Witham (UK Parliament constituency)

Witham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Priti Patel, a Conservative who became the Home Secretary in July 2019, in the Johnson ministry.

Witham
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Witham in Essex
Location of Essex within England
County	Essex
Electorate	67,451 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Hatfield Peverel, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, White Notley, Witham
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Priti Patel (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Braintree, Maldon and East Chelmsford, North Essex, Colchester

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 which resulted in radical alterations to existing constituencies to allow for an extra seat to be created due to increased population. As a consequence, the new seat of Witham was created which included parts of the constituencies of Braintree, Colchester, North Essex, and Maldon and East Chelmsford.

Boundaries

• The District of Braintree wards of Black Notley and Terling, Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall, Coggeshall and North Feering, Hatfield Peverel, Kelvedon, Witham Chipping Hill and Central, Witham North, Witham South, and Witham West
• The District of Maldon wards of Great Totham, Tollesbury, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, and Wickham Bishops and Woodham
• The Borough of Colchester wards of Birch and Winstree, Copford and West Stanway, Marks Tey, Stanway and Tiptree[2]

The District of Braintree wards, which comprised approximately half the electorate, were transferred from the Braintree constituency; the District of Maldon wards from the abolished constituency of Maldon and Chelmsford East; and the Borough of Colchester wards from the abolished constituency of North Essex, except for Stanway ward which had been in the Colchester constituency.

Constituency profile

Witham is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, although the town of Witham within it is the only area of real Labour strength in the region, being represented by one District Councillor alongside seven Conservative Councillors.

Witham itself is an industrial town, on the Great Eastern main line railway from London to Norwich, with some heavy industry and London commuter belt residential areas – the strength of the Labour vote here was just enough to turn the former Braintree seat red in 1997, and in 2001, on the previous boundaries.

However, the town is small, and the Witham seat extends to cover a huge part of rural central Essex, with affluent commuter villages and farming communities that show high levels of Conservative support.

Members of Parliament

Parliament	Years	Member[3]			Party	Notes
Constituency created from Braintree, Maldon and East Chelmsford, North Essex and Colchester
55th	2010–2015		Priti Patel		Conservative	Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (2014 to 2015) Secretary of State for International Development (July 2016 to November 2017) Home Secretary (July 2019 to present)
56th	2015–2017
57th	2017–2019
58th	2019–present

Elections

General election 2019: Witham[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Priti Patel	32,876	66.6	2.3
	Labour	Martin Edobor	8,794	17.8	8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Sam North	4,584	9.3	3.8
	Green	James Abbott	3,090	6.3	2.6
Majority			24,082	48.8	10.9
Turnout			49,344	70.1	1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.5

General election 2017: Witham[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Priti Patel	31,670	64.3	6.8
	Labour	Phil Barlow	13,024	26.4	10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Josephine Hayes	2,715	5.5	0.6
	Green	James Abbott	1,832	3.7	0.6
Majority			18,646	37.9	3.6
Turnout			49,400	71.5	1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.9

General election 2015: Witham[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Priti Patel	27,123	57.5	5.3
	UKIP	Garry Cockrill[7]	7,569	16.0	9.5
	Labour	John Clarke	7,467	15.8	2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Josephine Hayes	2,891	6.1	13.7
	Green	James Abbott[8]	2,038	4.3	1.3
	CPA	Doreen Scrimshaw[9]	80	0.2	New
Majority			19,554	41.5	9.1
Turnout			47,168	70.3	0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.5

General election 2010: Witham[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Priti Patel	24,448	52.2	2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Phelps	9,252	19.8	4.6
	Labour	John Spademan	8,656	18.5	13.9
	UKIP	David Hodges	3,060	6.5	New
	Green	James Abbott	1,419	3.0	New
Majority			15,196	32.4	N/A
Turnout			46,835	70.2	6.6
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes and references

1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
4. "Witham Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
5. Daynes, Steve. "Parliamentary Election Results". www.braintree.gov.uk.
6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
7. http://meetyournextmp.com/area/287-witham/humans
8. http://witham-braintree.greenparty.org.uk/news/2014-11-19-candidates.html
9. "CPA Candidates for the General Election". Christian Peoples Alliance. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.