Brighton Kemptown (UK Parliament constituency)

Brighton Kemptown
Brighton Kemptown
Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundary of Brighton Kemptown in East Sussex
	Location of East Sussex within England
County	East Sussex
Population	91,567 (2011 census)
Electorate	69,833 (December 2019)
Major settlements	Falmer, Moulsecoomb, Rottingdean, Kemp Town, Peacehaven, Telscombe, Saltdean, Brighton Marina, Woodingdean, Queen's Park, Brighton, Bevendean and Whitehawk
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of Parliament	Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Independent)
Created from	Brighton

Brighton Kemptown is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Lloyd Russell-Moyle, an Independent, after being suspended by the Labour Party in May 2024.^[3]^{[n 2]} The seat is often referred to as Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven by local political parties,^[4]^[5] and will formally adopt that name following the 2024 general election.^[6]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

Map of boundaries from 2024

1950–1955: The County Borough of Brighton wards of Elm Grove, Hanover, King's Cliff, Lewes Road, Moulsecoomb, Pier, Queen's Park, Rottingdean, and St John's.^[7]

1955–1983: The County Borough of Brighton wards of Elm Grove, Falmer, Hanover, King's Cliff, Lewes Road, Moulsecoomb, Pier, Queen's Park, Rottingdean, and Warren.^[8]

1983–1997: The Borough of Brighton wards of Hanover, King's Cliff, Marine, Moulsecoomb, Queen's Park, Rottingdean, Tenantry, and Woodingdean.

1997–2010: The Borough of Brighton wards of King's Cliff, Marine, Moulsecoomb, Queen's Park, Rottingdean, Tenantry, and Woodingdean, and the District of Lewes wards of East Saltdean, Peacehaven East, Peacehaven North, Peacehaven West, and Telscombe Cliffs.

2010–2024: The City of Brighton and Hove wards of East Brighton, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queen's Park, Rottingdean Coastal, and Woodingdean, and the District of Lewes wards of East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs, Peacehaven East, Peacehaven North, and Peacehaven West.

Proposed

The composition of the renamed constituency from the 2024 general election will be expanded slightly in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range by adding part of the City of Brighton and Hove ward of Hanover and Elm Grove – namely polling district PHEA, and that part of polling district PHEF to the east of Queen's Park Road – to be transferred from Brighton Pavilion.^[9]

Following a local government boundary review in Brighton and Hove which came into effect in May 2023,^[10]^[11] the constituency will now comprise the following from the 2024 general election:

The City of Brighton and Hove wards of: Coldean & Stanmer (part); Hanover & Elm Grove (small part – see above); Kemptown; Moulsecoomb & Bevendean (most); Queen's Park; Rottingdean & West Saltdean; Whitehawk & Marina; Woodingdean.
The District of Lewes wards of: East Saltdean & Telscombe Cliffs; Peacehaven East; Peacehaven North; Peacehaven West.^[12]

Constituency profile

The constituency takes in the eastern part of Brighton and semi-rural suburbs and villages stretching out to the east.

The seat has a large student population, from those that attend the University of Brighton and University of Sussex.

From west to east it includes Queen's Park; Kemptown, the centre of Brighton's LGBTQ+ community; the council estates of Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb; and beyond the racecourse affluent and genteel coastal villages like Rottingdean, Woodingdean, Saltdean and the town of Peacehaven.

History

History of boundaries

This constituency was created in 1950 when the two-member constituency of Brighton was split into three single-member seats.

Boundary changes for the 1997 general election moved Peacehaven, a semi-rural area, into the constituency. This added a ward where the Conservatives had been favoured, but Labour gained the seat at its landslide victory. Des Turner held it until 2010, when Simon Kirby of the Conservative Party won it.

History of results

For a total of 48 years since the seat's creation, it has been Conservative-controlled (1950–1964; 1970–1997; 2010–2017). The only other party to hold the seat since its creation has been the Labour Party.

Labour first won Kemptown in 1964, with a narrow majority of just seven votes.^{[n 3]} Dennis Hobden, the first Labour MP to ever be elected in Sussex, increased his majority in 1966, but lost the seat in 1970, and another Labour MP was not returned until 1997. The seat was a national bellwether constituency from 1979 to 2015, but in 2017 elected a Labour MP when the country as a whole returned a hung parliament with the Conservatives being the largest party by a margin of 56 MPs.

Liberal Democrats and their two predecessor parties following national trends formed the third-largest party in the constituency, 1950–2010 inclusive. The 2010 general election result for the party can be seen as 0.6% behind "its" highest, at 18.6%, if including its SDP forerunner. The Liberal Democrat vote share collapsed to 3% in 2015 (behind UKIP and Green Party candidates) and remained at the 3% level in 2017 despite the absence of UKIP and Green candidates for the seat at that election.

