County East Sussex Electorate 66,557 (December 2010) Created from Brighton Member of parliament Simon Kirby Replaced by Brighton | Population 91,567 (2011 census) Created 1950 European Parliament constituency South East England Number of members 1 | |
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Brighton Kemptown is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament covering the eastern portion of the city of Brighton and Hove including Kemptown and part of the Lewes District, represented since 2010 by Simon Kirby of the Conservative Party.
Contents
Boundaries
1950-1983: The County Borough of Brighton wards of Elm Grove, Hanover, King's Cliff, Lewes Road, Moulsecoomb, Pier, Queen's Park, Rottingdean, and St John's.
1983-1997: The Borough of Brighton wards of Hanover, King's Cliff, Marine, Moulsecoomb, Queen's Park, Rottingdean, Tenantry, and Woodingdean.
1997-2010: The Borough of Brighton wards of King's Cliff, Marine, Moulsecoomb, Queen's Park, Rottingdean, Tenantry, and Woodingdean, and the District of Lewes wards of East Saltdean, Peacehaven East, Peacehaven North, Peacehaven West, and Telscombe Cliffs.
2010-present: The City of Brighton and Hove wards of East Brighton, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queen's Park, Rottingdean Coastal, and Woodingdean, and the District of Lewes wards of East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs, Peacehaven East, Peacehaven North, and Peacehaven West.
Constituency profile
In most recent general elections it has been a marginal seat between the Labour and the Conservative parties.
The constituency takes in the eastern part of Brighton and semi-rural suburbs and villages stretching out to the east. From west to east it includes Queen's Park; Kemptown, the centre of Brighton's vibrant gay community; the council estates of Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb; and beyond the racecourse affluent and genteel coastal villages like Woodingdean, Saltdean and the town of Peacehaven.
History
This constituency was created in 1950 when the two-seat constituency of Brighton was split into two.
The Labour Party first won it in 1964 with a majority of seven. Dennis Hobden increased his majority in 1966 but lost the seat in 1970 and another Labour MP was not returned until 1997.
Boundary changes for the 1997 election moved Peacehaven, a semi-rural area, into the constituency. This added a ward where the Conservatives had been favoured, but Labour gained the seat in its landslide victory. Des Turner held it until 2010, when Simon Kirby of the Conservative Party won.
The Liberal Democrats and their two predecessors had their largest share of the vote in 1983, and following national trends these parties have formed the third-largest party since 1950. Their 2010 result was 0.6% behind the record share of the vote, 18.6% for the SDP.
The Green Party came fourth in the 2010 election on 5.5%, a better result than most around the country but substantially less than in neighbouring Brighton Pavilion, where the party gained its first MP in 2010.
Simon Kirby held the seat for Conservatives in 2015, but his majority was more than halved whilst both the Conservative and Labour shares of the vote increased. The Liberal Democrat voteshare collapsed to 3% and the party came fifth, behind UKIP and the Greens.