South Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)

South Thanet
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Thanet in Kent
Location of Kent within England
County	Kent
Electorate	67,970 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Sandwich
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Craig Mackinlay (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Thanet West, Dover and Thanet East [2]

South Thanet is a constituency ^{[n 1]} in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Craig Mackinlay, a Conservative. ^{[n 2]}

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to moderate boundary changes and will be renamed East Thanet , to be first contested at the next general election. ^[3]

Constituency profile

Tourism is an important economic activity with entertainment and beaches, particularly at Broadstairs. The constituency also includes part of the Stour Valley Walk, which passes through Sandwich on its way to Canterbury and beyond. There are picturesque villages with oast houses. The amount of fishing and coastal trade is much reduced relative to the 19th century, and is small compared to many other British ports. The seat has a higher proportion of retired people than the national average ^[4] and incomes tend to be clustered around the national mean. ^[5] Economic developments have included the nearby Thanet Offshore Wind Project as well as commercial, recreational and tourism activities. Farming, trades, and Port of Ramsgate provide much of the employment. Pharmaceuticals received a blow when Pfizer withdrew from the area. The unemployed claimant count, at 5.4%, was the highest of the South East's 84 constituencies at the end of 2010, and greater than the national average of 3.8%. ^{[n 3] [6]} Since its creation in 1983 the seat has been a bellwether. In the most recent 2019 European Parliament Elections the newly formed Brexit Party won an estimated 46.73% share of the 26,295 votes cast in South Thanet.

Electoral spending criminal investigation following the 2015 general election

In 2016 an investigation by Channel 4 News revealed that the Conservative Party had spent many thousands of pounds centrally on battlebuses to transport activists, and hotel accommodation for the activists, who went to campaign in marginal constituencies, including South Thanet. The expenditure on the buses was declared by the Conservative Party on its national declaration of "Campaign Spending", but in some cases the hotel accommodation was not declared at all as election spending when it should have been. In addition, there is controversy about whether the expenditure, both on the buses and the accommodation, should have been declared on the declarations of expenditure for the constituency made by each candidate's election agent. Kent Police began an investigation into the spending returns of Craig Mackinlay following the Channel 4 report. ^[7]

In a court case on 1 June 2016, brought against Mackinlay and his election agent Nathan Gray, ^[8] District Judge Barron granted more time for investigation saying "In this case, the allegations are far-reaching and the consequences of a conviction would be of a local and national significance with the potential for election results being declared void." ^[9]

On 14 March 2017, it was reported that Mackinlay had been interviewed under caution by officers investigating the allegations. ^[10] On 2 June 2017, six days before the 2017 general election, Mackinlay and two Conservative party officials were charged by the Crown Prosecution Service with offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983. They were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017. ^[11]

On 9 January 2019, Mackinlay was cleared of election expenses fraud. ^[12] One of the other defendants, Marion Little, was found guilty of two charges and given a nine-month suspended sentence and £5000 fine. ^[13] She retained the OBE she had been awarded for political service in 2015. ^[14]

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1983–2010: The District of Thanet wards of Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Central Eastcliff, Central Westcliff, Kingsgate, Minster Parish, Newington, Northwood, Pierremont, St Lawrence, St Peter's, Sir Moses Montefiore, Southwood, and Upton, and the District of Dover wards of Ash, Little Stour, Sandwich, Woodnesborough with Staple, and Worth.

2010–present: The District of Thanet wards of Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Central Harbour, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Cliftonville East, Cliftonville West, Eastcliff, Kingsgate, Nethercourt, Newington, Northwood, St Peter's, Sir Moses Montefiore, and Viking, and the District of Dover wards of Little Stour and Ashstone, and Sandwich.

South Thanet consists of the southern and eastern part of Thanet district (the towns of Ramsgate and Broadstairs, the Cliftonville area of Margate and the village of Cliffsend) together with the northern part of Dover district, comprising the ancient Cinque Port of Sandwich and surrounding villages.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [15]	Party
	1983	Jonathan Aitken	Conservative
	1997	Stephen Ladyman	Labour
	2010	Laura Sandys	Conservative
	2015	Craig Mackinlay	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South Thanet ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Mackinlay	27,084	56.1	+5.3
	Labour	Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt	16,497	34.2	-3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Pennington	2,727	5.7	+2.7
	Green	Rebecca Wing	1,949	4.0	+2.4
Majority			10,587	21.9	+9.0
Turnout			48,257	65.8	−3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.5

General election 2017: South Thanet ^{[17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Mackinlay	25,262	50.8	+12.7
	Labour	Raushan Ara	18,875	37.9	+14.1
	UKIP	Stuart Piper	2,997	6.0	−26.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jordan Williams	1,514	3.0	+1.1
	Green	Trevor Roper	809	1.6	−0.6
	Independent	Tim Garbutt	181	0.4	New
	CPA	Faith Fisher	115	0.2	New
Majority			6,387	12.9	+7.2
Turnout			49,753	68.8	−1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § South Thanet

