Rayleigh (UK Parliament constituency)

Rayleigh was a parliamentary constituency in Essex 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. It existed from 1997 to 2010.

Rayleigh
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Rayleigh in Essex for the 2005 general election
Location of Essex within England
County	Essex
1997–2010
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Rayleigh and Wickford and Witham
Created from	Rochford and Chelmsford

History

This seat was created for the 1997 general election primarily from the abolished constituency of Rochford. It was abolished at the next redistribution which came into effect for the 2010 general election, when the town of Wickford was added to form the Rayleigh and Wickford constituency.

This largely rural constituency was the tenth-safest Conservative seat in the United Kingdom and the second-safest seat in Essex.

Boundaries

The District of Rochford wards of Ashingdon, Canewdon, Downhall, Grange and Rawreth, Hawkwell East, Hawkwell West, Hockley Central, Hockley East, Hockley West, Hullbridge Riverside, Hullbridge South, Lodge, Rayleigh Central, Trinity, Wheatley, and Whitehouse, and the Borough of Chelmsford wards of East and West Hanningfield, Rettendon and Runwell, South Hanningfield, South Woodham-Collingwood East, and West and South Woodham-Elmwood and Woodville.[1]

Centred around the town of Rayleigh, the seat was formed primarily from the abolished County Constituency of Rochford, but excluding the town of Rochford itself. Small area to the north, including the town of South Woodham Ferrers, transferred from the abolished County Constituency of Chelmsford.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, which came into effect for the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England made radical alterations to existing constituencies to allow for the number of parliamentary seats in the county to be increased to eighteen. These changes include the formation of a number of new constituencies in the southern and eastern parts of the county.

Rayleigh was abolished, with the bulk of the constituency, comprising the District of Rochford wards, forming the new County Constituency of Rayleigh and Wickford, together with the town of Wickford, previously part of the abolished County Constituency of Billericay. The Borough of Chelmsford wards were transferred to the new County Constituency of Witham.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[2]	Party
	1997	Michael Clark	Conservative
	2001	Mark Francois	Conservative
	2010	Constituency abolished: see Rayleigh and Wickford

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Rayleigh[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Francois	25,609	55.4	+5.3
	Labour	Julian Ware-Lane	10,883	23.6	-7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Sid Cumberland	7,406	16.0	+0.5
	UKIP	Janet Davies	2,295	5.0	+1.3
Majority			14,726	31.8	+12.4
Turnout			46,193	64.2	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.2

General election 2001: Rayleigh[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Francois	21,434	50.1	+0.4
	Labour	Paul Clark	13,144	30.7	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Williams	6,614	15.5	−4.3
	UKIP	Colin Morgan	1,581	3.7	New
Majority			8,290	19.4	−1.4
Turnout			42,773	60.5	−13.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.4

Elections in the 1990s

The 1997 election result has swings relative to the notional, not the actual, 1992 result.

General election 1997: Rayleigh[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Clark	25,516	49.7	−11.4
	Labour	Raymond Ellis	14,832	28.9	+14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Sid Cumberland	10,137	19.8	−2.1
	Liberal	Alan Farmer	829	1.6	New
Majority			10,684	20.8	−18.4
Turnout			51,314	74.3
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes and references

1. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
3. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
4. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
5. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
6. C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.136 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)