Post by John Chanin on Apr 2, 2020 14:04:58 GMT
This is the latest of the Boundary Commission’s unsatisfactory attempts to draw sensible constituencies in this part of South Essex. Thurrock had grown too large by the late 1970s, and a Billericay seat was recreated in 1983 linking the eastern part of Thurrock District with the commuter towns of Billericay & Wickford - a rather strange shape geographically as it arced around Basildon. In 1997 the linkage was changed to Basildon excluding the eastern end at Pitsea. In 2010 the Boundary Commission had another go, removing central Basildon north of the railway, but adding Pitsea.
Basildon provides just over half the electorate here. Pitsea in the east is famous as one of the old plotlands, developed independently between the wars by people buying small plots of land for virtually nothing. It borders an extensive area of marshland along the Thames, which separates it from Benfleet and Canvey. This is now an area of mixed council and private housing, and politically marginal. Vange, Kingswood, and Lea Chapel South are very much part of the New Town, the section of the centre south of the c2c railway line with its fast connections into the city of London from stations at Pitsea, Basildon Central, and Laindon. There are many commuters these days from Basildon. This was predominantly council housing, although much has been sold under right to buy. Demographically it is decidedly working class, and very similar to the rest of Basildon. Langdon Hills however in the south west of the town is its smartest section, and is predominantly private development.
The Thurrock section consists mostly of the town of Stanford -le-hope, sitting on its hill above the flatlands of the Thames shore which slope gently into extensive marshland. The newer part of the town (known as Corringham) spreads out onto the flatlands east of the old town. This area is up market of Basildon with more people in managerial jobs, and unlike the town is predominantly owner-occupied. Down on the Thames shore at Coryton is the massive new container port built by DP World of Dubai on the site of the old Shellhaven oil refinery, which now forms London’s main port. The seat also includes the rural Orsett ward which is rather anomalous in urban Thurrock, and since 2010 the isolated Thameside village of East Tilbury.
Socially this seat despite its good connections with London (there is a branch line through Stanford-le-hope as well as the main line through Basildon) is a little down market with a low managerial percentage for the London fringes. It is mainly white, although not quite as much so as the commuter towns to the north. Politically it is historically marginal. The boundary changes in 2010 were favourable to the Conservatives, but the notional result showed it would have been Labour (just) in 2005, and the predecessor seat was held by Labour between 1997 and 2010. However it doesn’t look very marginal now. This is one of the seats where political, rather than demographic, change has taken it away from Labour. At local level Labour are still competitive in the Basildon New Town wards, but as elsewhere in south Essex there was a strong UKIP vote in the middle of the last decade, and a BNP vote before that. On the Thurrock side this originally persisted in the form of the Thurrock Independents, but they have faded away. Labour currently hold no Thurrock seats in this constituency. The former UKIP vote has moved overwhelmingly to the Conservatives and they achieved a majority of almost 20,000 in 2019. It seems unlikely that Labour will be winning this seat again anytime soon. The current MP is Stephen Metcalfe who won the seat in 2010, and is a low profile backbencher.
In the latest boundary review the seat has become more Thurrock, as the Vange ward has been moved to the Basildon & Billericay seat, and in exchange Chadwell St Mary has come in from Thurrock. This makes no political difference to the seat.
Census data: owner-occupied 67% (305/573 in England & Wales), private rented 11% (491st), social rented 21% (157th).
:White 93%, Black 3%, Asian 1%, Mixed 2%, Other 1%
: Managerial & professional 29% (467th), Routine & Semi-routine 32% (220th)
: Degree 16% (545th), Minimal qualifications 47% (39th)
: Students 2.6% (434th), Over 65 15% (397th)
Basildon provides just over half the electorate here. Pitsea in the east is famous as one of the old plotlands, developed independently between the wars by people buying small plots of land for virtually nothing. It borders an extensive area of marshland along the Thames, which separates it from Benfleet and Canvey. This is now an area of mixed council and private housing, and politically marginal. Vange, Kingswood, and Lea Chapel South are very much part of the New Town, the section of the centre south of the c2c railway line with its fast connections into the city of London from stations at Pitsea, Basildon Central, and Laindon. There are many commuters these days from Basildon. This was predominantly council housing, although much has been sold under right to buy. Demographically it is decidedly working class, and very similar to the rest of Basildon. Langdon Hills however in the south west of the town is its smartest section, and is predominantly private development.
The Thurrock section consists mostly of the town of Stanford -le-hope, sitting on its hill above the flatlands of the Thames shore which slope gently into extensive marshland. The newer part of the town (known as Corringham) spreads out onto the flatlands east of the old town. This area is up market of Basildon with more people in managerial jobs, and unlike the town is predominantly owner-occupied. Down on the Thames shore at Coryton is the massive new container port built by DP World of Dubai on the site of the old Shellhaven oil refinery, which now forms London’s main port. The seat also includes the rural Orsett ward which is rather anomalous in urban Thurrock, and since 2010 the isolated Thameside village of East Tilbury.
Socially this seat despite its good connections with London (there is a branch line through Stanford-le-hope as well as the main line through Basildon) is a little down market with a low managerial percentage for the London fringes. It is mainly white, although not quite as much so as the commuter towns to the north. Politically it is historically marginal. The boundary changes in 2010 were favourable to the Conservatives, but the notional result showed it would have been Labour (just) in 2005, and the predecessor seat was held by Labour between 1997 and 2010. However it doesn’t look very marginal now. This is one of the seats where political, rather than demographic, change has taken it away from Labour. At local level Labour are still competitive in the Basildon New Town wards, but as elsewhere in south Essex there was a strong UKIP vote in the middle of the last decade, and a BNP vote before that. On the Thurrock side this originally persisted in the form of the Thurrock Independents, but they have faded away. Labour currently hold no Thurrock seats in this constituency. The former UKIP vote has moved overwhelmingly to the Conservatives and they achieved a majority of almost 20,000 in 2019. It seems unlikely that Labour will be winning this seat again anytime soon. The current MP is Stephen Metcalfe who won the seat in 2010, and is a low profile backbencher.
In the latest boundary review the seat has become more Thurrock, as the Vange ward has been moved to the Basildon & Billericay seat, and in exchange Chadwell St Mary has come in from Thurrock. This makes no political difference to the seat.
Census data: owner-occupied 67% (305/573 in England & Wales), private rented 11% (491st), social rented 21% (157th).
:White 93%, Black 3%, Asian 1%, Mixed 2%, Other 1%
: Managerial & professional 29% (467th), Routine & Semi-routine 32% (220th)
: Degree 16% (545th), Minimal qualifications 47% (39th)
: Students 2.6% (434th), Over 65 15% (397th)
2010 | % | 2015 | % | 2017 | % | 2019 | % | |
Conservative | 19,624 | 43.9% | 19,788 | 43.4% | 26,811 | 56.9% | 29,973 | 66.2% |
Labour | 13,852 | 31.0% | 11,493 | 25.2% | 15,321 | 32.5% | 10,051 | 22.2% |
Liberal Democrat | 5,977 | 13.4% | 1,356 | 3.0% | 732 | 1.6% | 1,957 | 4.3% |
UKIP | 2,639 | 5.9% | 12,097 | 26.5% | 3,193 | 6.8% | ||
Green | 680 | 1.4% | ||||||
Others | 2,643 | 5.9% | 859 | 1.9% | 383 | 0.8% | 3,316 | 7.3% |
Majority | 5,772 | 12.9% | 7,691 | 16.9% | 11,490 | 24.4% | 19,922 | 44.0% |
