County Essex Number of members 1 | Created from Rochford | |
 | ||
Replaced by Rochford, Rayleigh and Wickford | ||
Rayleigh was a parliamentary constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It existed from 1997 to 2010.
Contents
History
This largely rural constituency was the tenth-safest Conservative seat in the United Kingdom and the second-safest seat in Essex.
Boundaries
The District of Rochford wards of Ashingdon, Canewdon, Downhall, Grange and Rawreth, Hawkwell East, Hawkwell West, Hockley Central, Hockley East, Hockley West, Hullbridge Riverside, Hullbridge South, Lodge, Rayleigh Central, Trinity, Wheatley, and Whitehouse, and the Borough of Chelmsford wards of East and West Hanningfield, Rettendon and Runwell, South Hanningfield, South Woodham-Collingwood East, and West and South Woodham-Elmwood and Woodville.
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England has made radical alterations to existing constituencies to allow for the number of parliamentary seats in the county to be increased to eighteen. These changes include the formation of a number of new constituencies in the southern and eastern parts of the county.
Rayleigh has been modified to form a new constituency of Rayleigh and Wickford which was first contested in 2010.
Elections in the 1990s
The 1997 election result has swings relative to the notional, not the actual, 1992 result.