Sittingbourne and Sheppey (UK Parliament constituency)

(Redirected from Sittingbourne and Sheppey) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997 onwards

Sittingbourne and Sheppey
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Sittingbourne and Sheppey in South East England
County	Kent
Electorate	76,818 (2023)
Major settlements	Sheerness, Minster, Sittingbourne, Kemsley
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Kevin McKenna (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Faversham

Sittingbourne and Sheppey is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2024 general election by Kevin McKenna, a Labour politician and qualified nurse.

Boundaries

Map of 2010–2024 boundaries

1997–2010: The Borough of Swale wards of Borden, Eastern, Grove, Hartlip and Upchurch, Iwade and Lower Halstow, Kemsley, Milton Regis, Minster Cliffs, Murston, Newington, Queenborough and Halfway, Roman, Sheerness East, Sheerness West, Sheppey Central, West Downs, Woodstock.

2010–2015: The Borough of Swale wards of Borden, Chalkwell, Grove, Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch, Iwade and Lower Halstow, Kemsley, Leysdown and Warden, Milton Regis, Minster Cliffs, Murston, Queenborough and Halfway, Roman, St Michael's, Sheerness East, Sheerness West, Sheppey Central, Teynham and Lynsted, West Downs, Woodstock.

2015–2024: The Borough of Swale wards of Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow; Borden and Grove Park; Chalkwell; Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch; Homewood; Kemsley; Milton Regis; Minster Cliffs; Murston; Queenborough and Halfway; Roman; Sheerness; Sheppey Central; Sheppey East; Teynham and Lynsted; The Meads; West Downs; and Woodstock.

2024–present: Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

The Borough of Swale wards of Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow; Borden and Grove Park; Chalkwell; Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch; Homewood; Kemsley; Milton Regis; Minster Cliffs; Murston; Queenborough and Halfway; Roman; Sheerness; Sheppey Central; Sheppey East; The Meads; and Woodstock.

Reduced in size to bring its electorate within the permitted range by transferring the wards of Teynham and Lynstead, and West Downs to Faversham and Mid Kent.

The constituency was created in 1997, mostly from the former seat of Faversham. It covers some of the district of Swale, including Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey.

Constituency profile

The seat includes the industrial town of Sittingbourne, the port of Sheerness, as well as significant areas of natural conservation. Some of the traditional fruit-growing sector remains in this part of North Kent. Residents voted strongly for Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, and are slightly poorer and less healthy than the UK average.

History

The constituency was created in 1997 as the successor to the former Faversham constituency, containing around 75% of the electors of the former seat. The removal of the town of Faversham itself (to the new seat of Faversham and Mid Kent) led to the name change, but Sittingbourne had already been the largest town in the former constituency.

Sittingbourne and Sheppey has been a bellwether of the national result since its creation in 1997, and taken together with its predecessor seat of Faverhsam, the bellwether streak stretches back to 1979. The seat came extremely close to losing this status in the 2005 general election, when Labour held the seat by just 79 votes after a recount, even though the sitting MP, Derek Wyatt, was expecting to lose.

Boundary changes which came into effect for the 2010 general election suggest that the Conservatives would have won the seat in 2005 on the new boundaries, though the estimated notional Conservative majority was extremely small, so that it could have gone either way.

Maintaining its bellwether status, the seat was held by Conservative Gordon Henderson at the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 elections with very strong majorities, then taken by Labour's Kevin McKenna in 2024. However, McKenna has a majority of only 0.9% having received under 30% of the vote. This was aided by a collapse in the Conservative vote, most of which went to Reform UK, making the seat a 3-way marginal for the next election.

Members of Parliament

Faversham prior to 1997

	Member	Party
1997	Derek Wyatt	Labour
2010	Gordon Henderson	Conservative
2024	Kevin McKenna	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin McKenna	11,919	29.1	+8.2
	Conservative	Aisha Cuthbert	11,564	28.2	−38.3
	Reform UK	William Fotheringham-Bray	10,512	25.6	N/A
	Swale Ind.	Mike Baldock	3,238	7.9	N/A
	Green	Sam Banks	1,692	4.1	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Kneller	1,321	3.2	−3.1
	Independent	Matt Brown	529	1.3	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Mike Young	223	0.5	−0.4
Majority			355	0.9	N/A
Turnout			40,998	51.9	−9.0
Registered electors			79,067
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	23.3

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	31,106	66.5
	Labour	9,769	20.9
	Liberal Democrats	2,962	6.3
	Others	1,883	4.1
	Green	1,043	2.2

Turnout		46,763	60.9
Electorate		76,818

General election 2019: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gordon Henderson	34,742	67.6	+7.4
	Labour	Clive Johnson	10,263	20.0	–10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Martin	3,213	6.3	+3.6
	Independent	Monique Bonney	1,257	2.4	N/A
	Green	Sam Collins	1,188	2.3	+1.2
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Mike Young	404	0.8	0.0
	Independent	Lee McCall	327	0.6	0.0
Majority			24,479	47.6	+18.0
Turnout			51,394	61.2	–1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.0

General election 2017: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gordon Henderson	30,911	60.2	+10.7
	Labour	Mike Rolfe	15,700	30.6	+11.0
	Independent	Mike Baldock	2,133	4.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Nevols	1,392	2.7	–0.5
	Green	Mark Lindop	558	1.1	–1.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Mike Young	403	0.8	+0.2
	Independent	Lee McCall	292	0.6	N/A
Majority			15,211	29.6	+4.9
Turnout			51,389	62.7	–2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	–0.2

