Basildon (UK Parliament constituency)

Basildon
Basildon
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundary of Basildon in Essex from 1997-2010.
	Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
February 1974–2010
Seats	One
Created from	Billericay
Replaced by	Basildon and Billericay, South Basildon and East Thurrock

Basildon was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

The seat was created for the February 1974 general election from the majority of the abolished constituency of Billericay. Its electorate was reduced for the 1983 general election when Billericay was re-established. It underwent a major redistributions for the 1997 election and again for the 2010 election, when it was renamed as South Basildon and East Thurrock.

Basildon was one of the best known bellwether constituencies in Britain, having voted for the winning party in each election for the duration of its existence. The failure of the Labour Party to win it in the 1992 election — Basildon would be the first to declare of all the marginal seats — foreshadowed Labour's fourth straight defeat at the hands of the Conservative Party.

It was a (famously) Conservative seat between 1979 and 1997 as the quintessential "Essex man" constituency based on the new town of Basildon. Much of its population has its origins in the East End of London, who as a group traditionally voted for the Labour Party.

However, throughout the 1980s and until the Labour landslide victory of 1997, many voters in the area transferred their loyalties to the Conservative Party. The MP throughout that period was David Amess, who himself originated from east London (Plaistow), and later moved to the safer seat of Southend West. New Labour sought to take seats exactly like this one, which were crucial in ensuring they won the 1997 general election by a landslide. Labour took the seat in 1997 and 2001 with a large majority, and in 2005 with a reduced majority.

Both the successor seats that replaced Basildon in 2010 were considered to be much less favourable to Labour than the old Basildon seat, ending Basildon's bellwether status.^[1]

Boundaries and boundary changes

1974–1983

The Urban District of Basildon.^[2]

Formed from the majority of the abolished constituency of Billericay, comprising the former Urban District thereof, which had been reconstituted as the Urban District of Basildon.

1983–1997

The District of Basildon wards of Fryerns Central, Fryerns East, Langdon Hills, Lee Chapel North, Nethermayne, Pitsea East, Pitsea West, and Vange.^[3]

Northern parts, including Billericay and Wickford transferred to the re-established constituency of Billericay.

1997–2010

The District of Basildon wards of Fryerns Central, Fryerns East, Langdon Hills, Lee Chapel North, Nethermayne, and Vange; and
The Borough of Thurrock wards of Corringham and Fobbing, Orsett, Stanford-le-Hope, and The Homesteads.^[4]

Major realignment of boundaries with Billericay; Pitsea was transferred to Billericay in exchange for the northern part of the Borough of Thurrock.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England made radical changes to all parliamentary constituencies in the county for the 2010 general election, and the Basildon constituency was divided. The majority of the seat formed the basis of the new South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency, while the wards around central Basildon were merged with the majority of the former Billericay constituency to form a new seat called Basildon and Billericay.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[5]	Party	Notes
February 1974	Eric Moonman	Labour
1979	Harvey Proctor	Conservative	Contested Billericay following redistribution
1983	David Amess	Conservative	Contested Southend West following redistribution
1997	Angela Smith	Labour Co-op	Contested South Basildon and East Thurrock following redistribution
2010	constituency abolished: see South Basildon and East Thurrock and Basildon and Billericay

Elections

Elections in the 1970s

1970 notional result^[6]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	32,200	52.2
	Conservative	29,500	47.8

Turnout		61,700	74.1
Electorate		83,276

General election February 1974: Basildon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Moonman	33,499	45.2	–7.0
	Conservative	Ronald Denney	22,832	30.8	–17.0
	Liberal	Edward Fortune	17,794	24.0	New
Majority			10,667	14.4	+10.0
Turnout			74,125	82.0	+7.9
Registered electors			90,357
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.0

General election October 1974: Basildon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Moonman	32,298	47.9	+2.7
	Conservative	David Atkinson	21,747	32.2	+1.4
	Liberal	Edward Fortune	12,816	19.0	−5.0
	Ind. Labour Party	Robert Chaplin	599	0.9	New
Majority			10,551	15.6	+1.3
Turnout			67,460	73.8	−8.2
Registered electors			91,416
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 1979: Basildon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harvey Proctor	37,919	46.9	+14.7
	Labour	Eric Moonman	32,739	40.5	−7.4
	Liberal	Raymond Auvray	9,280	11.5	−7.5
	National Front	GA Sawyer	880	1.1	New
Majority			5,180	6.4	N/A
Turnout			79,938	78.0	+4.2
Registered electors			103,595
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+11.0

1979 notional result^[7]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	24,552	52.6
	Conservative	16,389	35.1
	Liberal	5,267	11.3
	Others	500	1.1

