South Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)

South Thanet is a constituency[n 1] in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Craig Mackinlay, a Conservative.[n 2]

South Thanet
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of South Thanet in Kent
Outline map
Location of Kent within England
CountyKent
Electorate67,970 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsRamsgate, Broadstairs and Sandwich
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentCraig Mackinlay (Conservative)
SeatsOne
Created fromThanet West, Dover and Thanet East[2]

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to moderate boundary changes and will be renamed East Thanet, to be first contested at the next general election.[3]

Constituency profile

Tourism is an important economic activity with entertainment and beaches, particularly at Broadstairs. The constituency also includes part of the Stour Valley Walk, which passes through Sandwich on its way to Canterbury and beyond. There are picturesque villages with oast houses. The amount of fishing and coastal trade is much reduced relative to the 19th century, and is small compared to many other British ports. The seat has a higher proportion of retired people than the national average[4] and incomes tend to be clustered around the national mean.[5] Economic developments have included the nearby Thanet Offshore Wind Project as well as commercial, recreational and tourism activities. Farming, trades, and Port of Ramsgate provide much of the employment. Pharmaceuticals received a blow when Pfizer withdrew from the area. The unemployed claimant count, at 5.4%, was the highest of the South East's 84 constituencies at the end of 2010, and greater than the national average of 3.8%.[n 3][6] Since its creation in 1983 the seat has been a bellwether. In the most recent 2019 European Parliament Elections the newly formed Brexit Party won an estimated 46.73% share of the 26,295 votes cast in South Thanet.

Electoral spending criminal investigation following the 2015 general election

In 2016 an investigation by Channel 4 News revealed that the Conservative Party had spent many thousands of pounds centrally on battlebuses to transport activists, and hotel accommodation for the activists, who went to campaign in marginal constituencies, including South Thanet. The expenditure on the buses was declared by the Conservative Party on its national declaration of "Campaign Spending", but in some cases the hotel accommodation was not declared at all as election spending when it should have been. In addition, there is controversy about whether the expenditure, both on the buses and the accommodation, should have been declared on the declarations of expenditure for the constituency made by each candidate's election agent. Kent Police began an investigation into the spending returns of Craig Mackinlay following the Channel 4 report.[7]

In a court case on 1 June 2016, brought against Mackinlay and his election agent Nathan Gray,[8] District Judge Barron granted more time for investigation saying "In this case, the allegations are far-reaching and the consequences of a conviction would be of a local and national significance with the potential for election results being declared void."[9]

On 14 March 2017, it was reported that Mackinlay had been interviewed under caution by officers investigating the allegations.[10] On 2 June 2017, six days before the 2017 general election, Mackinlay and two Conservative party officials were charged by the Crown Prosecution Service with offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983. They were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017.[11]

On 9 January 2019, Mackinlay was cleared of election expenses fraud.[12] One of the other defendants, Marion Little, was found guilty of two charges and given a nine-month suspended sentence and £5000 fine.[13] She retained the OBE she had been awarded for political service in 2015.[14]

Boundaries

1983–2010: The District of Thanet wards of Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Central Eastcliff, Central Westcliff, Kingsgate, Minster Parish, Newington, Northwood, Pierremont, St Lawrence, St Peter's, Sir Moses Montefiore, Southwood, and Upton, and the District of Dover wards of Ash, Little Stour, Sandwich, Woodnesborough with Staple, and Worth.

2010–present: The District of Thanet wards of Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Central Harbour, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Cliftonville East, Cliftonville West, Eastcliff, Kingsgate, Nethercourt, Newington, Northwood, St Peter's, Sir Moses Montefiore, and Viking, and the District of Dover wards of Little Stour and Ashstone, and Sandwich.

South Thanet consists of the southern and eastern part of Thanet district (the towns of Ramsgate and Broadstairs, the Cliftonville area of Margate and the village of Cliffsend) together with the northern part of Dover district, comprising the ancient Cinque Port of Sandwich and surrounding villages.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[15] Party
1983 Jonathan Aitken Conservative
1997 Stephen Ladyman Labour
2010 Laura Sandys Conservative
2015 Craig Mackinlay Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: South Thanet[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Craig Mackinlay 27,084 56.1 +5.3
Labour Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt 16,497 34.2 -3.7
Liberal Democrats Martyn Pennington 2,727 5.7 +2.7
Green Rebecca Wing 1,949 4.0 +2.4
Majority 10,587 21.9 +9.0
Turnout 48,257 65.8 −3.0
Conservative hold Swing +4.5
General election 2017: South Thanet[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Craig Mackinlay 25,262 50.8 +12.7
Labour Raushan Ara 18,875 37.9 +14.1
UKIP Stuart Piper 2,997 6.0 −26.4
Liberal Democrats Jordan Williams 1,514 3.0 +1.1
Green Trevor Roper 809 1.6 −0.6
Independent Tim Garbutt 181 0.4 New
CPA Faith Fisher 115 0.2 New
Majority 6,387 12.9 +7.2
Turnout 49,753 68.8 −1.6
Conservative hold Swing -0.8
See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § South Thanet
General election 2015: South Thanet[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Craig Mackinlay 18,838 38.1 −9.9
UKIP Nigel Farage 16,026 32.4 +26.9
Labour Will Scobie 11,740 23.8 −7.6
Green Ian Driver 1,076 2.2 New
Liberal Democrats Russell Timpson 932 1.9 −13.2
Free United Kingdom Party Al Murray 318 0.6 New
Manston Airport Independent Ruth Bailey 191 0.4 New
We Are The Reality Party Nigel Askew 126 0.3 New
Party for a United Thanet Grahame Birchall 63 0.1 New
Independent Dean McCastree 61 0.1 New
Al-Zebabist Nation of Ooog Zebadiah Abu-Obadiah 30 0.05 New
Majority 2,812 5.7 −10.9
Turnout 49,401 70.4 +5.1
Conservative hold Swing −18.4

