| Rayleigh and Wickford | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundaries since 2024
| |
Boundary of Rayleigh and Wickford in the East of England
| |
| County | Essex |
| Electorate | 76,422 (2023)[1] |
| Major settlements | Hawkwell, Hockley, Rayleigh and Wickford |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2010 |
| Member of Parliament | Mark Francois (Conservative) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Rayleigh, Billericay |
Rayleigh and Wickford is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Mark Francois, a Conservative.[n 2]
This small-town studded portion of rural Essex reaches out almost as far as the North Sea beside Rochford and has income levels on average slightly above the national average, low unemployment,[2] and little social housing.[3][4]
The seat was created for the 2010 general election following a review of the Parliamentary representation of Essex by the Boundary Commission for England. It was formed from the majority of the abolished constituency of Rayleigh, together with the town of Wickford, previously in the abolished constituency of Billericay.
Francois was previously Member of Parliament for Rayleigh.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Minor loss of sparsely populated area in the east of the constituency to the newly named Southend East and Rochford seat.
Rayleigh and Billericay prior to 2010
| Election | Member[7] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Mark Francois | Conservative | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Francois | 17,756 | 37.0 | −35.9 | |
| Reform UK | Grant Randall[9] | 12,135 | 25.3 | +25.3 | |
| Labour | James Hedges[10] | 11,823 | 24.6 | +8.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Stewart Mott | 4,068 | 8.5 | +0.8 | |
| Green | Christopher Taylor[11] | 2,196 | 4.6 | +0.9 | |
| Majority | 5,621 | 11.7 | –45.6 | ||
| Turnout | 47,978 | 62.7 | –6.6 | ||
| Registered electors | 76,576 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | –30.6 | |||
| 2019 notional result[12] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| Conservative | 38,652 | 72.9 | |
| Labour | 8,304 | 15.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 4,081 | 7.7 | |
| Green | 1,960 | 3.7 | |
| Turnout | 52,997 | 69.3 | |
| Electorate | 76,422 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Francois | 39,864 | 72.6 | +5.9 | |
| Labour | David Flack | 8,864 | 16.1 | −8.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ron Tindall | 4,171 | 7.6 | +4.8 | |
| Green | Paul Thorogood | 2,002 | 3.6 | +1.7 | |
| Majority | 31,000 | 56.5 | +14.1 | ||
| Turnout | 54,901 | 69.5 | −0.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +7.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Francois | 36,914 | 66.7 | +12.0 | |
| Labour | Mark Daniels | 13,464 | 24.3 | +11.7 | |
| UKIP | Peter Smith | 2,326 | 4.2 | −18.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ron Tindall | 1,557 | 2.8 | −0.2 | |
| Green | Paul Hill | 1,062 | 1.9 | −1.0 | |
| Majority | 23,450 | 42.4 | +10.0 | ||
| Turnout | 55,323 | 70.4 | +2.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +0.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Francois | 29,088 | 54.7 | −3.1 | |
| UKIP | John Hayter[15] | 11,858 | 22.3 | +18.1 | |
| Labour | David Hough | 6,705 | 12.6 | −1.9 | |
| Independent | Linda Kendall[16] | 2,418 | 4.5 | New | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mike Pitt[17] | 1,622 | 3.0 | −12.1 | |
| Green | Sarah Yapp[18] | 1,529 | 2.9 | New | |
| Majority | 17,230 | 32.4 | −10.3 | ||
| Turnout | 53,220 | 68.3 | +2.4 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −10.6 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Francois* | 30,257 | 57.8 | +3.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Susan Gaszczak | 7,919 | 15.1 | −0.3 | |
| Labour | Michael Le Surf | 7,577 | 14.5 | −12.0 | |
| English Democrat | John Hayter | 2,219 | 4.2 | New | |
| UKIP | Tino Callaghan | 2,211 | 4.2 | +0.1 | |
| BNP | Tony Evennett | 2,160 | 4.1 | New | |
| Majority | 22,338 | 42.7 | +15.3 | ||
| Turnout | 50,132 | 65.9 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +8.0 | |||
51°36′N 0°37′E / 51.6°N 0.61°E / 51.6; 0.61