The Green Party candidate finished in fourth place at the 2005, 2010 and 2015 elections, retaining their deposit each time, with vote shares ranging from 5.5% to 7.0%. The Greens did not field a candidate in 2017^[13] and endorsed Labour, who subsequently gained the seat with a majority of just under 10,000 votes.

The 2015 general election result had made the seat the tenth-most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.^[14]

On 29 May 2024, Russell-Moyle announced that he had received a letter that he had been suspended from membership of the Labour Party, because of what he believed was a vexatious complaint, which made him ineligible to be their candidate at the 2024 United Kingdom general election.^[15] It is unclear what will happen to Labour's candidacy at this election.

Members of Parliament

Election	Member^[16]^[17]
1950	Howard Johnson	Conservative
1959	David James	Conservative
1964	Dennis Hobden	Labour
1970	Andrew Bowden	Conservative
1997	Des Turner	Labour
2010	Simon Kirby	Conservative
2017	Lloyd Russell-Moyle	Labour Co-op
May 2024	Lloyd Russell-Moyle	Independent^[18]

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Workers Party	Elaine Ghoneim^[19]
	SDP	Valerie Gray^[20]
	Green	Elaine Hills^[21]
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Stone^[22]
	Conservative	Khobi Vallis^[23]
	Labour	Chris Ward^[24]
Majority
Turnout
			Swing

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Brighton Kemptown^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Lloyd Russell-Moyle	25,033	51.6	-6.7
	Conservative	Joe Miller	16,972	35.0	-3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Thomas	2,964	6.1	+3.1
	Green	Alexandra Phillips	2,237	4.6	N/A
	Brexit Party	Graham Cushway	1,327	2.7	N/A
Majority			8,061	16.6	-3.4
Turnout			48,533	69.5	-3.0
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	-1.6

General election 2017: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Lloyd Russell-Moyle	28,703	58.3	+19.1
	Conservative	Simon Kirby^[26]	18,835	38.3	-2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Emily Tester^[27]	1,457	3.0	±0.0
	Independent	Doktor Haze^[28]	212	0.4	N/A
Majority			9,868	20.0	N/A
Turnout			49,207	72.5	+5.7
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.8

General election 2015: Brighton Kemptown^[29]^[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Kirby^[31]	18,428	40.7	+2.7
	Labour	Nancy Platts^[31]	17,738	39.2	+4.3
	UKIP	Ian Buchanan^[32]	4,446	9.8	+6.6
	Green	Davy Jones^[31]	3,187	7.0	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chandler^[33]	1,365	3.0	−15.0
	Socialist (GB)	Jacqueline Shodeke^[34]	73	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Matthew Taylor^[35]	69	0.2	N/A
Majority			690	1.5	−1.6
Turnout			45,306	66.8	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

General election 2010: Brighton Kemptown^[36]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Kirby	16,217	38.0	+5.0
	Labour Co-op	Simon Burgess	14,889	34.9	−5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Juliet Williams	7,691	18.0	+1.5
	Green	Ben Duncan	2,330	5.5	−1.5
	UKIP	James Chamberlain-Webber	1,384	3.2	+1.3
	TUSC	Dave Hill	194	0.5	N/A
Majority			1,328	3.1	N/A
Turnout			42,705	64.7	+4.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Brighton Kemptown^[37]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Des Turner	15,858	39.9	−7.9
	Conservative	Judith Symes	13,121	33.0	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Marina Pepper	6,560	16.5	+6.1
	Green	Simon Williams	2,800	7.0	+3.7
	UKIP	James Chamberlain-Webber	758	1.9	+0.5
	Peace	Caroline O'Reilly	172	0.4	N/A
	Socialist Labour	John McLeod	163	0.4	−0.5
	Independent	Elaine Cooke	127	0.3	N/A
	Socialist Alternative	Phil Clarke	113	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Gene Dobbs	47	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,737	6.9	-5.6
Turnout			39,719	60.2	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.8

