Sevenoaks (UK Parliament constituency)

Sevenoaks
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Sevenoaks in Kent for the 2010 general election.
Location of Kent within England.
County	Kent
Electorate	69,925 (December 2010)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Michael Fallon (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	West Kent
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Sevenoaks is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Michael Fallon, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

This constituency has existed since the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.

With the exception of the one-year Parliament in 1923, the constituency has to date been a Conservative stronghold.

1885-1950

Sir Thomas Jewell Bennett before entering Parliament was a leader writer at The Standard and lived in India for many years, working at the Bombay Gazette before becoming both editor and principal proprietor of the Times of India. Bennett returned to England in 1901 and in 1910 unsuccessfully contested his first Parliamentary election, losing to Alfred Gelder at the time of David Lloyd George and H. H. Asquith's celebrated "People's Budget". He represented the seat for five years from 1918.

Higher in government in this period was Hilton Young, the Health Secretary between 1931 and 1935. The health portfolio at the time included responsibility for housing, including slum clearance and rehousing. Key items of legislation to which he contributed in this period were: the Town and Country Planning Act (1932) (which applied to all 'developable' land), the Housing Act (1935) (which laid down standards of accommodation)^[2] and the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act (1935) (which sought to consolidate urban development and restrict ribbon sprawl along major highways).^[3]

1950-date

Since 1950 the highest government position has been that of Michael Fallon who is currently Secretary of State for Defence.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Sevenoaks and Wrotham, and the Rural Districts of Malling (the civil parishes of Addington, Allington, Aylesford, Birling, Borough Green, Burham, Ditton, East Malling and Larkfield, East Peckham, Ightham, Leybourne, Mereworth, Offham, Platt, Plaxtol, Ryarsh, Shipbourne, Snodland, Stansted, Trottiscliffe, Wateringbury, West Malling, West Peckham, and Wouldham) and Sevenoaks (the civil parishes of Brasted, Chevening, Chiddingstone, Cowden, Dunton Green, Edenbridge, Halstead, Hever, Kemsing, Leigh, Otford, Penshurst, Riverhead, Seal, Sevenoaks Weald, Shoreham, Sundridge, and Westerham).

1950-1974: The Urban District of Sevenoaks, and the Rural Districts of Malling and Sevenoaks.

1974-1983: The Urban District of Sevenoaks, the Rural District of Sevenoaks as altered by the Greater London Kent and Surrey Order 1968, and in the Rural District of Dartford the civil parishes of Ash-cum-Ridley, Eynsford, Farningham, Fawkham, Hartley, Horton Kirby, Longfield, Swanley, and West Kingsdown.

1983-1997: The District of Sevenoaks wards of Brasted, Chevening, Crockenhill and Lullingstone, Dunton Green, Eynsford, Farningham, Halstead Knockholt and Badgers Mount, Hextable and Swanley Village, Kemsing, Leigh, Otford, Penshurst and Fordcombe, Riverhead, Seal, Sevenoaks Kippington, Sevenoaks Northern, Sevenoaks Town and St John's, Sevenoaks Weald and Underriver, Sevenoaks Wildernesse, Shoreham, Somerdon, Sundridge and Ide Hill, Swanley Christchurch, Swanley St Mary's, Swanley White Oak, Westerham and Crockham, and West Kingsdown.

1997-2010: The District of Sevenoaks wards of Ash-cum-Ridley, Brasted, Chevening, Crockenhill and Lullingstone, Dunton Green, Eynsford, Farningham, Halstead Knockholt and Badgers Mount, Hextable and Swanley Village, Kemsing, Otford, Riverhead, Seal, Sevenoaks Kippington, Sevenoaks Northern, Sevenoaks Town and St John's, Sevenoaks Weald and Underriver, Sevenoaks Wildernesse, Shoreham, Sundridge and Ide Hill, Swanley Christchurch, Swanley St Mary's, Swanley White Oak, Westerham and Crockham, and West Kingsdown.

2010–present: The District of Sevenoaks wards of Ash, Brasted, Chevening and Sundridge, Crockenhill and Well Hill, Dunton Green and Riverhead, Eynsford, Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth, Fawkham and West Kingsdown, Halstead, Knockholt and Badgers Mount, Hextable, Kemsing, Otford and Shoreham, Seal and Weald, Sevenoaks Eastern, Sevenoaks Kippington, Sevenoaks Northern, Sevenoaks Town and St John’s, Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village, Swanley St Mary’s, Swanley White Oak, and Westerham and Crockham Hill.

