BBC News.
17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
22. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Castle Point — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

Coordinates: 51°32′N 0°34′E / 51.54°N 0.57°E