Post by John Chanin on Aug 13, 2023 10:41:09 GMT
Basildon was the largest of the new towns created in the 1950s, and helped many east Londoners to move into modern housing, mostly rented from the council, and work in the local light industries created as part of the programme. It was an open field development - there was very little here before the new town except for the plotlands. After the first world war plots of land were sold off to individuals cheaply and they were left to make the best use of them they could, and build what they wanted without planning restrictions. The rapid development of the new town saw the Billericay constituency double in size between 1950 and the late 1960s, and Brentwood was removed in 1970 and the seat renamed Basildon after what was now by far its largest settlement. Although the town is more or less the right size for a parliamentary seat, and had one between 1983 and 1997, the Boundary Commission in 1997 found it unable to put the whole town in the same seat, and this has continued through all subsequent boundary reviews. Presently the 4 western wards of the New Town, north of the fast railway line running into Liverpool Street, are linked with the commuter town of Billericay. This is a starkly divided seat.
Billericay is one of the old Essex villages that has seen huge private development since the second world war. The town is separated from Basildon by some open country famous mainly for the Dale Farm gypsy encampment, which was a cause celebre for several years before finally being removed. Billericay is 80% owner-occupied, nearly 50% managerial, and 30% with degrees. There is no council housing to speak of, and it has a much older population. It forms half of the seat and is a very safe Conservative area like the other Essex commuter towns.
Central Basildon is very different. This is the heart of the New Town, including its shopping centre, with many council estates, and over a third of households still in council housing. Less than 30% of residents are in managerial jobs, and just 20% have degrees. There is also a significant ethnic minority population, more black than asian. It has always been the strongest area for Labour within the town, but political change in recent years has made it increasingly competitive, with a strong UKIP presence in mid decade. Laindon Park on the west edge of the town is a little up market from central Basildon, with notably more owner-occupation, and its separate station on the commuter railway, and is marginal politically. Newly brought into the seat in the latest boundary review are 7000 voters in Vange ward to the east, very similar demographically and politically to the rest of central Basildon.
Billericay easily outvotes Basildon and this seat is normally safe for the Conservatives, although the arrival of Vange makes it a little less so. The former MP, John Baron, was originally elected in 2001 in succession to Teresa Gorman for a Billericay seat that included Wickford and Pitsea rather than central Basildon and was therefore even safer. He stood down in 2024 and at the last minute Richard Holden, MP for North-West Durham and Conservative Chairman, was parachuted in. This did not exactly please locals in Basildon, and no doubt contributed to the enormous swing to Labour of 22%, and an excellent performance by Reform who weren’t far behind. South Essex therefore living up to its reputation for knife edge marginals and support for nationalists and populists. Holden, originally a Spad from Blackburn, won by just 20 votes after the Conservative vote more than halved, and this was the third smallest majority in the country.
Census data: Owner-occupied 63% (355/575 in England & Wales), private rented 13% (527th), social rented 24% (74th).
: White 87%(329th), Black 5%(137th), South Asian 3%(282nd), Mixed 3%(236th), Other 2%(306th)
: Managerial & professional 35% (302nd), Routine & Semi-routine 28% (289th)
: Degree 26% (476th), Minimal qualifications 33% (98th)
: Students 5% (327th), Over 65: 16% (396th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 91% from Basildon & Billericay and 9% from Sth Basildon & E Thurrock
All of the old Basildon & Billericay seat is in the new one.
Billericay is one of the old Essex villages that has seen huge private development since the second world war. The town is separated from Basildon by some open country famous mainly for the Dale Farm gypsy encampment, which was a cause celebre for several years before finally being removed. Billericay is 80% owner-occupied, nearly 50% managerial, and 30% with degrees. There is no council housing to speak of, and it has a much older population. It forms half of the seat and is a very safe Conservative area like the other Essex commuter towns.
Central Basildon is very different. This is the heart of the New Town, including its shopping centre, with many council estates, and over a third of households still in council housing. Less than 30% of residents are in managerial jobs, and just 20% have degrees. There is also a significant ethnic minority population, more black than asian. It has always been the strongest area for Labour within the town, but political change in recent years has made it increasingly competitive, with a strong UKIP presence in mid decade. Laindon Park on the west edge of the town is a little up market from central Basildon, with notably more owner-occupation, and its separate station on the commuter railway, and is marginal politically. Newly brought into the seat in the latest boundary review are 7000 voters in Vange ward to the east, very similar demographically and politically to the rest of central Basildon.
Billericay easily outvotes Basildon and this seat is normally safe for the Conservatives, although the arrival of Vange makes it a little less so. The former MP, John Baron, was originally elected in 2001 in succession to Teresa Gorman for a Billericay seat that included Wickford and Pitsea rather than central Basildon and was therefore even safer. He stood down in 2024 and at the last minute Richard Holden, MP for North-West Durham and Conservative Chairman, was parachuted in. This did not exactly please locals in Basildon, and no doubt contributed to the enormous swing to Labour of 22%, and an excellent performance by Reform who weren’t far behind. South Essex therefore living up to its reputation for knife edge marginals and support for nationalists and populists. Holden, originally a Spad from Blackburn, won by just 20 votes after the Conservative vote more than halved, and this was the third smallest majority in the country.
Census data: Owner-occupied 63% (355/575 in England & Wales), private rented 13% (527th), social rented 24% (74th).
: White 87%(329th), Black 5%(137th), South Asian 3%(282nd), Mixed 3%(236th), Other 2%(306th)
: Managerial & professional 35% (302nd), Routine & Semi-routine 28% (289th)
: Degree 26% (476th), Minimal qualifications 33% (98th)
: Students 5% (327th), Over 65: 16% (396th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 91% from Basildon & Billericay and 9% from Sth Basildon & E Thurrock
All of the old Basildon & Billericay seat is in the new one.
| 2017 | % | 2019 | % | Notional | % | 2024 | % | |
| Conservative | 27,381 | 61.0 | 29,590 | 67.1 | 30,867 | 65.9 | 12,905 | 30.6 |
| Labour | 13,981 | 31.1 | 9,178 | 20.8 | 10,118 | 21.6 | 12,885 | 30.6 |
| Liberal Democrat | 1,548 | 3.4 | 3,741 | 8.5 | 3,947 | 8.4 | 2,292 | 5.4 |
| UKIP/Reform | 2,008 | 4.5 | 11,354 | 27.0 | ||||
| Green | 1,395 | 3.2 | 1,395 | 3.0 | 2,123 | 5.0 | ||
| Other | 224 | 0.5 | 526 | 1.1 | 565 | 1.3 | ||
| Majority | 13,400 | 29.8 | 20,412 | 46.3 | 20,749 | 44.3 | 20 | 0.05 |
