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 West was one of them.
| Kent West | |
|---|---|
| European Parliament constituency | |
 European Parliament logo | |
| Member state | United Kingdom |
| Created | 1979 |
| Dissolved | 1999 |
| MEPs | 1 |
| Sources | |
| [1] | |
Boundaries
1979–1984: Dartford; East Surrey; Gillingham; Gravesend; Rochester and Chatham; Royal Tunbridge Wells; Sevenoaks; Tonbridge and Malling.
1984–1994: Dartford; Gillingham; Gravesham; Medway; Mid Kent; Sevenoaks; Tonbridge and Malling; Tunbridge Wells.
1994–1999: Dartford; Gillingham; Gravesham; Maidstone; Medway; Mid Kent; Tonbridge and Malling.
MEPs
| Elected | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Ben Patterson | Conservative | |
| 1994 | Peter Skinner | Labour | |
| 1999 | Constituency abolished: see South East England | ||
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Peter Skinner | 77,346 | 41.0 | +10.3 | |
| Conservative | Ben Patterson | 60,569 | 32.1 | -11.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jim Daly | 33,869 | 17.9 | +9.4 | |
| UKIP | Craig Mackinlay | 9,750 | 5.2 | New | |
| Green | Penny A. Kemp | 5,651 | 3.0 | -14.4 | |
| Natural Law | Jeremy J. Bowler | 1,598 | 0.8 | New | |
| Majority | 16,777 | 8.9 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 188,783 | 37.3 | +3.9 | ||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +10.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ben Patterson | 82,519 | 43.4 | -5.5 | |
| Labour | Peter L. Sloman | 58,469 | 30.7 | +1.6 | |
| Green | Jim Tidy | 33,202 | 17.4 | +14.5 | |
| SLD | J.B. (Brian) Doherty | 16,087 | 8.5 | -10.6 | |
| Majority | 24,050 | 12.7 | -7.1 | ||
| Turnout | 190,277 | 33.4 | +2.6 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -3.6 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ben Patterson | 85,414 | 48.9 | -11.8 | |
| Labour | Alan Woodhams | 50,784 | 29.1 | +4.3 | |
| Liberal | Peter Billenness | 33,306 | 19.1 | +4.6 | |
| Ecology | Christine A. Bunyan | 4,991 | 2.9 | New | |
| Majority | 34,630 | 19.8 | -16.1 | ||
| Turnout | 174,495 | 30.8 | -2.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -8.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ben Patterson | 113,961 | 60.7 | ||
| Labour | Anthony J. Humphris | 46.482 | 24.8 | ||
| Liberal | Stanley Blow | 27,127 | 14.5 | ||
| Majority | 67,479 | 35.9 | |||
| Turnout | 187,570 | 32.9 | |||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||