County Essex Electorate 64,562 (December 2010) Created from South East Essex Member of parliament Rebecca Harris Replaced by South East Essex | Population 88,011 (2011 census) Created 1983 European Parliament constituency East of England Number of members 1 | |
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Castle Point is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rebecca Harris of the Conservative Party.
Contents
History
This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of South East Essex. Covering the area of Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley and in all but one election 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 the United Kingdom Independence Party but resigned the whip shortly afterwards and sat as an Independent MP. In the 2010 election, Spink lost in Castle Point to the Conservative candidate, Rebecca Harris.
Boundaries
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England has created a Castle Point constituency based entirely within the boundaries of the district council of the same name. The seat is one of only a very few to undergo 1990s and 2000s boundary reviews without any changes at all, 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.
Of all the constituencies of the UK, it has one of the lowest levels of graduates. [1]