Rayleigh and Wickford (UK Parliament constituency)

Rayleigh and Wickford
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Rayleigh and Wickford in Essex
Location of Essex within England
County	Essex
Electorate	78,930 (December 2019) [1]
Major settlements	Hawkwell, Hockley, Rayleigh and Wickford
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Mark Francois (Conservative Party)
Seats	One
Created from	Rayleigh, Billericay

Rayleigh and Wickford is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Mark Francois, a Conservative. ^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

This small-town studded portion of rural Essex reaches out almost as far as the North Sea beside Rochford and has income levels on average slightly above the national average, low unemployment, ^[2] and little social housing. ^{[3] [4]}

History

The seat was created for the 2010 general election following a review of the Parliamentary representation of Essex by the Boundary Commission for England. It was formed from the majority of the abolished constituency of Rayleigh, together with the town of Wickford, previously in the abolished constituency of Billericay.

Francois was previously Member of Parliament for Rayleigh.

Boundaries

Current

• The Borough of Basildon wards of Wickford Castledon, Wickford North, and Wickford Park
• The District of Rochford wards of Ashingdon and Canewdon, Downhall and Rawreth, Grange, Hawkwell North, Hawkwell South, Hawkwell West, Hockley Central, Hockley North, Hockley West, Hullbridge, Lodge, Rayleigh Central, Sweyne Park, Trinity, Wheatley and Whitehouse. ^[5]

Map of current boundaries

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be (as they existed on 1^st December 2020):

• The Borough of Basildon wards of: Wickford Castledon; Wickford North; Wickford Park.
• The District of Rochford wards of: Downhall & Rawreth; Hawkwell East; Hawkwell West; Hockley; Hockley & Ashingdon; Hullbridge; Lodge; Sweyne Park & Grange; Trinity; Wheatley. ^[6]

Minor loss of sparsely populated area in the east of the constituency to the newly named Southend East and Rochford seat.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [7]	Party
	2010	Mark Francois	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Rayleigh and Wickford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Grant Randall [8]

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Rayleigh and Wickford ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Francois	39,864	72.6	+5.9
	Labour	David Flack	8,864	16.1	-8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ron Tindall	4,171	7.6	+4.8
	Green	Paul Thorogood	2,002	3.6	+1.7
Majority			31,000	56.5	+14.1
Turnout			54,901	69.5	-0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.0

General election 2017: Rayleigh and Wickford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Francois	36,914	66.7	+12.0
	Labour	Mark Daniels	13,464	24.3	+11.7
	UKIP	Peter Smith	2,326	4.2	-18.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ron Tindall	1,557	2.8	-0.2
	Green	Paul Hill	1,062	1.9	-1.0
Majority			23,450	42.4	+10.0
Turnout			55,323	70.4	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.2

General election 2015: Rayleigh and Wickford ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Francois	29,088	54.7	−3.1
	UKIP	John Hayter [11]	11,858	22.3	+18.1
	Labour	David Hough	6,705	12.6	−1.9
	Independent	Linda Kendall [12]	2,418	4.5	New
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Pitt [13]	1,622	3.0	−12.1
	Green	Sarah Yapp [14]	1,529	2.9	New
Majority			17,230	32.4	-10.3
Turnout			53,220	68.3	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−10.6

General election 2010: Rayleigh and Wickford ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Francois*	30,257	57.8	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Gaszczak	7,919	15.1	−0.3
	Labour	Michael Le Surf	7,577	14.5	-12.0
	English Democrat	John Hayter	2,219	4.2	New
	UKIP	Tino Callaghan	2,211	4.2	+0.1
	BNP	Tony Evennett	2,160	4.1	New
Majority			22,338	42.7	+15.3
Turnout			50,132	65.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.0

*Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex

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. "Election history of Rayleigh and Wickford". members.parliament.uk.
2. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
3. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
4. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
8. "Find My PPC (Eastern England)" (PDF). Reform UK . Retrieved 15 December 2023.
9. "Rayleigh & Wickford Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "Election Campaign". UKIP Rayleigh and Wickford. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
12. Nizinskyj, Paul (10 March 2015). "Campaigner Linda wants to be an MP". Echo. Southend.
13. "Candidates (PPCs) for Rayleigh and Wickford" . Retrieved 3 April 2015.
14. "Candidates". Eastern Green Party. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
15. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Rayleigh & Wickford". news.bbc.co.uk.

51°36′N0°42′E / 51.6°N 0.7°E / 51.6; 0.7