General election 2015: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gordon Henderson	24,425	49.5	–0.5
	UKIP	Richard Palmer	12,257	24.8	+19.4
	Labour	Guy Nicholson	9,673	19.6	–5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Nevols	1,563	3.2	–13.2
	Green	Gary Miller	1,185	2.4	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Mike Young	275	0.6	–0.1
Majority			12,168	24.7	–0.7
Turnout			49,378	65.0	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	–10.0

General election 2010: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gordon Henderson	24,313	50.0	+8.2
	Labour	Angela Harrison	11,930	24.6	–17.0
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Nevols	7,943	16.4	+3.5
	UKIP	Ian Davison	2,610	5.4	+3.1
	BNP	Lawrence Tames	1,305	2.7	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Mike Young	319	0.7	N/A
	Independent	David Cassidy	158	0.3	N/A
Majority			12,383	25.4	N/A
Turnout			48,578	64.5	+10.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.7

Although its predecessor seat was narrowly retained by Labour in 2005, intervening boundary changes made the constituency notionally Conservative prior to the 2010 general election, and it is therefore listed as a hold rather than a gain.

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Wyatt	17,051	41.8	–4.0
	Conservative	Gordon Henderson	16,972	41.6	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Nelson	5,183	12.7	–1.4
	UKIP	Stephen Dean	926	2.3	+0.6
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Mad Mike Young	479	1.2	–0.6
	Veritas	David Cassidy	192	0.5	N/A
Majority			79	0.2	–9.1
Turnout			40,803	53.7	–3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	–4.6

General election 2001: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Wyatt	17,340	45.8	+5.2
	Conservative	Adrian Lee	13,831	36.5	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Elvina Lowe	5,353	14.1	–4.2
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Mad Mike Young	673	1.8	N/A
	UKIP	Robert Oakley	661	1.7	+0.7
Majority			3,509	9.3	+5.1
Turnout			37,858	57.5	–14.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Derek Wyatt	18,723	40.6
	Conservative	Roger Moate	16,794	36.4
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Truelove	8,447	18.3
	Referendum	Peter Moull	1,082	2.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Chris "Screwy" Driver	644	1.4
	UKIP	Nico Risi	472	1.0
Majority			1,929	4.2
Turnout			46,162	72.3
	Labour win (new seat)

Notes

A county 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

"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
"The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
Orchards http://www.englandinparticular.info/orchards/o-kent.html
Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Sittingbourne+and+Sheppey
Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (1995). The Almanac of British Politics (5th ed.). UK: Routledge. p. 743. ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9.
Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (1991). The Almanac of British Politics (4th ed.). UK: Routledge. p. 402. ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9.
"Education and Health: 2 Jun 2010: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
Sittingbourne and Sheppey
https://kevinmckenna.co.uk/
"Candidates. Cuthbert selected in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. Thompson selected in Heywood and Middleton". ConservativeHome. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
"Sittingbourne and Sheppey Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
Harbert, Joe (1 March 2024). "Swale Independents select leader Mike Baldock as parliamentary candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey at next general election". Kent Online. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
"Sam Banks for Sittingbourne and Sheppey". Swale Green Party. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
"Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
"Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
"Sittingbourne & Sheppey Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
"Loony Party Candidates". Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
"UK Polling Report". Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
"The new Westminster constituencies - full list and how they've changed". The Guardian. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
"BBC News Election 2010: results by constituency". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

Sittingbourne and Sheppey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
Sittingbourne and Sheppey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
Sittingbourne and Sheppey UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

v t e Constituencies in South East England (91)
Labour (36)	Aldershot Ashford Aylesbury Banbury Basingstoke Bracknell Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven Buckingham and Bletchley Chatham and Aylesford Crawley Dartford Dover and Deal Earley and Woodley East Thanet East Worthing and Shoreham Folkestone and Hythe Gillingham and Rainham Gravesham Hastings and Rye Hove and Portslade Isle of Wight West Milton Keynes Central Milton Keynes North Oxford East Portsmouth North Portsmouth South Reading Central Reading West and Mid Berkshire Rochester and Strood Sittingbourne and Sheppey Slough Southampton Itchen Southampton Test Worthing West Wycombe
Conservative (30)	Arundel and South Downs Beaconsfield Bexhill and Battle Bognor Regis and Littlehampton East Grinstead and Uckfield East Hampshire East Surrey Fareham and Waterlooville Farnham and Bordon Faversham and Mid Kent Godalming and Ash Gosport Hamble Valley Havant Herne Bay and Sandwich Isle of Wight East Maidstone and Malling Mid Buckinghamshire New Forest East New Forest West North West Hampshire Reigate Romsey and Southampton North Runnymede and Weybridge Sevenoaks Spelthorne Sussex Weald Tonbridge Weald of Kent Windsor
Liberal Democrats (24)	Bicester and Woodstock Chesham and Amersham Chichester Didcot and Wantage Dorking and Horley Eastbourne Eastleigh Epsom and Ewell Esher and Walton Guildford Henley and Thame Horsham Lewes Maidenhead Mid Sussex Newbury North East Hampshire Oxford West and Abingdon Surrey Heath Tunbridge Wells Winchester Witney Woking Wokingham
Green (1)	Brighton Pavilion
Independent (1)	Canterbury

51°23′N 0°44′E / 51.38°N 0.74°E / 51.38; 0.74

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