Gillingham and Rainham

Not to be confused with Dagenham and Rainham.

Gillingham and Rainham
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Gillingham and Rainham in South East England
CountyKent
Electorate73,951 (2023)[1]
Major settlements
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentNaushabah Khan (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created fromGillingham

Gillingham and Rainham is a constituency[n 1] in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Naushabah Khan of the Labour Party.[2][n 2] It was previously represented since its 2010 creation by Rehman Chishti of the Conservative Party and replaced the previous constituency of Gillingham.

Constituency profile

Gillingham and Rainham is a generally suburban constituency located in the borough of Medway in Kent. It contains the connected towns and villages of Gillingham, Rainham, Twydall, Hempstead and Wigmore. Gillingham is an important commercial centre for the region,[3] and employment in the town was traditionally focused on the Royal Navy's Chatham Dockyard, which lies just outside the constituency's boundaries.[4] High levels of deprivation are present in Gillingham, which contains mostly terraced housing. Rainham, Wigmore and Hempstead are generally affluent and suburban in character with mostly detached or semi-detached housing.[5] The average house price in the constituency is low compared to the rest of South East England and marginally lower than the national average.[6]

In general, residents of the constituency have low levels of education and professional employment. Average household income is similar to the rest of the country but lower than the regional average. White people made up 84% of the population at the 2021 census, a similar proportion to the country as a whole.[6] At the local council, Gillingham is represented by the Labour Party whilst the rest of the constituency elected Conservatives. Voters strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, with an estimated 62% voting in favour of Brexit compared to 52% nationwide.[6]

Boundaries

2010–2023: The Borough of Medway wards of Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Hempstead and Wigmore, Rainham Central, Rainham North, Rainham South, Twydall and Watling.

2023–present: Further to a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023,[7][8] the constituency now comprises the following wards of the Borough of Medway:

  • Gillingham North (nearly all); Gillingham South; Hempstead & Wigmore (nearly all); Rainham North; Rainham South East; Rainham South West; Twydall; Watling.[9]

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020, left the boundaries unchanged.[10]

Members of Parliament

Gillingham prior to 2010

Election Member[11] Party
2010 Rehman Chishti Conservative
2024 Naushabah Khan Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Gillingham and Rainham[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Naushabah Khan 15,562 37.8 +9.4
Conservative Rehman Chishti 11,590 28.2 −33.1
Reform UK Rizvi Rawoof 8,792 21.4 N/A
Green Kate Belmonte 2,318 5.6 +3.3
Liberal Democrats Stuart Bourne 2,248 5.5 +0.1
Independent Peter Cook 344 0.8 +0.3
CPA Roger Peacock 175 0.4 +0.1
SDP Peter Wheeler 111 0.3 N/A
Majority 3,972 9.6 N/A
Turnout 41,140 55.9 −6.1
Registered electors 73,523
Labour gain from Conservative Swing 21.3

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Gillingham and Rainham[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rehman Chishti 28,173 61.3 +5.9
Labour Andy Stamp 13,054 28.4 –7.7
Liberal Democrats Alan Bullion 2,503 5.4 +2.6
Green George Salomon 1,043 2.3 +1.2
UKIP Rob Martin 837 1.8 –2.5
Independent Peter Cook 229 0.5 N/A
CPA Roger Peacock 119 0.3 0.0
Majority 15,119 32.9 +13.6
Turnout 45,958 62.5 –4.4
Conservative hold Swing +6.8
General election 2017: Gillingham and Rainham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rehman Chishti 27,091 55.4 +7.4
Labour Andy Stamp 17,661 36.1 +10.5
UKIP Martin Cook 2,097 4.3 –15.2
Liberal Democrats Paul Chaplin 1,372 2.8 –0.8
Green Clive Gregory 520 1.1 –1.3
CPA Roger Peacock 127 0.3 N/A
Majority 9,430 19.3 –3.1
Turnout 48,868 66.9 +2.1
Conservative hold Swing –1.5
General election 2015: Gillingham and Rainham[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rehman Chishti 22,590 48.0 +1.8
Labour Paul Clark 12,060 25.6 –2.1
UKIP Mark Hanson 9,199 19.5 +16.3
Liberal Democrats Paul Chaplin[16] 1,707 3.6 –14.5
Green Neil Williams 1,133 2.4 +1.6
TUSC Jacqui Berry[17] 273 0.6 N/A
Independent Roger Peacock 72 0.1 N/A
Independent Mike Walters 44 0.1 N/A
Majority 10,530 22.4 +3.9
Turnout 47,078 64.8 –1.2
Conservative hold Swing +1.9
General election 2010: Gillingham and Rainham[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rehman Chishti 21,624 46.2 +5.5
Labour Paul Clark 12,944 27.7 –13.1
Liberal Democrats Andrew Stamp 8,484 18.1 +2.8
UKIP Robert Oakley 1,515 3.2 +0.6
BNP Brian Ravenscroft 1,149 2.5 N/A
English Democrat Dean Lacey 464 1.0 N/A
Green Trish Marchant 356 0.8 N/A
Independent Gordon Bryan 141 0.3 N/A
Medway Independent Party George Meegan 109 0.2 N/A
Majority 8,680 18.5 N/A
Turnout 46,786 66.0 +2.0
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +9.3

Paul Clark was the incumbent MP for Gillingham.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ^ 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

  1. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Gillingham and Rainham – General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  3. ^ Gillingham Town Centre Development Framework
  4. ^ "Chatham Dockyard and its Defences". UNESCO World Heritage Site tentative List. 2012.
  5. ^ "Constituency data: Deprivation in England". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Gillingham+and+Rainham
  7. ^ LGBCE. "Medway | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  8. ^ "The Medway (Electoral Changes) Order 2021".
  9. ^ "New Seat Details – Gillingham and Rainham". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  10. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
  11. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
  12. ^ "General election 2024 candidates". Medway Council. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Gillingham and Rainham - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  14. ^ "General Election 2019 candidates". www.medway.gov.uk.
  15. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ^ "General Election Candidates". Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  17. ^ "MORE TUSC CANDIDATES IN PLACE AS ELECTION CHALLENGE GROWS". www.tusc.org.uk. 19 December 2014.
  18. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

51°22′N 0°34′E / 51.367°N 0.567°E / 51.367; 0.567

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