General election 2015: South Thanet ^{[19] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Mackinlay	18,838	38.1	−9.9
	UKIP	Nigel Farage	16,026	32.4	+26.9
	Labour	Will Scobie	11,740	23.8	−7.6
	Green	Ian Driver	1,076	2.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	Russell Timpson	932	1.9	−13.2
	Free United Kingdom Party	Al Murray	318	0.6	New
	Manston Airport Independent	Ruth Bailey	191	0.4	New
	We Are The Reality Party	Nigel Askew	126	0.3	New
	Party for a United Thanet	Grahame Birchall	63	0.1	New
	Independent	Dean McCastree	61	0.1	New
	Al-Zebabist Nation of Ooog	Zebadiah Abu-Obadiah	30	0.05	New
Majority			2,812	5.7	−10.9
Turnout			49,401	70.4	+5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−18.4

¹: Murray appeared on the ballot paper without any description, ^[21] but campaigned under the label of the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP). ^[22]

General election 2010: South Thanet ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Laura Sandys	22,043	48.0	+6.8
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	14,426	31.4	−8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Bucklitsch	6,935	15.1	+2.9
	UKIP	Trevor Shonk	2,529	5.5	+0.7
Majority			7,617	16.6	N/A
Turnout			45,933	65.3	+0.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South Thanet ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	16,660	40.4	−5.3
	Conservative	Mark MacGregor	15,996	38.8	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Guy Voizey	5,431	13.2	+3.8
	UKIP	Nigel Farage	2,079	5.0	+3.7
	Green	Howard Green	888	2.2	New
	Independent	Maude Kinsella	188	0.5	New
Majority			664	1.6	-3.0
Turnout			41,242	65.0	1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.5

General election 2001: South Thanet ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	18,002	45.7	−0.5
	Conservative	Mark MacGregor	16,210	41.1	+1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Guy Voizey	3,706	9.4	−2.3
	Independent	William Baldwin	770	2.0	New
	UKIP	Terry Eccott	502	1.3	New
	National Front	Bernard Franklin	242	0.6	New
Majority			1,792	4.6	-1.8
Turnout			39,432	63.9	−7.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.9

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South Thanet ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	20,777	46.2	+18.1
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	17,899	39.8	−11.9
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Hewitt-Silk	5,263	11.7	−6.6
	Independent	C Crook	631	1.4	New
	Green	David Wheatley	418	0.9	−0.9
Majority			2,878	6.4	N/A
Turnout			44,488	71.6	-6.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.0

General election 1992: South Thanet ^{[27] [28]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	25,253	51.7	−2.6
	Labour	Mark James	13,740	28.1	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bill Pitt	8,948	18.3	−6.5
	Green	Sue Peckham	871	1.8	New
Majority			11,513	23.6	−5.9
Turnout			48,812	78.2	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.9

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South Thanet ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	25,135	54.3	−2.2
	Liberal	Bill Pitt	11,452	24.8	+0.7
	Labour	Chris Wright	9,673	20.9	+1.5
Majority			13,683	29.5	−2.9
Turnout			46,260	73.7	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.4

General election 1983: South Thanet ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	24,512	56.5
	Liberal	Ian Josephs	10,461	24.1
	Labour	Martin Clark	8,429	19.4
Majority			14,051	32.4
Turnout			43,402	70.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Kent

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.
3. Third and second were North Thanet and Hastings & Rye

References

1. "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.
2. "'Thanet South', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
3. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
4. "2011 Census Interactive - ONS". Ons.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
5. "Check Browser Settings". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
6. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
7. Sommerlad, Nick. "Did the Tories 'break election laws' with battle bus spending? Here's everything you need to know". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
8. Jon Stone (1 June 2016). "Tory MP moves to block police inquiry into alleged election fraud" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
9. Nicola Slawson and agencies. "Judge grants extension to police investigation into Tory election fraud". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
10. "MP Craig Mackinlay quizzed over election expenses". BBC News. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
11. "Conservative candidate Craig Mackinlay charged over election expenses". BBC News. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
12. "MP Craig Mackinlay cleared of election expenses fraud". BBC News. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
13. "Tory official convicted of falsifying expenses in race against Farage". BBC News. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
14. "Tories rewarded in New Years honours list". Conservative Home. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
15. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
16. "Thanet South Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
17. "Statement of persons nominated, notice of poll and situation of polling stations" (PDF). Thanet District Council. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
18. "Candidates standing in Kent and Medway across Kent's 17 parliamentary constituencies". KentOnline. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
19. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
20. "Statement of the persons nominated for election as a Member of Parliament for South Thanet Constituency". Thanet District Council.
21. "South Thanet". Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
22. "Thanet South parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
23. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
28. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
29. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
30. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

51°18′N1°22′E / 51.300°N 1.367°E / 51.300; 1.367