Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven (UK Parliament constituency)

Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2024 general election by Chris Ward of the Labour Party.^[3]

Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven in South East England
County	East Sussex
Population	91,567 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	69,865 (2023)[2]
Major settlements	Falmer, Moulsecoomb, Rottingdean, Kemp Town, Peacehaven, Telscombe, Saltdean, Brighton Marina, Woodingdean, Queen's Park, Brighton, Bevendean and Whitehawk
Current constituency
Created	1950 (as Brighton Kemptown)
Member of Parliament	Chris Ward (Labour)
Created from	Brighton

Before the 2024 general election^[4] the constituency was called Brighton Kemptown, though local political parties referred to it by its current name.^[5][6]

Boundaries

Historic (Brighton Kemptown)

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

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.

Current (Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven)

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the renamed constituency (based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020) was expanded slightly in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring from Brighton Pavilion part of the Hanover and Elm Grove ward – namely polling district PHEA, and that part of polling district PHEF to the east of Queen's Park Road.^[9]

Following a local government boundary review in Brighton and Hove which came into effect in May 2023,^[10][11] the constituency now comprises 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 2]} 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] Chris Ward was selected in his place and was subsequently elected as the Labour MP.

Members of Parliament

Brighton prior to 1950

Election		Member[16][17]	Party
	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[3]
	2024	Chris Ward	Labour

†: Lloyd Russell-Moyle was suspended from the Labour Party after Parliament had prorogued on 24 May 2024^[18] and a day before the dissolution of Parliament on 30 May 2024.^[19]

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

As part of an electoral pact between the SDP and Reform UK, Reform did not stand a candidate.^[20]

General election 2024: Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Ward	17,839	44.0	−7.2
	Conservative	Khobi Vallis	8,230	20.2	−14.2
	Green	Elaine Hills	7,997	19.7	+14.0
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Stone	3,949	9.7	+3.7
	Independent	Emma Wall	1,833	4.5	N/A
	SDP	Valerie Gray	784	1.9	N/A
Majority			9,609	23.8	7.0
Turnout			40,632	59.1	11.7
Registered electors			68,784
	Labour hold		Swing	3.5

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[22]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	25,299	51.2
	Conservative	17,019	34.4
	Liberal Democrats	2,964	6.0
	Green	2,813	5.7
	Brexit Party	1,335	2.7
Turnout		49,430	70.8
Electorate		69,865

General election 2019: Brighton Kemptown^[23]

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	Alex 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[24]	18,835	38.3	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Emily Tester[25]	1,457	3.0	±0.0
	Independent	Doktor Haze[26]	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

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Brighton Kemptown

General election 2015: Brighton Kemptown^[27][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Kirby[29]	18,428	40.7	+2.7
	Labour	Nancy Platts[29]	17,738	39.2	+4.3
	UKIP	Ian Buchanan[30]	4,446	9.8	+6.6
	Green	Davy Jones[29]	3,187	7.0	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chandler[31]	1,365	3.0	−15.0
	Socialist (GB)	Jacqueline Shodeke[32]	73	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Matthew Taylor[33]	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^[34]

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^[35]

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^[36]

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^[37]

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^[38][39]

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^[40]

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^[41]

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

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in East Sussex
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. The majority of seven made Brighton Kemptown the most marginal seat in the country in 1964

References

1. "Brighton, Kemptown: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
3. "Lloyd Russell-Moyle: Parliamentary career". Parliament UK. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
4. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
5. "Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven | Conservatives".
6. "Kemptown and Peacehaven Labour Party – From the Peir to Peacehaven From the Marina to Moulsecoomb". Kemptownlabour.org.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
7. "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 23 July 2023
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Sussex) Order 1955. SI 1955/175". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2171–2174.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
10. LGBCE. "Brighton and Hove | LGBCE". lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
11. "The Brighton & Hove (Electoral Changes) Order 2023".
12. "New Seat Details – Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven". electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
13. "Greens pull out of General Election contest in Brighton Kemptown". Brighton & Hove News. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
14. "Conservative Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
15. Lloyd Russell-Moyle [@lloyd_rm] (29 May 2024). "Congratulations to Paul Waugh, who's been selected as Labour's candidate for Rochdale!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
16. "Brighton Kemptown 1950–". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 2 February 2015.
17. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 1)
18. "UK Parliament: General election 2024". Parliament UK. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
19. McKiernan, Jennifer; Wright, Charlotte (29 May 2024). "Labour suspends MP Russell-Moyle over complaint". BBC News. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
20. "Reform UK and SDP Agree General Election Pact". 22 October 2022.
21. "Statement of persons nominated and Notice of Poll – Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven".
22. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
23. "Brighton Kemptown Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
24. "MPs fire the election starting gun – and the contest begins in Brighton and Hove". 20 April 2017.
25. "Lib Dems confirm candidates in Hove and Brighton Kemptown and consult members on whether to stand aside in Brighton Pavilion". 24 April 2017.
26. "General election latest – 14 candidates stand for the three seats in Brighton and Hove". Brighton and Hove News. 11 May 2017.
27. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
28. "Election results for Brighton Kemptown". city council web site. Brighton & Hove Council. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
29. "UK Election Results". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
30. "Ian Buchanan". YourNextMP. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
31. "General Election 2015 Candidates – Liberal Democrats". Archived from the original on 13 April 2014.
32. "General Election – Campaign News". worldsocialism.org. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
33. "Matt Taylor for Brighton Kemptown 2015". Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
34. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
35. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
36. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
37. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
38. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
39. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
40. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
41. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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.
• Brighton, Kemptown UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Brighton, Kemptown UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

50.824°N 0.035°W / 50.824; -0.035