Clacton (UK Parliament constituency)

Clacton
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Clacton in Essexfor the 2010 general election
Location of Essex within England
County	Essex
Population	85,359 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	67,447 (December 2010) [2]
Major settlements	Clacton, Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Giles Watling (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Harwich

Clacton is a constituency ^{[n 1]} in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Giles Watling of the Conservative Party.

Constituency profile

Clacton is almost completely coastal, comprising seaside resorts along the Tendring peninsula, including Clacton-on-Sea, Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze. It shares an inland border with just one constituency – Harwich and North Essex.

Like some other coastal seats, such as Christchurch in Dorset, the electorate is one of the oldest in the country, with a high proportion of retired people, and low numbers of non-White residents. The area has experienced a considerable influx of White British families from multicultural areas of East London such as Barking and Dagenham, leading to the town of Clacton becoming known as "Little Dagenham." ^[3]

The village of Jaywick was, in both the Indices of deprivation 2010 and 2015, identified as the single most deprived LSOA in England, out of around 32,000, with unemployment estimated at almost 50%. Many homes are essentially beach huts and lack basic amenities. In 2018, Jaywick was visited by the UN special rapporteur for poverty, Professor Philip Alston, as part of his examination into the causes of extreme poverty. ^[4] Jaywick was named the most deprived place in the UK for the third consecutive year in 2019. ^[5]

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. ^[6] It was formed from the abolished Harwich constituency, excluding the town of Harwich itself and surrounding areas.

Douglas Carswell, who was previously the Conservative MP for Harwich, won it at the general election that year. In August 2014, Carswell announced his defection to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and triggered a by-election in the constituency, which he won with a large majority, becoming UKIP's first elected MP, with Nigel Farage declaring that Clacton had, "Shaken up British politics". ^[7] Carswell retained his seat at the 2015 general election; this was the only constituency won by UKIP at the election. In March 2017, Carswell left UKIP and became an independent MP; he did not stand for re-election in the 2017 general election, and the seat was gained by Watling for the Conservatives.

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

The District of Tendring wards of Alton Park, Beaumont and Thorpe, Bockings Elm, Burrsville, Frinton, Golf Green, Hamford, Haven, Holland and Kirby, Homelands, Little Clacton and Weeley, Pier, Rush Green, St Bartholomews, St James, St Johns, St Marys, St Osyth and Point Clear, St Pauls and Walton. ^[8]

The new seat consists essentially of the former Harwich constituency, minus the town of Harwich itself and a few nearby villages, plus St Osyth and Weeley, transferred from the abolished North Essex constituency.

Proposed

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

Bluehouse; Burrsville; Cann Hall; Coppins; Eastcliff; Frinton; Homelands; Kirby Cross; Kirby-le-Soken & Hamford; Little Clacton; Pier; St. Bartholomew’s; St. James; St. John’s; St. Osyth; St. Paul’s; The Bentleys & Frating; The Oakleys & Wix; Thorpe, Beaumont & Great Holland; Walton; Weeley & Tendring; West Clacton & Jaywick Sands. ^[9]

The revised contents correspond to the existing constituency, expanded slightly by the addition of some inland rural areas and villages, transferred from Harwich and North Essex.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Douglas Carswell	Conservative
	2014 by-election		UKIP
	Mar 2017		Independent
	Jun 2017	Giles Watling	Conservative

The constituency's Member of Parliament until 3 May 2017, was Douglas Carswell, who had previously sat for the Harwich constituency since gaining that seat for the Conservatives in 2005. ^{[10] [11]}

On 28 August 2014, Carswell announced his defection to UKIP. ^[12] Although not required to seek re-election following a change of party allegiance, Carswell triggered a by-election, held on 9 October 2014, in which he was elected as the UKIP candidate. ^[13] He became the first elected UKIP MP. ^[14] Carswell retained the seat for UKIP at the 2015 general election, seeing his majority cut by roughly three-quarters, with an 11% swing to the Conservatives. Carswell then became UKIP's sole MP in the House of Commons, as Mark Reckless, a fellow Conservative defector, lost his seat. ^[15]

On 25 March 2017, Carswell announced on his blog that he was quitting UKIP to sit as an independent MP, ^[16] saying that "I switched to UKIP because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving UKIP". ^[17]

After Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap election on 19 April 2017, Carswell announced that he would not stand for re-election, and he endorsed the Conservative Party candidate Giles Watling. ^[18] Watling was elected at the 2017 general election; at that election, UKIP's share of the vote fell by 36.8%, one of its largest declines in the country, and the subsequent Conservative victory in Clacton marked the first time every constituency in Essex had returned a Conservative MP since 1987.

