Medway | |
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Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
![]() Boundary of Medway in Kentfor the 2005 general election | |
![]() Location of Kent within England | |
County | Kent |
Major settlements | Rochester, Strood |
1983–2010 | |
Seats | One |
Created from | Rochester & Chatham and Gravesend [1] |
Replaced by | Rochester and Strood, Chatham and Aylesford [2] |
1885–1918 | |
Seats | One |
Created from | West Kent |
Replaced by | Gravesend, Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Chatham |
Medway was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1983 and 2010. A previous constituency of the same name existed from 1885 to 1918.
The Mid or Medway Division of Kent was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. It comprised a rural area consisting of the petty sessional divisions of Bearstead, Rochester and part of Malling PSD, but did not include the Medway Towns which were comprised in the parliamentary boroughs of Chatham and Rochester. It also surrounded, but did not include the town of Maidstone. [3] It comprised these parishes: [4]
The Rochester seat is an old one, going back to the 16th century, but it saw many changes in the 20th century. In 1918 it was split between Chatham and Gillingham. The Chatham seat became Rochester and Chatham in 1950, and then Medway in 1983.
The constituency was revived in 1983 by Parliament's acceptance of a Boundary Commission national review, [5] and was defined as comprising thirteen wards of the then City of Rochester upon Medway: All Saints, Cuxton and Halling, Earl, Frindsbury, Frindsbury Extra, Hoo St. Werburgh, Rede Court, St. Margarets and Borstal, Temple Farm, Thames Side, Town, Troy Town and Warren Wood. [5]
Boundaries were not changed at the next redistribution that followed the Fourth Review for the 1997 election. [6]
Conveniently but somewhat confusingly 1998 Rochester upon Medway merged with the neighbouring Borough of Gillingham to form the larger unitary Borough of Medway. [7] The Medway constituency covered only part of the unitary authority: some towns in the borough of Medway, such as Gillingham (Gillingham) or Chatham see (Chatham and Aylesford) had and retain their own constituency. Because of this, the name of the seat caused much confusion leading to its renaming in 2010.
Following the boundary review of parliamentary representation in Kent between 2000 and 2008, the Boundary Commission for England renamed the Medway seat to Rochester and Strood. This is because the Commission agreed that the term "Medway" is now primarily used for the larger unitary authority. [8]
The constituency consists of ten wards of the Borough of Medway: Cuxton and Halling, Peninsula, River, Rochester East, Rochester South and Horsted, Rochester West, Strood North, Strood Rural and Strood South. [9]
Election | Member [10] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1885 | John Gathorne-Hardy | Conservative | |
1892 | Charles Warde | Conservative |
Election | Member [10] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Dame Peggy Fenner | Conservative | |
1997 | Bob Marshall-Andrews | Labour | |
2010 | Constituency abolished: see Rochester and Strood |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Gathorne-Hardy | 6,212 | 54.8 | ||
Liberal | Sydney Waterlow | 5,118 | 45.2 | ||
Majority | 1,094 | 9.6 | |||
Turnout | 11,330 | 84.0 | |||
Registered electors | 13,482 | ||||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Gathorne-Hardy | Unopposed | |||
Conservative hold | |||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Warde | 6,337 | 59.1 | N/A | |
Lib-Lab | W. C. Steadman | 4,391 | 40.9 | New | |
Majority | 1,946 | 18.2 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 10,728 | 74.1 | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 14,484 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Warde | Unopposed | |||
Conservative hold | |||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Warde | Unopposed | |||
Conservative hold | |||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Warde | 6,167 | 50.4 | N/A | |
Liberal | Aneurin Williams | 6,061 | 49.6 | New | |
Majority | 106 | 0.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 12,228 | 83.6 | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 14,628 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Warde | 8,093 | 60.5 | +10.1 | |
Liberal | Alexander Cairns | 5,285 | 39.5 | −10.1 | |
Majority | 2,808 | 21.0 | +20.2 | ||
Turnout | 13,378 | 88.1 | +4.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +10.1 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Warde | Unopposed | |||
Conservative hold | |||||
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Marshall-Andrews | 17,333 | 42.2 | −6.8 | |
Conservative | Mark Reckless | 17,120 | 41.7 | +2.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Geoffrey Juby | 5,152 | 12.5 | +3.2 | |
UKIP | Bob Oakley | 1,488 | 3.6 | +1.1 | |
Majority | 213 | 0.5 | −9.3 | ||
Turnout | 41,093 | 61.1 | +1.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −4.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Marshall-Andrews | 18,914 | 49.0 | +0.1 | |
Conservative | Mark Reckless | 15,134 | 39.2 | +2.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Geoffrey Juby | 3,604 | 9.3 | −0.9 | |
UKIP | Nikki Sinclaire | 958 | 2.5 | +1.6 | |
Majority | 3,780 | 9.8 | −2.2 | ||
Turnout | 38,610 | 59.5 | −12.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Marshall-Andrews | 21,858 | 48.9 | +14.3 | |
Conservative | Peggy Fenner | 16,504 | 36.9 | −15.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Roger D.C. Roberts | 4,555 | 10.2 | +0.6 | |
Referendum | Joseph Main | 1,420 | 3.2 | New | |
UKIP | Susan P. Radlett | 405 | 0.9 | New | |
