Faversham and Mid Kent

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Faversham and Mid Kent
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Faversham and Mid Kent
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
South East England - Faversham and Mid Kent constituency.svg
Boundary of Faversham and Mid Kent in South East England
County Kent
Electorate 71,798 (2023) [1]
Major settlements
Current constituency
Created 1997
Member of Parliament Helen Whately (Conservative)
SeatsOne
Created from

Faversham and Mid Kent is a constituency [n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2015, the seat has been held by Helen Whately of the Conservative Party. [n 2]

Contents

Constituency profile

Faversham and Mid Kent is a rural constituency located in Kent. Its largest settlement is the town of Faversham, which has a population of around 23,000. [2] Other settlements include some eastern suburbs of the town of Maidstone (Weavering, Bearsted and Shepway) and the villages of Lenham and Teynham. Faversham is a historic market town traditionally known for its explosives industry. The constituency contains Leeds Castle, a popular tourist site. Wealth in the constituency is divided; Faversham has average levels of deprivation, Shepway is more deprived and Weavering and Bearsted are affluent. [3] House prices are marginally higher than the national average. [4]

In general, residents of the constituency are older and have low levels of education. Household income is in line with the rest of South East England and high compared to the rest of the country. White people made up 94% of the population at the 2021 census. [4] At the local council level, Faversham is mostly represented by Liberal Democrats, the Maidstone suburbs by the Labour Party and the rural areas by a mixture of Greens, Conservatives and independents. An estimated 59% of voters in Faversham and Mid Kent supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the nationwide figure of 52%. [4]

History

In 1997, the Faversham and Mid Kent constituency was formed when the previous Faversham seat was abolished and split into Sittingbourne and Sheppey and the town of Faversham which was then merged with Mid Kent to form this constituency.

It has been held by members of the Conservative Party throughout its existence.

Boundaries

Faversham and Mid Kent
Map of boundaries 2010–2024

1997–2010: The Borough of Swale wards of Abbey, Boughton & Courtenay, Davington Priory, East Downs, St Ann's, Teynham and Lynsted, and Watling, and the Borough of Maidstone wards of Bearsted, Boxley, Detling, Harrietsham and Lenham, Headcorn, Hollingbourne, Langley, Leeds, Park Wood, Shepway East, Shepway West, Sutton Valence, and Thurnham.

The boundary change in 1997 caused some confusion among a large minority of residents of the Maidstone electoral wards as a constituency named Maidstone and The Weald was also created at the same time (largely replacing the former Maidstone constituency), but residents in the Shepway and Park Wood areas of the town found themselves in Faversham and Mid Kent instead. [5]

2010–2024: The Borough of Swale wards of Abbey, Boughton and Courtenay, Davington Priory, East Downs, St Ann's, and Watling, and the Borough of Maidstone wards of Bearsted, Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton, Boxley, Detling and Thurnham, Downswood and Otham, Harrietsham and Lenham, Headcorn, Leeds, North Downs, Park Wood, Shepway North, Shepway South, and Sutton Valence and Langley.

2024–present: Under the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was defined as comprising the following, as they existed on 1 December 2020:

The Swale wards of Teynham and Lynstead, and West Downs were transferred in from Sittingbourne and Sheppey, offset by the loss of the Maidstone wards of Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton, Headcorn, and Sutton Valence and Langley to the new constituency of Weald of Kent.

Following a local government boundary review in Maidstone [7] which came into effect in May 2024, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [9] Party
1997 Andrew Rowe Conservative
2001 Sir Hugh Robertson Conservative
2015 Helen Whately Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Faversham and Mid Kent [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Helen Whately 14,816 31.8 −30.8
Labour Mel Dawkins13,34728.6+8.8
Reform Maxwell Harrison9,88421.2New
Green Hannah Temple4,2189.1+5.0
Liberal Democrats Hannah Perkin4,1588.9−3.6
British Democrats Lawrence Rustem1710.4New
Majority 1,4693.2−39.6
Turnout 46,59462.7−4.5
Registered electors 74,301
Conservative hold Swing −19.8

