Gillingham and Rainham (UK Parliament constituency)

Gillingham and Rainham is a constituency[n 1] in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Rehman Chishti, a Conservative.[n 2] It replaced the previous constituency of Gillingham.

Gillingham and Rainham
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Gillingham and Rainham in Kent for the 2010 general election
Location of Kent within England
County	Kent
Electorate	71,109 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Gillingham, Rainham, Hempstead, Twydall
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Rehman Chishti (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Gillingham

Boundaries

The Medway wards of Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Hempstead and Wigmore, Rainham Central, Rainham North, Rainham South, Twydall and Watling.

Constituency profile

The constituency is centred on the large town of Gillingham, historically a small port, which is convenient for access to the City of London, within the London Commuter Belt. Local retail, industry, business parks, trades and professions provide constituents with a high level of employment, mostly on moderate to middle incomes;[2] however, the area is not wholly resilient to unemployment. Registered claimants who were registered jobseekers were marginally lower than the national average of 3.8% at 3.5% of the population, according to a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[3]

The predecessor constituency of Gillingham was a Labour-Conservative marginal seat, but the current constituency can be considered a safe Conservative seat.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party
	2010	Rehman Chishti	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Gillingham and Rainham[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	28,173	61.3	+5.9
	Labour	Andy Stamp	13,054	28.4	-7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Bullion	2,503	5.4	+2.6
	Green	George Salomon	1,043	2.3	+1.2
	UKIP	Rob McCulloch Martin	837	1.8	-2.5
	Independent	Peter Cook	229	0.5	+0.5
	CPA	Roger Peacock	119	0.3	0.0
Majority			15,119	32.9	+13.6
Turnout			45,958	62.5	-4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.8

General election 2017: Gillingham and Rainham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	27,091	55.4	+7.5
	Labour	Andy Stamp	17,661	36.1	+10.5
	UKIP	Martin Cook	2,097	4.3	-15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chaplin	1,372	2.8	-0.8
	Green	Clive Gregory	520	1.1	-1.3
	CPA	Roger Peacock	127	0.3	+0.3
Majority			9,430	19.3	-3.1
Turnout			48,868	66.9	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.5

General election 2015: Gillingham and Rainham[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	22,590	48.0	+1.8
	Labour	Paul Clark	12,060	25.6	-2.1
	UKIP	Mark Hanson	9,199	19.5	+16.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chaplin[7]	1,707	3.6	-14.5
	Green	Neil Williams	1,133	2.4	+1.6
	TUSC	Jacqui Berry[8]	273	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Roger Peacock	72	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Mike Walters	44	0.1	N/A
Majority			10,530	22.4	+3.8
Turnout			47,078	64.8	-1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

General election 2010: Gillingham and Rainham[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	21,624	46.2	+5.5
	Labour	Paul Clark	12,944	27.7	-13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Stamp	8,484	18.1	+2.8
	UKIP	Robert Oakley	1,515	3.2	+0.6
	BNP	Brian Ravenscroft	1,149	2.5	N/A
	English Democrat	Dean Lacey	464	1.0	N/A
	Green	Trish Marchant	356	0.8	N/A
	Independent	Gordon Bryan	141	0.3	N/A
	Medway Independent Party	George Meegan	109	0.2	N/A
Majority			8,680	18.6	N/A
Turnout			46,786	66.0	+2.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+9.3

Paul Clark was the incumbent MP for Gillingham.

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Kent

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough 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. "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. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
3. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
5. https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200347/general_election_2019/1008/general_election_2019_candidates/2
6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
7. http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South_East
8. "MORE TUSC CANDIDATES IN PLACE AS ELECTION CHALLENGE GROWS". www.tusc.org.uk.
9. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.