Turnout		46,708
Electorate

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Basildon^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Amess	17,516	38.7	+3.6
	Labour Co-op	Julian Fulbrook	16,137	35.6	−16.9
	SDP	Sue Slipman	11,634	25.7	+14.4
Majority			1,379	3.0	N/A
Turnout			45,287	69.0	−9.0
Registered electors			69,604
	Conservative gain from Labour (Notional.)		Swing	+10.3

General election 1987: Basildon^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Amess	21,858	43.5	+4.9
	Labour Co-op	Julian Fulbrook	19,209	38.3	+2.6
	Liberal	Raymond Auvray	9,139	18.2	−7.5
Majority			2,649	5.3	+2.3
Turnout			50,206	73.3	+4.8
Registered electors			68,500
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Basildon^[10]^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Amess	24,159	44.9	+1.4
	Labour Co-op	John Potter	22,679	42.2	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Williams	6,967	12.9	−5.3
Majority			1,480	2.7	−2.6
Turnout			53,805	79.6	+6.3
Registered electors			67,585
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.3

1992 notional result
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	27,291	45.1
	Labour	24,645	40.7
	Liberal Democrats	8,599	14.2

Turnout		60,535	79.4
Electorate		76,236

General election 1997: Basildon^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Angela Smith	29,646	55.8	+15.1
	Conservative	John Baron	16,366	30.8	−14.3
	Liberal Democrats	Lindsay Granshaw	4,608	8.7	−5.5
	Referendum	Craig Robinson	2,462	4.6	New
Majority			13,280	25.0	N/A
Turnout			53,082	71.7	−7.7
Registered electors			73,989
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.7

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Basildon^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Angela Smith	21,551	52.7	−3.1
	Conservative	Dominic Schofield	13,813	33.8	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Smithard	3,691	9.0	+0.3
	UKIP	Frank Mallon	1,397	3.4	New
	Socialist Alliance	Dick Duane	423	1.0	New
Majority			7,738	18.9	−6.1
Turnout			40,875	55.1	−16.6
Registered electors			74,121
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−3.0

General election 2005: Basildon^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Angela Smith	18,720	43.4	−9.3
	Conservative	Aaron Powell	15,578	36.1	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Thompson	4,473	10.4	+1.3
	BNP	Emma Colgate	2,055	4.8	New
	UKIP	Alix Blythe	1,143	2.6	−0.8
	Green	Vikki Copping	662	1.5	New
	English Democrat	Kim Gandy	510	1.2	New
Majority			3,142	7.3	−11.6
Turnout			43,141	58.4	+3.3
Registered electors			73,912
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−5.8

Notes and references

^ Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (2007). The Almanac of British Politics (8th ed.). UK: Routledge. pp. 127–128, 160–161. ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9.
^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
^ Michael Stead. "1970 notional general election & February 1974 general election". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
^ "BBC/ITN NOTIONAL ELECTION 1979". election.demon.co.uk. BBC/ITN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

Basildon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK

51°31′N 0°24′E / 51.52°N 0.40°E / 51.52; 0.40

[1] Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (2007). The Almanac of British Politics (8th ed.). UK: Routledge. pp. 127–128, 160–161. ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9.

[2] "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2019.

[3] "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2019.

[4] "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2019.

[5] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)

[6] Michael Stead. "1970 notional general election & February 1974 general election". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2025.

[7] "BBC/ITN NOTIONAL ELECTION 1979". election.demon.co.uk. BBC/ITN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2025.

[electoralcalculus1983-8] "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus1987-9] "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus1992-10] "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[11] "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

[electoralcalculus1997-12] "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus2001-13] "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus2005-14] "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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v t e Constituencies in the East of England (61)
Labour (27)	Bedford Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket Cambridge Colchester Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Harlow Hemel Hempstead Hertford and Stortford Hitchin Ipswich Lowestoft Luton North Luton South and South Bedfordshire North East Hertfordshire North West Cambridgeshire Norwich North Norwich South Peterborough South Norfolk South West Norfolk Southend East and Rochford Southend West and Leigh Stevenage Suffolk Coastal Thurrock Watford Welwyn Hatfield
Conservative (23)	Basildon and Billericay Braintree Brentwood and Ongar Broadland and Fakenham Broxbourne Castle Point Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Epping Forest Harwich and North Essex Hertsmere Huntingdon Maldon Mid Bedfordshire Mid Norfolk North Bedfordshire North East Cambridgeshire North West Essex North West Norfolk Rayleigh and Wickford South Suffolk South West Hertfordshire West Suffolk Witham
Liberal Democrats (7)	Chelmsford Ely and East Cambridgeshire Harpenden and Berkhamsted North Norfolk St Albans St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire
Reform UK (3)	Clacton Great Yarmouth South Basildon and East Thurrock
Green Party (1)	Waveney Valley