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result [11]
PartyVote%
Conservative 30,18762.6
Labour 9,56919.8
Liberal Democrats 6,01112.5
Green 1,9744.1
Others4741.0
Turnout48,21567.2
Electorate71,798
General election 2019: Faversham and Mid Kent [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Helen Whately 31,864 63.2 +2.1
Labour Jenny Reeves9,88819.6−6.5
Liberal Democrats Hannah Perkin6,17012.2+5.7
Green Hannah Temple2,1034.2+1.3
Independent Gary Butler3690.7New
Majority 21,97643.6+8.6
Turnout 50,39468.7−0.2
Conservative hold Swing +4.3
General election 2017: Faversham and Mid Kent
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Helen Whately 30,390 61.1 +6.7
Labour Michael Desmond12,97726.1+9.9
Liberal Democrats David Naghi3,2496.5−0.1
UKIP Mark McGiffin1,7023.4−14.6
Green Alastair Gould1,4312.9−1.0
Majority 17,41335.0−1.4
Turnout 49,74968.9+3.0
Conservative hold Swing −1.6
General election 2015: Faversham and Mid Kent [13] [14]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Helen Whately [15] 24,895 54.4 −1.8
UKIP Peter Edwards-Daem8,24318.0+14.3
Labour Michael Desmond7,40316.2−0.4
Liberal Democrats David Naghi3,0396.6−13.1
Green Tim Valentine1,7683.9+2.0
Monster Raving Loony Hairy Knorm Davidson [16] 2970.6−0.2
English Democrat Gary Butler1580.3New
Majority 16,65236.4−0.2
Turnout 45,80365.9−1.9
Conservative hold Swing −8.1
General election 2010: Faversham and Mid Kent [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Hugh Robertson 26,250 56.2 +6.1
Liberal Democrats David Naghi9,16219.6+2.9
Labour Ashok Rehal7,74816.6−12.5
UKIP Sarah Larkins1,7223.7+1.0
Green Tim Valentine8901.9New
National Front Graham Kemp [18] 5421.2New
Monster Raving Loony Hairy Knorm Davidson3980.9−0.6
Majority 17,08836.6+16.6
Turnout 46,71267.8+2.6
Conservative hold Swing +1.6

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Faversham and Mid Kent [19]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Hugh Robertson 21,690 49.7 +4.1
Labour Andrew Bradstock12,97029.7−5.8
Liberal Democrats David Naghi7,20416.5+3.0
UKIP Robert Thompson1,1522.6+0.6
Monster Raving Loony Norman Davidson6101.4New
Majority 8,72020.0+9.9
Turnout 43,62665.7+5.3
Conservative hold Swing +4.9
General election 2001: Faversham and Mid Kent [20]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Hugh Robertson 18,739 45.6 +1.2
Labour Grahame Birchall14,55635.5−0.5
Liberal Democrats Michael Sole5,52913.5+1.1
UKIP James Gascoyne8282.0+1.1
Green Penelope Kemp7991.9+1.2
Rock 'n' Roll Loony Norman Davidson6001.5New
Majority 4,18310.1+1.7
Turnout 41,05160.4−13.1
Conservative hold Swing +0.9

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Faversham and Mid Kent [21]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Andrew Rowe 22,016 44.4
Labour Alan Stewart17,84336.0
Liberal Democrats Bruce E. Parmenter6,13812.4
Referendum Robin M. Birley2,0734.2
Monster Raving Loony Norman W. Davidson5111.0
UKIP Michael J. Cunningham4310.9
Green David J. Currer3800.8
Green Referendum Lawless Naturally Street PartyCaroline Morgan1150.2
Natural Law Nigel P.J. Pollard990.2
Majority 4,1738.4
Turnout 49,60673.5
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ A county 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. ↑ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Faversham Census". citypopulation. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  3. ↑ "Constituency data: Deprivation in England". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Seat Details - Faversham and Mid Kent". electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  5. ↑ "Maidstone News & Sport, latest news from the Kent Messenger". Kent Online.
  6. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
  7. ↑ LGBCE. "Maidstone | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "Seat Details - Faversham and Mid Kent". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  9. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"
  10. ↑ "Faversham and Mid Kent - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "Election of a Member of Parliament" (PDF). 14 November 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "UKIP in Faversham and Mid-Kent elect candidate for 2015". Canterbury Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  15. ↑ "Faversham Conservatives name Helen Whately as parliamentary candidate | Canterbury Times". Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "Official Monster Raving Loony Party leaflet". ElectionLeaflets.org.
  17. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. ↑ National Front
  19. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

51°17′N0°46′E / 51.29°N 0.77°E / 51.29; 0.77

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