Castle Point (UK Parliament constituency)

Castle Point
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Castle Point in the East of England
County	Essex
Population	88,011 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	70,923 (2023) [2]
Major settlements	Canvey Island, South Benfleet, Hadleigh
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Rebecca Harris (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	South East Essex

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

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. ^[3]

Of all the constituencies of the UK, it has one of the lowest levels of graduates. ^[4]

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, ^[5] but resigned the whip shortly afterwards and sat as an Independent MP. ^[6] In the 2010 election, Spink lost in Castle Point to the Conservative candidate, Rebecca Harris.

At the 2017 election Castle Point had the largest Conservative majority, at 42.2%, of any constituency to have elected a Labour MP in the 1997–2010 government. This was increased even further, to 60.1%, at the 2019 election.

Boundaries

1983–2024

Since its creation in 1983 until the 2024 general election, the Castle Point constituency was 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.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was expanded slightly to meet the electorate size requirements, with the transfer in from South Basildon and East Thurrock of polling district DN of the Pitsea South East ward in the Borough of Basildon - equivalent to the civil parish of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet. ^[7]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [8] [9]	Party
	1983	Sir Bernard Braine	Conservative
	1992	Bob Spink	Conservative
	1997	Christine Butler	Labour
	2001	Bob Spink	Conservative
	April 2008		UKIP
	November 2008		Independent
	2010	Rebecca Harris	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Castle Point ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	15,485	38.1	−38.4
	Reform UK	Keiron McGill [11]	12,234	30.1	N/A
	Labour	Mark Maguire [12]	9,455	23.3	+6.5
	Green	Bob Chapman [13]	2,118	5.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	James Willis	1,341	3.3	−3.3
Majority			3,251	8.0	−52.1
Turnout			40,633	57.6	–6.2
Registered electors			70,552 [14]
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result [15]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	34,611	76.5
	Labour	7,602	16.8
	Liberal Democrats	3,004	6.6
Turnout		45,217	63.8
Electorate		70,923

General election 2019: Castle Point ^{[16] [17]}

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. ^[17]

General election 2017: Castle Point ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	30,076	67.3	+16.4
	Labour	Joe 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 ^{[20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	23,112	50.9	+6.9
	UKIP	Jamie Huntman [22]	14,178	31.2	New
	Labour	Joe Cooke [23]	6,283	13.8	−0.9
	Green	Dom Ellis [24]	1,076	2.4	New
	Liberal Democrats	Sereena Davey [25]	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 ^{[26] [27] [28]}

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 ^[29]

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 ^[30]

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 ^[31]

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 ^{[32] [33]}

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 ^[34]

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 ^[35]

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

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex

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. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – Eastern". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
3. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
4. Kelly, Jon (27 June 2016). "Was there a Brexit graduate gap?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
5. "Ex-Tory MP Spink defects to UKIP". BBC News. 22 April 2008. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
6. "Tory? UKIP? Now I'm just an inde says MP Bob". Echo. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
8. "Castle Point 1983-". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
10. https://www.castlepoint.gov.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n8183.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
11. "Find My PPC (Eastern England)" (PDF). Reform UK . Retrieved 15 December 2023.
12. Labour East [@EofELabour] (13 May 2024). "Congratulations, Mark Maguire, Labour's Parliamentary candidate for Castle Point!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
13. "Our Candidates" . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
14. "Castle Point | General Election 2024 | Sky News".
15. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament . Retrieved 11 July 2024.
16. "Castle Point Parliamentary constituency". BBC News . Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
17. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
18. "Castle Point". Election 2017. BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
19. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
20. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
21. "Castle Point parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019– via www.bbc.co.uk.
22. "Cllr Jamie Huntman". UKIP Essex. 12 July 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
23. "UK ELECTION RESULTS: CASTLE POINT 2015". Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
24. "Candidates". Eastern Green Party. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
25. "List of selected candidates". Liberal Democrats. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
26. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
27. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
28. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Castle Point". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
29. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
30. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
31. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
32. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
33. "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 6 December 2010.
34. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
35. "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.
• Castle Point UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Castle Point UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Castle Point UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

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

51°32′N0°34′E / 51.54°N 0.57°E / 51.54; 0.57