Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)

Billericay
Billericay
Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundary of Billericay in Essex in from 1997 to 2010.
	Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
1983–2010
Seats	One
Created from	Basildon, Thurrock
Replaced by	Basildon and Billericay,; South Basildon and East Thurrock,; Rayleigh and Wickford
1950–February 1974
Created from	South East Essex
Replaced by	Basildon, Brentwood and Ongar

Billericay was a 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 first created as a county constituency for the 1950 general election under the Representation of the People Act 1948, as a successor to the abolished seat of South East Essex. The First Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies brought in for the 1955 general election resulted in major boundary changes and it was abolished by the Second Review for the February 1974 general election.

It was re-established for the 1983 general election, with further major changes for the 1997 general election, and abolished once again for the 2010 general election.

Under both versions, the seat returned Conservative MPs at every election except 1966.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1950–1955

The Urban Districts of Billericay, Benfleet, Canvey Island, and Rayleigh.^[2]

Formed from the abolished South-Eastern Division of Essex, excluding the Rural District of Rochford.

1955–1974

The Urban Districts of Billericay and Brentwood.^[2]

Benfleet, Canvey Island and Rayleigh (together with Rochford) now formed the re-established constituency of South East Essex. Billericay was combined with Brentwood, which had previously been included in Romford.

On abolition, the Urban District of Billericay, which had been reconstituted as the Urban District of Basildon, formed the new constituency of Basildon. The Urban District of Brentwood formed the basis for the new constituency of Brentwood and Ongar.

1983–1997

The District of Basildon wards of Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Laindon, Wickford North, and Wickford South; and
The Borough of Thurrock wards of Corringham and Fobbing, Orsett, Stanford-le-Hope, and The Homesteads.^[3]

Re-established as a County Constituency, formed from northern parts of the constituency of Basildon, including Billericay and Wickford, together with northern parts of the constituency of Thurrock.

1997–2010

The District of Basildon wards of Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Laindon, Pitsea East, Pitsea West, Wickford North, and Wickford South.^[4]

Major realignment of boundaries with Basildon: Pitsea was transferred from Basildon in exchange for the northern part of the Borough of Thurrock.

The seat was abolished once again for the 2010 general election. The majority, comprising Billericay, Burstead and Laindon, was included in the new constituency of Basildon and Billericay; Pitsea was included in the new constituency of South Basildon and East Thurrock; and Wickford was included in the new constituency of Rayleigh and Wickford.

Members of Parliament

Billericay has elected somewhat colourful characters to Westminster, namely Harvey Proctor, the right-wing MP who resigned after homosexual sex charges, and Teresa Gorman, the Maastricht rebel who stood down after accusing the Commons Standards and Privileges committee of sexism over questions surrounding her registered business dealings.

MPs 1950–1974

	Member^[5]	Party
1950	Bernard Braine	Conservative
1955	Richard Body	Conservative
1959	Edward Gardner	Conservative
1966	Eric Moonman	Labour
1970	Robert McCrindle	Conservative
Feb 1974	constituency abolished: see Basildon

MPs 1983–2010

	Member^[5]	Party
1983	Harvey Proctor	Conservative
1987	Teresa Gorman	Conservative
2001	John Baron	Conservative
2010	constituency abolished: see Basildon and Billericay

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Billericay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Bernard Braine	23,803	50.5
	Labour Co-op	Albert Oram	19,437	41.3
	Liberal	Sidney Hayden	3,872	8.2
Majority			4,366	9.2
Turnout			47,112	79.6
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1951: Billericay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard Braine	26,936	56.7	+6.2
	Labour Co-op	Brian Clapham	20,613	43.3	+2.0
Majority			6,323	13.4	+4.2
Turnout			47,549	77.1	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 1955: Billericay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Body	24,327	54.7	−2.0
	Labour Co-op	Brian Clapham	20,121	45.3	+2.0
Majority			4,206	9.4	−4.0
Turnout			44,448	75.5	−1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.9

General election 1959: Billericay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Gardner	29,224	46.4	−7.3
	Labour Co-op	Mrs. Rita Alison Smythe	24,402	38.8	−6.5
	Liberal	Peter Sheldon-Williams	9,347	14.8	New
Majority			4,822	7.6	−1.8
Turnout			45,626	80.4	+4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.4

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Billericay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Lucas Gardner	35,347	44.3	−2.1
	Labour Co-op	Rita Alison Smythe	33,755	42.3	+3.5
	Liberal	Peter Sheldon-Williams	10,706	13.4	−1.4
Majority			1,592	2.0	−5.6
Turnout			79,512	82.48	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.83

General election 1966: Billericay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Moonman	40,013	46.54	+4.2
	Conservative	Edward Lucas Gardner	38,371	44.63	+0.3
	Liberal	Lionel Wernick	7,587	8.8	−4.6
Majority			1,642	1.9	N/A
Turnout			85,971	84.1	+1.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Billericay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert McCrindle	47,719	52.2	+7.6
	Labour	Eric Moonman	43,765	47.8	+1.3
Majority			3,954	4.4	New
Turnout			91,784	74.2	−9.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Billericay^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Harvey Proctor	29,635	53.7
	Liberal	Patrick Bonner	15,020	27.2
	Labour	Christopher Sewell	10,528	19.1
Majority			14,615	26.5
Turnout			55,183	73.8
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1987: Billericay^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Gorman	33,741	54.9	+1.2
	SDP	Michael Birch	15,755	25.6	−1.6
	Labour	Richard Howitt	11,942	19.4	+0.3
Majority			17,986	29.3	+2.8
Turnout			61,438	77.2	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Billericay^[8]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Gorman	37,406	56.5	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Francis Bellard	14,912	22.5	−3.1
	Labour	Alison Miller	13,880	21.0	+1.6
Majority			22,494	34.0	+4.7
Turnout			66,198	82.5	+5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.3

General election 1997: Billericay^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Gorman	22,033	39.8	−17.9
	Labour	Paul Richards	20,677	37.3	+17.2
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Williams	8,763	15.8	−6.5
	Loyal Conservative	Brian Hughes	3,377	6.1	New
	ProLife Alliance	John Buchanan	570	1.0	New
Majority			1,356	2.4	−31.6
Turnout			55,420	72.6	−9.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	− 17.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Billericay^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Baron	21,608	47.4	+7.6
	Labour	Amanda Campbell	16,595	36.4	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Francis Bellard	6,323	13.9	−1.9
	UKIP	Nicholas Yeomans	1,072	2.4	New
Majority			5,013	11.0	+8.6
Turnout			45,598	58.1	−14.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.2

General election 2005: Billericay^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Baron	25,487	52.2	+4.8
	Labour	Anneliese Dodds	14,281	29.2	−7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hibbs	6,471	13.2	−0.7
	BNP	Bryn Robinson	1,435	2.9	New
	UKIP	Seantino Callaghan	1,184	2.4	0.0
Majority			11,206	23.0	+12.0
Turnout			48,858	61.4	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.0

Notes and references

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