Constituency profile

The seat is in mainstay City commuter belt territory, which supports a relatively high-income local economy with retail and self-employed trades principally benefiting. Sevenoaks constituency covers the towns of Sevenoaks and Swanley in Kent and some of the surrounding area. Most wards are most often Conservative councillor represented with the exceptions being part-Labour councillor represented Swanley and Crockenhill (5 of the 11 councillors who serve Swanley wards in 2013 for example) and two of three Sevenoaks Eastern councillors are Liberal Democrats based on local election results. Despite an unprecedented number of parties standing in 2010 no other parties have local councillors.^[4]

In statistics

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of one local government districts with a working population whose income is higher than the national average and lower than average reliance upon social housing.^[5] At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 1.7% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 2.4%.^[6] The borough contributing to the bulk of the seat has a low 13.1% of its population without a car, 19.2% of the population without qualifications and a high 32.0% with level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure 72.7% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage by occupants as at the 2011 census across the district.^[7]

Members of Parliament

	Member^[8]	Party
1885	Charles Mills	Conservative
1892	Henry Forster	Conservative
1918	Sir Thomas Bennett	Coalition Conservative
1923	Ronald Williams	Liberal
1924	Walter Styles	Conservative
1929	Sir Hilton Young	Conservative
1935	Sir Charles Ponsonby	Conservative
1950	Sir John Rodgers	Conservative
1979	Mark Wolfson	Conservative
1997	Michael Fallon	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Sevenoaks^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Fallon	28,531	56.9	+0.1
	UKIP	Steve Lindsay^[10]	8,970	17.9	+14.3
	Labour	Chris Clark	6,448	12.9	-0.4
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Bullion	3,937	7.9	-13.5
	Green	Amelie Boleyn	2,238	4.5	+4.5
Majority			19,561	39.0
Turnout			50,124	70.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.2

General Election 2010: Sevenoaks^[11]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Fallon	28,076	56.8	+5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Bullion	10,561	21.4	−0.5
	Labour	Gareth Siddorn	6,541	13.2	−7.8
	UKIP	Christopher Heath	1,782	3.6	+0.6
	BNP	Paul Golding	1,384	2.8	N/A
	English Democrats	Louise Uncles	806	1.6	−0.1
	Independent	Mark Ellis	258	0.5	N/A
Majority			17,515	35.4	+5.4
Turnout			49,408	71.1	+12.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Sevenoaks^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Fallon	22,437	51.8	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Ben Abbotts	9,467	21.9	+0.3
	Labour	Tim Stanley	9,101	21.0	-4.6
	UKIP	Robert Dobson	1,309	3.0	+0.3
	English Democrats	John Marshall	751	1.7	N/A
	United Kingdom Pathfinders	Mark Ellis	233	0.5	-0.2
Majority			12,970	30.0
Turnout			43,298	58.7	-5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

General Election 2001: Sevenoaks^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Fallon	21,052	49.4	+4.0
	Labour	Caroline Humphreys	10,898	25.6	+1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Clive Gray	9,214	21.6	-2.5
	UKIP	Lisa Hawkins	1,155	2.7	N/A
	United Kingdom Pathfinders	Mark Ellis	295	0.7	N/A
Majority			10,154	23.8
Turnout			42,614	63.9	-11.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.5

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Sevenoaks^[15]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Fallon	22,776	45.42
	Labour	John Hayes	12,315	24.56
	Liberal Democrat	Roger FC Walshe	12,086	24.1
	Referendum	Nigel Large	2,138	4.26
	Green	Margot E. Lawrence	443	0.88
	Pathfinders	Mark Ellis	244	0.49
	Natural Law	Alex Hankey	147	0.29
Majority			10,461	20.86
Turnout			50,151	75.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Sevenoaks^[17]^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Wolfson	33,245	57.5	−1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Roger FC Walshe	14,091	24.4	−3.5
	Labour	Ms. JS Evans	9,470	16.4	+3.2
	Green	Ms. Margot E. Lawrence	786	1.4	N/A
	Natural Law	PL Wakeling	210	0.4	N/A
Majority			19,154	33.1	+2.1
Turnout			57,802	81.3	+4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Sevenoaks^[19]^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Wolfson	32,945	58.91
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Stephen Ronald Jakobi	15,600	27.9
	Labour	GA Green	7,379	13.19
Majority			17,345	31.02
Turnout			55,923	76.42
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Sevenoaks^[21]^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Wolfson	30,722	58.41
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Stephen Ronald Jakobi	15,061	28.55
	Labour	R Gooding	6,439	12.24
	National Front	GL Burnett	416	0.79
Majority			15,706	29.86
Turnout			52,596	73.74
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Sevenoaks^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Wolfson	36,697	57.39
	Labour	RH Redden	14,583	22.81
	Liberal	G Phillips	11,839	18.52
	National Front	Michael Easter	821	1.28	n/a
Majority			22,114	34.59
Turnout			63,942	78.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Charles Rodgers	26,670	46.99
	Labour	J Scanlan	15,065	26.54
	Liberal	Robert F Webster	15,024	26.47
Majority			11,605	20.45
Turnout			56,759	75.71
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Sevenoaks^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Charles Rodgers	29,963	48.36
	Liberal	Ian Campbell Bradley	16,223	26.21
	Labour	J Scanlan	14,987	24.21
	Independent	DJ Woolard	754	1.22	n/a
Majority			13,713	22.15
Turnout			61,898	83.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Sevenoaks:^[25] Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Charles Rodgers	32,654	54.13	+3.6
	Labour	John Frederick Ovenden	15,376	25.49	-6.8
	Liberal	Robert F Webster	12,290	20.37	+3.2
Majority			17,278	28.64
Turnout			60,320	73.00
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.2

