Coordinates: 50°54′36″N 0°39′25″E / 50.910°N 0.657°E
| Hastings and Rye County constituency |
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| Hastings and Rye shown within East Sussex, and East Sussex shown within England | |
| Created: | 1983 |
| MP: | Michael Foster |
| Party: | Labour |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | East Sussex |
| EP constituency: | South East England |
Hastings and Rye is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Contents |
Boundaries
The main settlements in the constituency are the town of Hastings and smaller nearby town of Rye. The constituency also includes the Cinque Port of Winchelsea (the smallest town in Britain) and the villages of Fairlight, Winchelsea Beach, Three Oaks, Guestling, Icklesham, Playden, Iden, Rye Harbour, East Guldeford, Rye Foreign, Camber and Pett.
It includes the whole of the Borough of Hastings and the four wards of the District of Rother: Brede Valley, Eastern Rother, Marsham, and Rye.
The constituency is set in a relatively isolated part of Sussex and so does not enjoy some of the more general affluence of this part of the country. Hastings is a traditional seaside resort, but with some light industry. Rye is a largely historic tourist town, though with a small port. The seat is considered a deprived area.
History
The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Hastings and Rye. The Conservative MP for Hastings since 1970, Kenneth Warren, won the new seat, while the Conservative MP for Rye since 1955, Bryant Godman Irvine, retired. Warren held the seat until his retirement in 1992; it was formerly a Conservative stronghold, with the Liberal Party (now the Liberal Democrats) regularly coming second. Jacqui Lait held the seat for the Conservatives on Warren's retirement. However, the 1997 general election proved to be a dramatic watershed: the Labour candidate Michael Foster narrowly defeated Lait, becoming the second-least expected Labour MP in the landslide of that year and turning the seat into a three-way marginal. Foster held the seat, again with slim majorities over the Conservatives, at the 2001 and 2005 general elections. The Liberal Democrat vote has fallen considerably, leaving them in a distant third place.
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Kenneth Warren | Conservative | |
| 1992 | Jacqui Lait | Conservative | |
| 1997 | Michael Foster | Labour | |
Elections
| Confirmed candidates for the next UK general election[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Jabez Foster | ||||
| Liberal Democrat | Nick Perry | ||||
| Conservative | Amber Rudd | ||||
| General Election 2005: Hastings and Rye | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Foster | 18,107 | 42.1 | -5.0 | |
| Conservative | Mark Coote | 16,081 | 37.4 | +0.8 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Richard Stevens | 6,479 | 15.1 | +4.8 | |
| UKIP | Terry Grant | 1,098 | 2.6 | +0.4 | |
| Green | Sally Phillips | 1,032 | 2.4 | +0.7 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Viscount Clarkey of Rochdale Canal Ord-Clarke | 207 | 0.5 | 0.0 | |
| Majority | 2,026 | 4.7 | |||
| Turnout | 43,004 | 67.8 | 9.5 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -2.9 | |||
| General Election 2001: Hastings and Rye | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Foster | 19,402 | 47.1 | +12.7 | |
| Conservative | Mark Coote | 15,094 | 36.6 | +7.5 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Graem Peters | 4,266 | 10.3 | -17.6 | |
| UKIP | Alan Coomber | 911 | 2.2 | +1.2 | |
| Green | Sally Phillips | 721 | 1.7 | N/A | |
| Independent (politician) | Gillian Bargery | 486 | 1.2 | N/A | |
| Monster Raving Loony | John Ord-Clarke | 198 | 0.5 | +0.2 | |
| Rock 'n' Roll Loony | Brett McLean | 140 | 0.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,308 | 10.5 | |||
| Turnout | 41,218 | 58.3 | -11.4 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1997: Hastings and Rye | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Foster | 16,867 | 34.4 | +18.6 | |
| Conservative | Jacqui Lait | 14,307 | 29.2 | -18.4 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Monroe Palmer | 13,717 | 28.0 | -7.3 | |
| Referendum Party | Christopher McGovern | 2,511 | 5.1 | N/A | |
| Liberal | Jane Amstad | 1,046 | 2.1 | N/A | |
| UKIP | W N Andrews | 472 | 1.0 | N/A | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Derek Tiverton | 149 | 0.3 | 0.0 | |
| Majority | 2,560 | 5.2 | |||
| Turnout | 49,069 | 69.7 | -5.2 | ||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +18.5 | |||
| General Election 1992: Hastings and Rye | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Jacqui Lait | 25,573 | 47.6 | -2.5 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Monroe Palmer | 18,939 | 35.2 | -0.8 | |
| Labour | Richard Stevens | 8,458 | 15.7 | +2.6 | |
| Green | Sally Philips | 640 | 1.2 | N/A | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Derek Tiverton | 168 | 0.3 | -0.1 | |
| Majority | 6,634 | 12.4 | |||
| Turnout | 53,778 | 74.9 | +3.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -0.9 | |||
| General Election 1987: Hastings and Rye | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Kenneth Warren | 26,163 | 50.1 | -3.2 | |
| Liberal | David J Amies | 18,816 | 36.0 | +5.5 | |
| Labour | Richard Stevens | 6,825 | 13.1 | -2.1 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Derek Tiverton | 242 | 0.4 | N/A | |
| Independent (politician) | S P Davies | 194 | 0.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7,347 | 14.1 | |||
| Turnout | 52,240 | 71.8 | +2.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -4.4 | |||
| General Election 1983: Hastings and Rye | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Kenneth Warren | 25,626 | 53.3 | ||
| Liberal | David J Amies | 14,646 | 30.5 | ||
| Labour | N Knowles | 7,304 | 15.2 | ||
| Independent (politician) | G L McNally | 503 | 1.0 | ||
| Majority | 10,980 | 22.8 | |||
| Turnout | 48,079 | 68.9 | |||
Sources
- Election result, 2005 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997 - 2001 (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1983 - 1992 (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1992 - 2005 (Guardian)
See also
References
- ^ Hastings and Rye, UKPollingReport
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