Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The European Parliament constituencies used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one Member of the European Parliament each. The constituency of Kent East was one of them.
| Kent East | |
|---|---|
| European Parliament constituency | |
 European Parliament logo | |
| Member state | United Kingdom |
| Created | 1979 |
| Dissolved | 1999 |
| MEPs | 1 |
| Sources | |
| [1] | |
Boundaries
1979-1984: Ashford; Canterbury; Dover and Deal; Faversham; Folkestone and Hythe; Maidstone; Thanet East; Thanet West.
1984-1994: Ashford; Canterbury; Dover; Faversham; Folkestone and Hythe; Maidstone; Thanet North; Thanet South.
1994-1999: Ashford; Canterbury; Dover; Faversham; Folkestone and Hythe; Thanet North; Thanet South.
MEPs
| Elected | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Christopher Jackson | Conservative | |
| 1994 | Mark Watts | Labour | |
| 1999 | Constituency abolished: see South East England | ||
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Christopher Jackson | 117,267 | 64.7 | ||
| Labour | J. C. M. S. Holmes | 40,060 | 22.1 | ||
| Liberal | Anthony F. C. Morris | 20,190 | 11.1 | ||
| Independent | D. J. Conlon | 3,788 | 2.1 | ||
| Majority | 77,207 | 42.6 | |||
| Turnout | 181,305 | 32.4 | |||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Christopher Jackson | 92,340 | 52.5 | -12.2 | |
| Labour | D. A. Enright | 43,473 | 24.7 | +2.6 | |
| SDP | Anthony A. Kinch | 34,601 | 19.7 | +8.6 | |
| Ecology | Steven M. Dawe | 5,405 | 3.1 | New | |
| Majority | 48,867 | 27.8 | |||
| Turnout | 175,819 | 31.7 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Christopher Jackson | 85,667 | 44.0 | -8.5 | |
| Labour | Gregory N. J. Perry | 56,706 | 29.1 | +4.4 | |
| Green | Mrs. Penny A. Kemp | 36,931 | 19.0 | +15.9[a] | |
| SLD | A. F. C. (Tony) Morris | 15,470 | 7.9 | -11.8 | |
| Majority | 28,961 | 14.9 | -12.9 | ||
| Turnout | 194,774 | 34.2 | +2.5 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Mark Watts | 69,641 | 34.5 | +5.4 | |
| Conservative | Christopher Jackson | 69,006 | 34.2 | -9.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | John R. Macdonald | 44,549 | 22.1 | +14.2 | |
| UKIP | Colin R. Bullen | 9,414 | 4.7 | New | |
| Green | Steve M. Dawe | 7,196 | 3.6 | -15.4[a] | |
| Natural Law | Colin J. Beckley | 1,746 | 0.9 | New | |
| Majority | 635 | 0.3 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 201,552 | 40.3 | |||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||