Gillingham and Rainham | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Kent |
Electorate | 73,951 (2023)[1] |
Major settlements | |
Current constituency | |
Created | 2010 |
Member of Parliament | Naushabah Khan (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Gillingham |
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.
2010–present: The Borough of Medway wards of: Gillingham North (nearly all); Gillingham South; Hempstead & Wigmore (nearly all); Rainham North; Rainham South East; Rainham South West; Twydall; Watling.[3]
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the 2024 general election remained unchanged.[4]
The constituency is generally suburban and centred on Gillingham, historically a small port, which is within the London Commuter Belt. Local retail, industry, business parks, trades and professions provide constituents with a high level of employment, mostly on moderate to middle incomes;[5] however, the area is not wholly resilient to unemployment. Registered claimants who were registered jobseekers were marginally lower than the national average of 3.8% at 3.5% of the population, according to a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[6]
Residents' wealth is around average for the UK, but below average for the South East region.[7] The predecessor constituency of Gillingham was a Labour-Conservative marginal seat though prior to 1997 was a safe Conservative seat. The current constituency had been considered a safe Conservative seat until 2024.
Gillingham prior to 2010
Election | Member[8] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Rehman Chishti | Conservative | |
2024 | Naushabah Khan | Labour |
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 | +21.4 | |
Green | Kate Belmonte | 2,318 | 5.6 | +3.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Stuart Bourne | 2,248 | 5.5 | +0.1 | |
Independent | Peter Cook – UCAT | 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 |
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 |
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 |
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[13] | 1,707 | 3.6 | –14.5 | |
Green | Neil Williams | 1,133 | 2.4 | +1.6 | |
TUSC | Jacqui Berry[14] | 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 |
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.