Elections

Graph of election results in Clacton, including the 2014 by-election (minor parties that never received more than 5% of the vote are omitted)

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Clacton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Giles Watling [19]
	Reform UK	Anthony Mack [20]
	Labour	Jovan Owusu-Nepaul [21]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Clacton ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Giles Watling	31,438	72.3	11.1
	Labour	Kevin Bonavia	6,736	15.5	9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Callum Robertson	2,541	5.8	3.8
	Green	Chris Southall	1,225	2.8	1.2
	Independent	Andy Morgan	1,099	2.5	New
	Independent	Colin Bennett	243	0.6	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Just-John Sexton	224	0.5	New
Majority			24,702	56.8	21.0
Turnout			43,506	61.3	2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.5

General election 2017: Clacton ^{[22] [23] [24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Giles Watling	27,031	61.2	24.5
	Labour	Natasha Osben	11,203	25.4	11.0
	UKIP	Paul Oakley	3,357	7.6	36.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Grace	887	2.0	0.2
	Green	Chris Southall	719	1.6	1.1
	Independent	Caroline Shearer	449	1.0	New
	English Democrat	Robin Tilbrook	289	0.7	New
	Independent	Nick Martin	210	0.5	New
Majority			15,828	35.8	N/A
Turnout			44,145	63.7	0.4
	Conservative gain from UKIP		Swing	30.7

General election 2015: Clacton ^{[26] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Douglas Carswell	19,642	44.4	N/A
	Conservative	Giles Watling	16,205	36.7	16.3
	Labour	Tim Young	6,364	14.4	10.6
	Green	Chris Southall	1,184	2.7	1.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Grace	812	1.8	11.1
Majority			3,437	7.7	N/A
Turnout			44,207	64.1	0.1
	UKIP hold		Swing	1.6

By-election 2014: Clacton ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Douglas Carswell	21,113	59.7	N/A
	Conservative	Giles Watling	8,709	24.6	28.4
	Labour	Tim Young [28]	3,957	11.2	13.8
	Green	Chris Southall	688	1.9	0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Graham	483	1.3	11.6
	Independent	Bruce Sizer	205	0.6	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Alan "Howling Laud" Hope [29]	127	0.4	New
	Independent	Charlotte Rose	56	0.2	New
Majority			12,404	35.1	N/A
Turnout			35,338	51.2	13.0
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing	44.1

General election 2010: Clacton ^{[30] [31]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Carswell	22,867	53.0	8.6
	Labour	Ivan Henderson	10,799	25.0	10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Green	5,577	12.9	0.6
	BNP	Jim Taylor	1,975	4.6	New
	Tendring First	Terry Allen	1,078	2.5	New
	Green	Chris Southall	535	1.2	New
	Independent	Chris Humphrey	292	0.7	New
Majority			12,068	28.0	19.5
Turnout			43,123	64.2	1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.7

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

1. "Clacton: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
2. "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.
3. Easton, Mark (20 February 2013). "Why have the white British left London?". BBC News.
4. "Jaywick: UN poverty expert visits deprived village". BBC News. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
5. "England's most deprived areas named as Jaywick and Blackpool". BBC News. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
6. "2007 No.1681 REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE, ENGLAND REDISTRIBUTION OF SEATS The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". legislation.gov.uk. 13 June 2007.
7. "UKIP gains first elected MP with Clacton win". BBC News. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
10. "Parliamentary Career for Mr Douglas Carswell". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
11. "Result: Harwich". BBC News. 2005. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
12. "Tory MP Douglas Carswell defects to UKIP and forces by-election". BBC News. 28 August 2014.
13. "Clacton by-election candidates". BBC News. 2 September 2014.
14. "UKIP gains first elected MP with Clacton win". BBC News. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
15. "Nigel Farage resigns as UKIP leader as the party vote rises". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
16. "Job done – thank UKIP!". talkcarswell.com. 25 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
17. "Douglas Carswell quitting UKIP to become independent MP for Clacton". BBC News. 25 March 2017.
18. "Douglas Carswell will not stand in general election". BBC News. 20 April 2017 – via bbc.co.uk.
19. "Clacton: Conservative MP Giles Watling re-selected as candidate". BBC News. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
20. "Find My PPC" (PDF). Reform UK . Retrieved 14 December 2023.
21. {{Labour East [@EofELabour] (25 April 2024). "Congratulations, Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour's Parliamentary candidate for Clacton!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
22. "Clacton Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
23. "Statement of Persons Nominated – Clacton Constituency" (PDF). Tendring District Council. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
24. "Knife death mother in MP election bid for Clacton". BBC News. 21 April 2017 – via bbc.com.
25. "Norfolk North and Penistone & Stocksbridge choose their candidates. Latest selection news. – Conservative Home". 2 May 2017.
26. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
27. Lodge, Will (16 September 2014). "Clacton: Carswell strolls to victory for UKIP at Clacton by-election". East Anglian Daily Times . Retrieved 12 October 2014.
28. "Poll: Is Clacton a town that's going nowhere?". Archived from the original on 10 September 2014.
29. "Clacton on sea by election". 11 September 2014.
30. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
31. "Clacton". BBC News . 7 May 2010.

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Clacton – presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

51°50′N1°09′E / 51.83°N 1.15°E / 51.83; 1.15