1: Murray appeared on the ballot paper without any description,[21] but campaigned under the label of the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP).[22]

General election 2010: South Thanet[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Laura Sandys 22,043 48.0 +6.8
Labour Stephen Ladyman 14,426 31.4 −8.1
Liberal Democrats Peter Bucklitsch 6,935 15.1 +2.9
UKIP Trevor Shonk 2,529 5.5 +0.7
Majority 7,617 16.6 N/A
Turnout 45,933 65.3 +0.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +7.4

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: South Thanet[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephen Ladyman 16,660 40.4 −5.3
Conservative Mark MacGregor 15,996 38.8 −2.3
Liberal Democrats Guy Voizey 5,431 13.2 +3.8
UKIP Nigel Farage 2,079 5.0 +3.7
Green Howard Green 888 2.2 New
Independent Maude Kinsella 188 0.5 New
Majority 664 1.6 -3.0
Turnout 41,242 65.0 1.1
Labour hold Swing −1.5
General election 2001: South Thanet[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephen Ladyman 18,002 45.7 −0.5
Conservative Mark MacGregor 16,210 41.1 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Guy Voizey 3,706 9.4 −2.3
Independent William Baldwin 770 2.0 New
UKIP Terry Eccott 502 1.3 New
National Front Bernard Franklin 242 0.6 New
Majority 1,792 4.6 -1.8
Turnout 39,432 63.9 −7.7
Labour hold Swing −0.9

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: South Thanet[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephen Ladyman 20,777 46.2 +18.1
Conservative Jonathan Aitken 17,899 39.8 −11.9
Liberal Democrats Barbara Hewitt-Silk 5,263 11.7 −6.6
Independent C Crook 631 1.4 New
Green David Wheatley 418 0.9 −0.9
Majority 2,878 6.4 N/A
Turnout 44,488 71.6 -6.6
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +15.0
General election 1992: South Thanet[27][28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jonathan Aitken 25,253 51.7 −2.6
Labour Mark James 13,740 28.1 +7.2
Liberal Democrats Bill Pitt 8,948 18.3 −6.5
Green Sue Peckham 871 1.8 New
Majority 11,513 23.6 −5.9
Turnout 48,812 78.2 +4.5
Conservative hold Swing −4.9

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: South Thanet[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jonathan Aitken 25,135 54.3 −2.2
Liberal Bill Pitt 11,452 24.8 +0.7
Labour Chris Wright 9,673 20.9 +1.5
Majority 13,683 29.5 −2.9
Turnout 46,260 73.7 +3.7
Conservative hold Swing −1.4
General election 1983: South Thanet[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jonathan Aitken 24,512 56.5
Liberal Ian Josephs 10,461 24.1
Labour Martin Clark 8,429 19.4
Majority 14,051 32.4
Turnout 43,402 70.0
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes
  1. A county 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.
  3. Third and second were North Thanet and Hastings & Rye

References
  1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. "'Thanet South', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  3. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  4. "2011 Census Interactive - ONS". Ons.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  5. "Check Browser Settings". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  6. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  7. Sommerlad, Nick. "Did the Tories 'break election laws' with battle bus spending? Here's everything you need to know". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  8. Jon Stone (1 June 2016). "Tory MP moves to block police inquiry into alleged election fraud". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  9. Nicola Slawson and agencies. "Judge grants extension to police investigation into Tory election fraud". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  10. "MP Craig Mackinlay quizzed over election expenses". BBC News. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  11. "Conservative candidate Craig Mackinlay charged over election expenses". BBC News. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  12. "MP Craig Mackinlay cleared of election expenses fraud". BBC News. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  13. "Tory official convicted of falsifying expenses in race against Farage". BBC News. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  14. "Tories rewarded in New Years honours list". Conservative Home. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  15. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
  16. "Thanet South Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  17. "Statement of persons nominated, notice of poll and situation of polling stations" (PDF). Thanet District Council. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  18. "Candidates standing in Kent and Medway across Kent's 17 parliamentary constituencies". KentOnline. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  19. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  20. "Statement of the persons nominated for election as a Member of Parliament for South Thanet Constituency". Thanet District Council.
  21. "South Thanet". Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  22. "Thanet South parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  23. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  24. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  26. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  28. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  29. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  30. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

51°18′N 1°22′E

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