Gillingham and Rainham (UK Parliament constituency)

Gillingham and Rainham
Gillingham and Rainham
Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundaries since 2010
	Boundary of Gillingham and Rainham in South East England
County	Kent
Electorate	73,951 (2023)
Major settlements	Gillingham; Rainham; Twydall;
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	TBC (TBC)
Seats	One
Created from	Gillingham

Gillingham and Rainham is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Rehman Chishti, a Conservative.^{[n 2]} It replaced the previous constituency of Gillingham.

Boundaries[edit]

2010–present: The Borough of Medway wards of: Gillingham North (nearly all); Gillingham South; Hempstead & Wigmore (nearly all); Rainham North; Rainham South East; Rainham South West; Twydall; Watling.^[2]

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the 2024 general election remained unchanged.^[3]

Constituency profile[edit]

The constituency is generally suburban and centred on Gillingham, historically a small port, which is within the London Commuter Belt. Local retail, industry, business parks, trades and professions provide constituents with a high level of employment, mostly on moderate to middle incomes;^[4] however, the area is not wholly resilient to unemployment. Registered claimants who were registered jobseekers were marginally lower than the national average of 3.8% at 3.5% of the population, according to a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[5]

Residents' wealth is around average for the UK, but below average for the South East region.^[6] The predecessor constituency of Gillingham was a Labour-Conservative marginal seat though prior to 1997 was a safe Conservative seat. The current constituency can be considered a safe Conservative seat.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Gillingham prior to 2010

Election		Member^[7]	Party
	2010	Rehman Chishti	Conservative

Elections[edit]

Elections in the 2020s[edit]

General election 2024: Gillingham and Rainham ^[8]
Party		Candidate
	Green	Kate Belmonte
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Bourne
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti
	Independent	Peter Cook
	Labour	Naushabah Khan
	CPA	Roger Peacock
	Reform UK	Rizvi Rawoof
	SDP	Peter Wheeler
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s[edit]

General election 2019: Gillingham and Rainham^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	28,173	61.3	+5.9
	Labour	Andy Stamp	13,054	28.4	–7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Bullion	2,503	5.4	+2.6
	Green	George Salomon	1,043	2.3	+1.2
	UKIP	Rob Martin	837	1.8	–2.5
	Independent	Peter Cook	229	0.5	New
	CPA	Roger Peacock	119	0.3	0.0
Majority			15,119	32.9	+13.6
Turnout			45,958	62.5	–4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.8

General election 2017: Gillingham and Rainham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	27,091	55.4	+7.4
	Labour	Andy Stamp	17,661	36.1	+10.5
	UKIP	Martin Cook	2,097	4.3	–15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chaplin	1,372	2.8	–0.8
	Green	Clive Gregory	520	1.1	–1.3
	CPA	Roger Peacock	127	0.3	New
Majority			9,430	19.3	–3.1
Turnout			48,868	66.9	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	–1.5

General election 2015: Gillingham and Rainham^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	22,590	48.0	+1.8
	Labour	Paul Clark	12,060	25.6	–2.1
	UKIP	Mark Hanson	9,199	19.5	+16.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chaplin^[11]	1,707	3.6	–14.5
	Green	Neil Williams	1,133	2.4	+1.6
	TUSC	Jacqui Berry^[12]	273	0.6	New
	Independent	Roger Peacock	72	0.1	New
	Independent	Mike Walters	44	0.1	New
Majority			10,530	22.4	+3.9
Turnout			47,078	64.8	–1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

General election 2010: Gillingham and Rainham^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	21,624	46.2	+5.5
	Labour	Paul Clark	12,944	27.7	–13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Stamp	8,484	18.1	+2.8
	UKIP	Robert Oakley	1,515	3.2	+0.6
	BNP	Brian Ravenscroft	1,149	2.5	New
	English Democrat	Dean Lacey	464	1.0	New
	Green	Trish Marchant	356	0.8	New
	Independent	Gordon Bryan	141	0.3	New
	Medway Independent Party	George Meegan	109	0.2	New
Majority			8,680	18.5	N/A
Turnout			46,786	66.0	+2.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+9.3

Paul Clark was the incumbent MP for Gillingham.

Notes[edit]

^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References[edit]

^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
^ "New Seat Details - Gillingham and Rainham". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
^ Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Gillingham+and+Rainham
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
^ "General election 2024 candidates". Medway Council. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
^ "General Election 2019 candidates". www.medway.gov.uk.
^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "General Election Candidates". Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^ "MORE TUSC CANDIDATES IN PLACE AS ELECTION CHALLENGE GROWS". www.tusc.org.uk.
^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links[edit]

Gillingham and Rainham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
Gillingham and Rainham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

51°22′N 0°34′E / 51.367°N 0.567°E / 51.367; 0.567

[2] A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

[3] As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

[1] "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 24 June 2024.

[4] "New Seat Details - Gillingham and Rainham". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2024.

[5] "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.

[6] "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.

[7] Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian

[8] Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Gillingham+and+Rainham

[rayment-9] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)

[10] "General election 2024 candidates". Medway Council. Retrieved 20 June 2024.

[11] "General Election 2019 candidates". www.medway.gov.uk.

[electoralcalculus2015-12] "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

[13] "General Election Candidates". Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2021.

[tusc.org.uk-14] "MORE TUSC CANDIDATES IN PLACE AS ELECTION CHALLENGE GROWS". www.tusc.org.uk.

[electoralcalculus2010-15] "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

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v t e Constituencies in South East England (91)
Conservative (56)	Aldershot Arundel and South Downs Ashford Aylesbury Banbury Basingstoke Beaconsfield Bexhill and Battle Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Bracknell Chatham and Aylesford Chichester Crawley Dartford East Hampshire East Surrey Eastbourne Eastleigh East Worthing and Shoreham Epsom and Ewell Esher and Walton Faversham and Mid Kent Folkestone and Hythe Gillingham and Rainham Gosport Gravesham Guildford Hastings and Rye Havant Horsham Lewes Maidenhead Mid Sussex Milton Keynes North Newbury New Forest East New Forest West North East Hampshire North West Hampshire Portsmouth North Rochester and Strood Romsey and Southampton North Runnymede and Weybridge Sevenoaks Sittingbourne and Sheppey Southampton Itchen Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tunbridge Wells Winchester Windsor Witney Woking Wokingham Worthing West Wycombe
Labour (7)	Canterbury Dover and Deal Hove and Portslade Oxford East Portsmouth South Slough Southampton Test
Liberal Democrats (2)	Chesham and Amersham Oxford West and Abingdon
Green (1)	Brighton Pavilion
Independent (2)	Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven Reigate
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East Midlands East of England London North East England North West England Northern Ireland Scotland South East England South West England Wales West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber Party affiliations are based on the situation as of the dissolution of parliament on 30 May 2024. Technically all seats are now vacant until the general election on 4 July 2024.