General election 2001: Brighton Kemptown^[38]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Des Turner	18,745	47.8	+1.2
	Conservative	Geoffrey Theobald	13,823	35.3	−3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Marshall	4,064	10.4	+0.7
	Green	Barney Miller	1,290	3.3	N/A
	UKIP	James Chamberlain-Webber	543	1.4	N/A
	Socialist Labour	John McLeod	364	0.9	+0.2
	Free Party	Dave Dobbs	227	0.6	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Elaine Cooke	147	0.4	N/A
Majority			4,922	12.5	+4.8
Turnout			39,203	57.6	−13.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Brighton Kemptown^[39]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Des Turner	21,479	46.6	+14.0
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	17,945	38.9	−13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Clive Gray	4,478	9.7	−4.2
	Referendum	David Inman	1,526	3.3	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Hannah Williams	316	0.7	N/A
	Natural Law	Jeremy Bowler	172	0.4	−0.1
	Monster Raving Loony	Lorrie Newman	123	0.3	N/A
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Richard Darlow	93	0.2	N/A
Majority			3,534	7.7	N/A
Turnout			46,132	70.6	-5.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.0

General election 1992: Brighton Kemptown^[40]^[41]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	21,129	48.1	−5.4
	Labour	Gill O. Haynes	18,073	41.2	+8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul D. Scott	4,461	10.2	−3.4
	Natural Law	Elizabeth J. Overall	230	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,056	6.9	−13.7
Turnout			43,893	76.1	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.8

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Brighton Kemptown^[42]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	24,031	53.5	+2.4
	Labour	Steve Bassam	14,771	32.9	+3.3
	Liberal	Chris Berry	6,080	13.6	-5.0
Majority			9,260	20.6	-0.5
Turnout			44,882	74.5	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: Brighton Kemptown^[43]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	22,265	51.1
	Labour	Roderick Fitch	12,887	29.6
	SDP	David Burke	8,098	18.6	N/A
	National Front	Ted Budden	290	0.7
Majority			9,378	21.5
Turnout			43,540	71.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	25,512	53.6	+7.7
	Labour	Quintin Barry	17,504	36.8	-3.5
	Liberal	S. Osbourne	8,098	8.8	-4.3
	National Front	Valerie Tyndall	404	0.8	N/A
Majority			8,008	16.8	+11.2
Turnout			47,599	74.2	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	21,725	45.9	-0.1
	Labour	Dennis Hobden	19,060	40.3	+2.2
	Liberal	S. Osbourne	6,214	13.1	-2.5
	English National	Harvey Holford	155	0.3	N/A
	Marxist-Leninist (England)	J. Buckle	125	0.3	±0.0
	Independent	Brian Ralfe	47	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,665	5.6	-2.3
Turnout			47,326	72.3	-6.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	23,504	46.0	-3.3
	Labour	Dennis Hobden	19,484	38.1	-4.8
	Liberal	D. Hall	7,954	15.6	+7.8
	Marxist-Leninist (England)	J. Buckle	170	0.3	N/A
Majority			4,020	7.9	+1.5
Turnout			51,112	78.8	+3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	24,208	49.3	+0.1
	Labour	Dennis Hobden	21,105	42.9	-7.9
	Liberal	Oliver Moxon	3,833	7.8	N/A
Majority			3,103	6.4	N/A
Turnout			49,146	75.0	-5.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dennis Hobden	24,936	50.8	+0.8
	Conservative	Andrew Bowden	24,105	49.2	-0.8
Majority			831	1.6	+1.6
Turnout			49,041	80.1	+7.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dennis Hobden	22,308	50.0	+6.4
	Conservative	David James	22,301	50.0	-6.4
Majority			7	0.0	N/A
Turnout			44,609	72.2	-1.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David James	25,411	56.4	±0.0
	Labour	Lewis Cohen	19,665	43.6	±0.0
Majority			5,746	12.8	±0.0
Turnout			45,076	73.8	+3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Johnson	23,142	56.4	-1.2
	Labour	Lewis Cohen	17,885	43.6	-0.8
Majority			5,257	12.8	+1.6
Turnout			41,027	70.0	-7.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Johnson	25,923	55.6	+6.8
	Labour	Lewis Cohen	20,726	44.4	+2.1
Majority			5,197	11.2	+4.7
Turnout			46,649	77.1	-0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Brighton Kemptown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Howard Johnson	22,431	48.8
	Labour	Joseph Huddart	19,430	42.3
	Liberal	Robert Michael Buckley	4,073	8.9
Majority			3,001	6.5
Turnout			45,934	78.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Notes

References

Sources

Election result, 2005 (BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001 (BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001 Archived 3 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine (Election Demon)
Election results, 1983 – 1992 (Election Demon)
Election results, 1992 – 2005 (Guardian)
Election results, 1951 – 2001 Archived 5 May 2004 at the Wayback Machine (Keele University)

External links

nomis Constituency Profile for Brighton, Kemptown – presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

50°49′26″N 0°02′06″W / 50.824°N 0.035°W / 50.824; -0.035

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