- Maidstone and The Weald (UK Parliament constituency)
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Maidstone and The Weald County constituency for the House of Commons 
Boundary of Maidstone and The Weald in Kent.
Location of Kent within England.County Kent Electorate 70,576 (December 2010)[1] Current constituency Created 1997 Member of Parliament Helen Grant (Conservative) Number of members One Created from Maidstone, Mid Kent, Tunbridge Wells Overlaps European Parliament constituency South East England Maidstone and The Weald is a county constituency which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Contents
Boundaries
The constituency is located in the middle of the county of Kent in south eastern England and includes parts of the areas of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells boroughs. Towns include Maidstone and Cranbrook and - until the next election - Tenterden.
History
The constituency was created for the 1997 general election, after the previous Maidstone constituency was split in two. The southeast Maidstone wards of Shepway and Park Wood and the rural wards east of the town joined Faversham in the new Faversham and Mid Kent constituency. The remaining two-thirds of the electorate in west/central Maidstone were reunited with the town wards that had been lost to Mid Kent in 1983, and joined by a rural part of the Weald to the south of the town, previously in the Tunbridge Wells constituency.
Most of the electorate live in urban Maidstone, which has some light industry but whose economy is increasingly dominated by the service sector (eg insurance). The south of the constituency is rural with significant orchards and market gardens. Many residents commute to London.
Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Kent, the Boundary Commission for England has made major changes to the existing constituency boundaries as a consequence of population changes across the county. One major change is that Tenterden will be lost to Ashford. The modified Maidstone and The Weald constituency is formed from the following electoral wards:
- Allington, Barming, Bridge, Coxheath, Hunton and Linton, East, Fant, Heath, High Street, Loose, Marden and Yalding, North, South and Staplehurst from the borough of Maidstone.
- Benenden and Cranbrook, and Frittenden and Sissinghurst from Tunbridge Wells.
Members of Parliament
The MP for the seat from its creation in 1997 was Ann Widdecombe of the Conservative Party. She was previously MP for the former seat of Maidstone from 1987, and served as a Home Office minister in the government of John Major from 1995 to 1997, and as Shadow Home Secretary from 1999 to 2001. She stood down at the 2010 general election and was succeeded by Helen Grant, also of the Conservative Party.
Election Member[2] Party 1997 Ann Widdecombe Conservative 2010 Helen Grant Conservative Elections
Elections in the 2010s
General Election 2010: Maidstone and the Weald [3] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Helen Grant 23,491 48.0 -3.8 Liberal Democrat Peter Carroll 17,602 36.0 +13.8 Labour Rav Seeruthun 4,769 9.7 -12.6 UKIP Gareth Kendal 1,637 3.3 +0.3 Green Stuart Jeffery 655 1.3 +0.4 National Front Gary Butler 643 1.3 N/A Christian Heidi Simmonds 131 0.3 N/A Majority 5,889 12.0 -18.5 Turnout 48,928 68.9 +3.7 Conservative hold Swing -8.5 Elections in the 2000s
General Election 2005: Maidstone and the Weald Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Ann Widdecombe 25,670 52.7 +3.1 Labour Beth Breeze 10,814 22.2 -4.8 Liberal Democrat Mark Corney 10,808 22.2 +2.3 UKIP Anthony 'Felix' Robertson 1,463 3.0 +0.9 Majority 14,856 30.5 Turnout 48,755 65.8 4.2 Conservative hold Swing +3.9 General Election 2001: Maidstone & The Weald Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Ann Widdecombe 22,621 49.6 +5.5 Labour Mark Davis 12,303 27.0 +0.8 Liberal Democrat Allison Wainman 9,064 19.9 -2.5 UKIP John Botting 978 2.1 +1.5 Independent Neil Hunt 611 1.3 N/A Majority 10,318 22.6 Turnout 45,577 61.6 -12.1 Conservative hold Swing Elections in the 1990s
General Election 1997: Maidstone and the Weald[4] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Ann Widdecombe 23,657 44.13 Labour J Morgan 14,054 26.22 Liberal Democrat J Nelson 11,986 22.36 Referendum Party S Hopkins 1,998 3.73 Socialist Labour M Cleator 979 1.83 Green P Kemp 480 0.9 UKIP R Owen 339 0.63 Natural Law J Oldbury 115 0.22 Majority 9,603 17.91 Turnout 53,605 73.7 Notes and references
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)
- ^ BBC Election 2010, Maidstone and The Weald
- ^ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/396.htm
Sources
- T H B Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
- Robert Waller, The Almanac of British Politics (1st edition, London: Croom Helm, 1983; 5th edition, London: Routledge, 1996)
- Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
See also
Categories:- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies established in 1997
- Parliamentary constituencies in Kent
- Maidstone (borough)
- Politics of Tunbridge Wells
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