North Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)

North Thanet
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North Thanet in Kent.
Location of Kent within England.
County	Kent
Electorate	67,110 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	(Margate, Birchington-on-Sea, Herne Bay and Westgate-on-Sea
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Sir Roger Gale (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Thanet West, Thanet East
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

North Thanet (Contemp. and Cons. RP) /ˈnɔːθ θænɪt/, (Est. Eng.) /ˈnɔːf fanɪʔ/ (also known as Thanet North) is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1983 creation by Sir Roger Gale, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

North Thanet and South Thanet were created by a rearrangement of the former Thanet West and Thanet East constituencies in 1983, which in turn had been created in 1974 by the splitting of the single Isle of Thanet seat. Apart from 1997 when it was marginal, the seat has to date been a safe seat for the Conservative Party.

The third-placed opponent in the 1983 election, for Labour, was Cherie Blair whose husband Tony Blair, was Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007.

Constituency profile

Tourism forms an important economic activity with sandy beaches, particularly at Margate among the main attractions, the seat has a small amount of fishing relative to the 19th century or major ports of North East and Scotland, with a slightly higher proportion of retired people than the national average^[2] and incomes tending to be clustered towards the national mean.^[3] Economic developments have included close-by the Thanet Offshore Wind Project, commercial, recreational and tourism activities. Manston Airport is now closed but is subject to competing development plans including reopening the airport for freight terminal or alternatively as a mixed development business park. In unemployment terms the claimant count was third highest of the South East's 84 constituencies at the end of 2010.^{[n 3][4]}

Boundaries

1983-2010: The District of Thanet wards of Birchington East, Birchington West, Cecil, Cliftonville, Dane Park, Ethelbert, Margate West, Marine, Northdown Park, Pier, Salmestone, Thanet Parishes, and Westgate-on-Sea, and the City of Canterbury wards of Herne, Heron, Reculver, and West Bay.

2010-present: The District of Thanet wards of Birchington North, Birchington South, Dane Valley, Garlinge, Margate Central, Salmestone, Thanet Villages, Westbrook, and Westgate-on-Sea, and the City of Canterbury wards of Greenhill and Eddington, Herne and Broomfield, Heron, Marshside, Reculver, and West Bay.

North Thanet consists of the northern and western parts of Thanet district (most of Margate (apart from the Cliftonville area, Westgate-on-Sea, Birchington-on-Sea, and several villages including Acol, St Nicholas-at-Wade, Minster, Monkton and Sarre) as well as the town of Herne Bay in the City of Canterbury district.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1983	Sir Roger Gale	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: North Thanet[6][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Roger Gale	23,045	49.0	−3.7
	UKIP	Piers Andrew Wauchope[8]	12,097	25.7	+19.2
	Labour	Frances Rehal	8,411	17.9	−3.6
	Green	Edward John Targett	1,719	3.7	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	George Francis John Cunningham	1,645	3.5	−15.9
Majority			10,948	23.3
Turnout			47,053	70.1%	+6.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.7

General Election 2010: North Thanet[9][10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale[11]	22,826	52.7	+4.7
	Labour	Michael Britton	9,298	21.5	−11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Laura Murphy	8,400	19.4	+3.8
	UKIP	Rosamund Parker	2,819	6.5	+2.6
Majority			13,528	31.2
Turnout			43,343	63.2	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: North Thanet[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,699	49.6	−0.7
	Labour	Iris Johnston	14,065	32.2	−2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Barnard	6,279	14.4	+3.4
	UKIP	Timothy Stocks	1,689	3.9	+1.6
Majority			7,634	17.5
Turnout			43,732	60.1	+1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

General Election 2001: North Thanet[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,050	50.3	+6.2
	Labour	James Stewart Laing	14,400	34.4	−4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Seth Proctor	4,603	11.0	−0.4
	UKIP	John Moore	980	2.3	+1.4
	Independent	David Shortt	440	1.1	N/A
	National Front	Thomas Holmes	395	0.9	N/A
Majority			6,650	15.9
Turnout			41,868	59.0	−9.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: North Thanet[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,586	44.1	−13.1
	Labour	Iris Johnston	18,820	38.4	+14.9
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Kendrick	5,576	11.4	−6.3
	Referendum	Marcus Chambers	2,535	5.2	N/A
	UKIP	J. E. Haines	438	1.1	N/A
Majority			2,766	5.7	-28
Turnout			48,955	68.8	+7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.0

General Election 1992: North Thanet[15][16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	30,867	57.2	−0.8
	Labour	Alan Michael Bretman	12,657	23.5	+6.8
	Liberal Democrat	Ms. Joanna Louise Phillips	9,563	17.7	−5.6
	Green	Mrs Hazel Francis Dawe	873	1.6	−0.4
Majority			18,210	33.7	−1.0
Turnout			53,960	76.0	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.8

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: North Thanet[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	29,225	58.0	−0.4
	Social Democratic	Nicholas Richard Maurice Cranston	11,745	23.3	−3.4
	Labour	Alan Michael Bretman	8,395	16.7	+2.6
	Green	David Reynolds Condor	996	2.0	N/A
Majority			17,480	34.7
Turnout			50,361	72.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: North Thanet[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	26,801	58.4	N/A
	Social Democratic	William Donald MacMillan	12,256	26.7	N/A
	Labour	Cherie Booth	6,482	14.1	N/A
	BNP	Brian Dobing	324	0.7	N/A
Majority			14,051	32.37	N/A
Turnout			45,863	70.02	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Kent

Notes and references

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. Above this were South Thanet and Hastings and Rye

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. 2011 census interactive maps
3. 2001 Census
4. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000852#general_election_data-constituency_profile_en
8. http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/thanetnorth/
9. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. North Thanet, Guardian
11. Gale reselected for Thanet North, This is Kent
12. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
17. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Coordinates: 51°22.5′N 1°16′E / 51.3750°N 1.267°E