Majority | 5,354 | 12.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 44,742 | 72.3 | −7.9 | ||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +14.9 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Peggy Fenner | 25,924 | 52.3 | +1.3 | |
Labour | Bob Marshall-Andrews | 17,138 | 34.6 | +4.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Cyril L. Trice | 4,751 | 9.6 | −8.5 | |
Liberal | Mark Austin | 1,480 | 3.0 | New | |
Natural Law | Paul A. Kember | 234 | 0.5 | New | |
Majority | 8,786 | 17.7 | −3.5 | ||
Turnout | 49,527 | 80.2 | +7.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −1.7 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Peggy Fenner | 23,889 | 51.0 | +2.1 | |
Labour | Vernon Hull | 13,960 | 29.8 | −0.3 | |
SDP | Jennifer Horne-Roberts | 8,450 | 18.1 | −2.0 | |
Green | June Rosser | 504 | 1.1 | New | |
Majority | 9,929 | 21.2 | +2.4 | ||
Turnout | 46,803 | 73.0 | +0.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Peggy Fenner | 22,507 | 48.9 | ||
Labour | Robert Bean | 13,851 | 30.1 | ||
SDP | Frederick Charles Winckless | 9,658 | 20.1 | ||
Majority | 8,656 | 18.8 | |||
Turnout | 46,016 | 72.6 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Medway is a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent, South East England. Its council, Medway Council, is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council; it is independent from Kent County Council. The borough had a population of 278,016 in 2019. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham. The borough contains the towns of Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Rochester and Strood, which are collectively known as the Medway Towns.
Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Rainham. It lies on the northwest bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point.
The Medway Valley line is the name given to the railway line linking Strood in the Medway Towns via Maidstone West to Tonbridge. High Speed services also link between Maidstone West, Snodland, Strood and London St Pancras International. The section from Maidstone West to Paddock Wood passes through some of Kent's most picturesque countryside along the narrower sections of the River Medway.
Tonbridge and Malling was a constituency in western Kent, in South East England, in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented for its entire creation since 1974 by members of the Conservative Party.
Chatham and Aylesford is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Tris Osborne of the Labour Party.
Gillingham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Strood Rural District was a rural district in the county of Kent, England.
Gillingham and Rainham is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Naushabah Khan of the Labour Party. It was previously represented since its 2010 creation by Rehman Chishti of the Conservative Party and replaced the previous constituency of Gillingham.
Rochester and Strood is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Lauren Edwards from the Labour Party. It was previously represented since 2015 by Kelly Tolhurst, a Conservative, who had served as Government Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of the Household since 2022.
Rochester-upon-Medway was a local government district in north Kent, England from 1974 to 1998. It covered Rochester, Chatham, Luton, Lordswood, Walderslade, Strood and the Hoo Peninsula.
The A228 road is an important transport artery in Kent, England. It begins at the Isle of Grain and runs in a south-westerly direction to connect eventually with the A21 trunk road at Pembury. It serves existing communities and new and proposed housing developments and commercial enterprises. The most influential force on the recent upgrading of the road has been the development of Kings Hill near West Malling.
Chatham was a parliamentary constituency in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1832 general election, when the borough of Chatham was enfranchised under the Reform Act 1832.
Rochester was a parliamentary constituency in Kent. It returned two members of parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until the 1885 general election, when its representation was reduced to one seat.
Mid Kent was a county constituency in the county of Kent, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Frindsbury is part of the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, southern England. It lies on the opposite side of the River Medway to Rochester, and at various times in its history has been considered fully or partially part of the City of Rochester. Frindsbury today is part of the town of Strood and covers the most northern part of the town. Frindsbury refers to both a parish and a manor. Within the civil parish of Frindsbury Extra are the villages of Frindsbury, Wainscott, and Upnor. Frindsbury was also the name given to an electoral ward in the City of Rochester that straddled the parishes of Frindsbury and Strood.
Frindsbury Extra is a civil parish divided into commercial, suburban residential and rural parts on the Hoo Peninsula in Medway, a ceremonial part of Kent. It is contiguous with the fully urbanised Frindsbury part of Strood and is bounded by Cliffe and Cliffe Woods to the north, Hoo to the east, and the River Medway to the south-east at Upnor and a long, narrow meander of the river in the far south. On Medway Council it has councillors representing the Strood Rural ward currently on almost identical boundaries.
Medway Council is the local authority of Medway, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council; it is independent from Kent County Council. The council was created on 1 April 1998 and replaced Rochester-upon-Medway City Council and Gillingham Borough Council.