Castle Point (UK Parliament constituency)

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Castle Point
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Castle Point in Essex
Location of Essex within England
County	Essex
Population	88,011 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	64,562 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Canvey Island, South Benfleet
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Rebecca Harris (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	South East Essex

Castle Point is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rebecca Harris, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History[]

This seat was created for the 1983 general election from the former seat of South East Essex. It comprised the District of Castle Point which was formed from the former Urban Districts of Canvey Island and Benfleet and includes Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley.

In all but one election, it has been won by a Conservative candidate, passing to Labour once, in the 1997 election. The former MP defeated in 1997, Bob Spink, regained the seat in 2001. He was re-elected in 2005 but subsequently resigned from the Conservative Party on 22 April 2008. Spink briefly joined UKIP,^[3] but resigned the whip shortly afterwards and sat as an Independent MP.^[4] In the 2010 election, Spink lost in Castle Point to the Conservative candidate, Rebecca Harris.

After the 2017 election Castle Point has the largest Conservative majority of any constituency to have elected a Labour MP in the 1997–2010 government, at 42.2%.

Boundaries[]

Since its creation, the Castle Point constituency has been contiguous with the boundaries of the district council of the same name. The seat is one of only a very few that were unchanged by the boundary reviews which came into effect in 1997 and 2010, having seen population growth in line with the average seat (which is slightly larger), including development in the designated development plans of the Thames Gateway.

Constituency profile[]

The seat is coterminous with the Castle Point local authority, taking its name from Hadleigh Castle and Canvey Point, and covering the Canvey Island at the seaside end of the Thames Estuary plus a segment of the adjoining mainland.

In 2001, Castle Point was characterised by skilled manual workers, commuters and the self-employed. Levels of home and car ownership in Hadleigh and Canvey were very high while social deprivation was relatively low.^[5]

Of all the constituencies of the UK, it has one of the lowest levels of graduates.^[6]

Members of Parliament[]

Election		Member[7][8]	Party
	1983	Sir Bernard Braine	Conservative
	1992	Bob Spink	Conservative
	1997	Christine Butler	Labour
	2001	Bob Spink	Conservative
	Apr 2008		UKIP
	2010	Rebecca Harris	Conservative

Elections[]

Elections in the 2010s[]

General election 2019: Castle Point^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	33,971	76.7	+9.4
	Labour	Katie Curtis	7,337	16.6	-8.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Howson	2,969	6.7	+4.4
Majority			26,634	60.1	+17.9
Turnout			44,277	63.6	-0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.0

This was the largest Conservative vote share at the 2019 general election.^[10]

General election 2017: Castle Point^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	30,076	67.3	+16.4
	Labour	Joseph Cooke	11,204	25.1	+11.3
	UKIP	David Kurten	2,381	5.3	−25.9
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Holder	1,049	2.3	+0.5
Majority			18,872	42.2	+22.5
Turnout			44,710	64.4	−2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

General election 2015: Castle Point^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	23,112	50.9	+6.9
	UKIP	Jamie Huntman [14]	14,178	31.2	New
	Labour	Joe Cooke [15]	6,283	13.8	−0.9
	Green	Dom Ellis[16]	1,076	2.4	New
	Liberal Democrats	Sereena Davey [17]	801	1.8	−7.6
Majority			8,934	19.7	+2.7
Turnout			45,450	66.7	−0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−24.3

General election 2010: Castle Point^[18][19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Harris	19,806	44.0	−4.3
	Independent Save Our Green Belt	Bob Spink	12,174	27.0	New
	Labour	Julian Ware-Lane	6,609	14.7	−15.7
	Liberal Democrats	Brendan D'Cruz	4,232	9.4	−0.9
	BNP	Philip Howell	2,205	4.9	New
Majority			7,632	17.0	-0.9
Turnout			45,026	66.9	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-15.7

Elections in the 2000s[]

General election 2005: Castle Point^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Spink	22,118	48.3	+3.7
	Labour	Luke Akehurst	13,917	30.4	−11.7
	Liberal Democrats	James Sandbach	4,719	10.3	+2.5
	UKIP	Neil Hamper	3,431	7.5	+4.3
	Green	Irene Willis	1,617	3.5	New
Majority			8,201	17.9	+15.4
Turnout			45,802	65.9	+7.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.7

General election 2001: Castle Point^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Spink	17,738	44.6	+4.5
	Labour	Christine Butler	16,753	42.1	−0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Billy Boulton	3,116	7.8	−1.4
	UKIP	Ronald Hurrell	1,273	3.2	New
	Independent	Douglas Roberts	663	1.7	New
	Truth Party	Nik Searle	223	0.6	New
Majority			985	2.5	N/A
Turnout			39,766	58.4	−13.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+2.4

Elections in the 1990s[]

General election 1997: Castle Point^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine Butler	20,605	42.4	+18.4
	Conservative	Bob Spink	19,462	40.1	−15.5
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Baker	4,477	9.2	−10.0
	Referendum	Hugh Maulkin	2,700	5.6	New
	Independent	Linda Kendall	1,301	2.7	New
Majority			1,143	2.3	N/A
Turnout			48,545	72.1	-8.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.0

General election 1992: Castle Point^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Spink	29,629	55.6	−4.3
	Labour	David Flack	12,799	24.0	+5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Allan Petchey	10,208	19.2	−1.9
	Green	Irene Willis	643	1.2	New
Majority			16,830	31.6	−7.2
Turnout			53,279	80.4	+5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.7

Elections in the 1980s[]

General election 1987: Castle Point^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard Braine	29,681	59.9	+1.4
	SDP	Anne Bastow	10,433	21.1	−3.7
	Labour	William Deal	9,422	19.0	+2.3
Majority			19,248	38.8	+5.1
Turnout			49,536	74.5	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

General election 1983: Castle Point^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard Braine	26,730	58.5
	SDP	Anne Bastow	11,313	24.8
	Labour	Lynne Cunningham	7,621	16.7
Majority			15,417	33.7
Turnout			45,664	71.3
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also[]

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• nomis Constituency Profile for Castle Point — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Cardiff South and Penarth	Constituency represented by the Father of the House 1987–1992	Succeeded by Old Bexley and Sidcup

Coordinates: 51°32′N 0°34′E / 51.54°N 0.57°E / 51.54; 0.57