Witham (UK Parliament constituency)

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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

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

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[]

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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[]

Elections[]

See also[]

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

References[]

Coordinates: 51°48′N 0°39′E / 51.80°N 0.65°E / 51.80; 0.65