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Sevenoaks^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Charles Rodgers	28,651	50.50
	Labour	Peter B Pearce	18,338	32.32
	Liberal	A Noel H Blackburn	9,746	17.18
Majority			10,313	18.18
Turnout			56,735	79.19
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

General Election 1964: Sevenoaks^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Charles Rodgers	28,678	52.03
	Labour	Peter B Pearce	14,958	27.14
	Liberal	Nelia Penman	11,480	20.83
Majority			13,720	24.89
Turnout			55,116	80.09
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Sevenoaks^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Rodgers	28,186	56.07
	Labour	Roderick C Ogley	14,265	28.38
	Liberal	Nelia Penman	7,819	15.55	n/a
Majority			13,921	27.69
Turnout			50,270	80.17
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Sevenoaks^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Rodgers	28,936	61.84
	Labour	John N Powrie	17,858	38.16
Majority			11,078	23.67
Turnout			46,794	78.07
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Sevenoaks^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Rodgers	28,668	60.37
	Labour	John N Powrie	18,823	39.63
Majority			9,845	20.73
Turnout				81.46
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Sevenoaks^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Rodgers	25,292	51.75
	Labour	J Spencer	17,610	36.03
	Liberal	Edward Richard Moulton-Barrett	5,969	12.21
Majority			7,682	15.72
Turnout				84.90
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Sevenoaks^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Edward Ponsonby	18,893	45.61
	Labour	John Sleigh Pudney	14,947	36.08	n/a
	Liberal	Nelia Muspratt	6,906	16.67
	Communist	K. Thompson	676	1.63	n/a
Majority			3,946	9.53
Turnout				73.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Sevenoaks^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Edward Ponsonby	21,405	67.5	n/a
	Liberal	John Horridge	10,297	32.5	n/a
Majority			11,108	35.0	n/a
Turnout				65.3	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1931: Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon Sir Edward Hilton Young	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Sir Edward Hilton Young	16,767	53.7	-8.2
	Liberal	Edgar Sratton Liddiard	7,844	25.1	-13.0
	Labour	Henry Hamilton Fyfe	6,634	21.2	n/a
Majority			8,923	28.6	+4.8
Turnout			31,245
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.4

General Election 1924: Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Herbert Walter Styles	15,125	61.9
	Liberal	Ronald Samuel Ainslie Williams	9,311	38.1
Majority			5,814	23.8
Turnout			24,436
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ronald Samuel Ainslie Williams	10,656	51.6	n/a
	Unionist	Thomas Jewell Bennett	9,987	48.4
Majority			669	3.2
Turnout			20,643
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	n/a

General Election 1922: Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Jewell Bennett	12,045
	Labour	L. A. Goldie	6,849
Majority			5,196
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Sevenoaks
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Jewell Bennett	10,650
	Labour	J. E. Skinner	3,323
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

endorsed by Coalition Government

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ 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.

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ Young, W. (1971), p.1089.
↑ Sheail, J. (1979), The Restriction of Ribbon Development Act: The character and perception of land-use control in inter-war Britain, Regional Studies, 13: 6, 501–12.
↑ Sevenoaks Councillors
↑ 2001 Census
↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
↑ 2011 census interactive maps
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 2)
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/sevenoaks/
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ http://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/news/2010/may/4176.asp
↑ "Election Data 2005". 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 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/399.htm
↑ "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. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge87/i17.htm
↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge83/i17.htm
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/i18.htm
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74a/i18.htm
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 British parliamentary election results 1950-1973, Craig, F. W. S.
1 2 British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.

Coordinates: 51°20′N 0°11′E / 51.333°N 0.183°E / 51.333; 0.183

Constituencies in South East England (84)

Conservative (78)	Aldershot Arundel and South Downs Ashford Aylesbury Banbury Basingstoke Beaconsfield Bexhill and Battle Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Bracknell Brighton Kemptown Canterbury Chatham and Aylesford Chesham and Amersham Chichester Crawley Dartford Dover Eastbourne East Hampshire Eastleigh East Surrey East Worthing and Shoreham Epsom and Ewell Esher and Walton Fareham Faversham and Mid Kent Folkestone and Hythe Gillingham and Rainham Gosport Gravesham Guildford Hastings and Rye Havant Henley Horsham Isle of Wight Lewes Maidenhead Maidstone and The Weald Meon Valley Mid Sussex Milton Keynes North Milton Keynes South Mole Valley Newbury New Forest East New Forest West North East Hampshire North Thanet North West Hampshire Oxford West and Abingdon Portsmouth North Portsmouth South Reading East Reading West Reigate Rochester and Strood Romsey and Southampton North Runnymede and Weybridge Sevenoaks Sittingbourne and Sheppey Southampton Itchen South Thanet South West Surrey Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Wantage Wealden Winchester Windsor Witney Woking Wokingham Worthing West Wycombe

Labour (4)	Hove Oxford East Slough Southampton Test

Green (1)	Brighton Pavilion

Speaker (1)	Buckingham

South East England European constituency: UKIP (4) Conservative (3) Green (1) Labour (1) Liberal Democrats (1)

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