Clacton (UK Parliament constituency)

Clacton is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Nigel Farage of the Reform UK party. It is centred on the seaside town of Clacton, hence its name.

Clacton
County constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Clacton in the East of England
County	Essex
Population	85,359 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	75,959 (2023)[2]
Major settlements	Clacton, Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Nigel Farage (Reform UK)
Seats	One
Created from	Harwich

Constituency profile

Clacton is almost completely coastal, comprising seaside resorts along the Tendring peninsula, including Clacton-on-Sea, Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze. It shares an inland boundary with just one constituency – Harwich and North Essex.

Similar to other coastal seats, such as Christchurch in Dorset, Clacton's electorate comprises among the oldest in the country with a high proportion of retirees and not many non-white residents. The area has experienced a considerable influx of White British families from multicultural areas of East London such as Barking and Dagenham, leading to the town of Clacton becoming known as "Little Dagenham".^[3]

The village of Jaywick was, in both the indices of deprivation 2010 and 2015, identified as the single most deprived LSOA in England, out of around 32,000, with unemployment estimated at almost 50%. Many homes are essentially beach huts and lack basic amenities. In 2018, Jaywick was visited by the United Nations special rapporteur for Poverty, Professor Philip Alston, as part of his examination into the causes of extreme poverty.^[4] Jaywick was named the most deprived place in the UK for the third consecutive year in 2019.^[5]

Electoral Calculus categorises the seat as being part of the "Strong Right" demographic, those who have fiscally conservative views on the economy but are also fairly nationalist and socially conservative, alongside strong support for Brexit. Clacton is also, in general, highly deprived, in terms of employment, income and education, when measured comparatively with the rest of the UK, with 64% of the constituency being impoverished, according to the site.^[6] In addition to this, the latest government labour data has also revealed that economic inactivity in Clacton is at 46.8% – more than twice the 21.7% UK average.^[7]

History

Anciently under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rochester in Essex and part of the Petre estates,^[8] the seat of Clacton was established for the 2010 general election following a review of parliamentary representation of Essex by the Boundary Commission for England.^[9] It was formed out of the abolished Harwich constituency, excluding the town of Harwich itself and surrounding areas.

The constituency's Member of Parliament until 3 May 2017, was Douglas Carswell, who had previously sat for the Harwich constituency since gaining that seat for the Conservatives in 2005.^[10][11]

On 28 August 2014, Carswell announced his defection to UKIP.^[12] Although not required to seek re-election following a change of party allegiance, Carswell triggered a by-election, held on 9 October 2014, in which he stood as the UKIP candidate^[13] and was elected as the party's first MP.^[14] The then UKIP leader Nigel Farage declared that the result in Clacton had "shaken up British politics".^[15] Carswell retained the seat for UKIP at the 2015 general election, seeing his majority cut by roughly three-quarters, with an 11% swing to the Conservatives. Carswell then became UKIP's sole MP in the House of Commons, as Mark Reckless, a fellow Conservative defector, lost his seat.^[16]

On 25 March 2017, Carswell announced on his blog that he was quitting UKIP to sit as an independent MP,^[17] saying that "I switched to UKIP because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving UKIP".^[18]

After Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap election on 19 April 2017, Carswell announced that he would not stand for re-election and endorsed the Conservative Party candidate Giles Watling.^[19] Watling was elected at the 2017 general election; at that election, UKIP's share of the vote fell by 36.8%, one of its largest declines in the country, and the subsequent Conservative victory in Clacton marked the first time every constituency in Essex had returned a Conservative MP since 1987. In 2019, Giles Watling, won re-election on the back of a majority of 24,702, increasing his vote share by 11.1% from 2017.

Ahead of the 2024 general election, it was announced that Nigel Farage, who had taken over as leader of Reform UK mid-campaign, would contest the Clacton constituency.^[20] A YouGov poll published on 19 June 2024 (using the MRP technique) predicted that Farage would defeat Watling.^[21] Farage won the seat with 46.2% of the vote.^[22] The swing from the Conservative Party to the Reform Party of 45.1% is the largest swing for any seat at a UK general election. For more detail see Clacton in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

Boundaries

2010–2024

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

The District of Tendring wards of Alton Park, Beaumont and Thorpe, Bockings Elm, Burrsville, Frinton, Golf Green, Hamford, Haven, Holland and Kirby, Homelands, Little Clacton and Weeley, Pier, Rush Green, St Bartholomews, St James, St Johns, St Marys, St Osyth and Point Clear, St Pauls and Walton.^[23]

The new seat consisted essentially of the former Harwich constituency, minus the town of Harwich itself and a few nearby villages, plus St Osyth and Weeley, transferred from the abolished North Essex constituency.

Current

Following the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The District of Tendring wards of: Bluehouse; Burrsville; Cann Hall; Coppins; Eastcliff; Frinton; Homelands; Kirby Cross; Kirby-le-Soken & Hamford; Little Clacton; Pier; St. Bartholomew's; St. James; St. John's; St Osyth; St. Paul's; The Bentleys & Frating; The Oakleys & Wix; Thorpe, Beaumont & Great Holland; Walton; Weeley & Tendring; West Clacton & Jaywick Sands.^[24]

The revised contents are expanded slightly by the addition of some inland rural areas and villages, transferred from Harwich and North Essex.

Members of Parliament

Harwich prior to 2010

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Douglas Carswell	Conservative
	2014 by-election		UKIP
	2017		Independent
	2017	Giles Watling	Conservative
	2024	Nigel Farage	Reform UK

Elections

Clacton election results 2010–2024

Elections in the 2020s

Main article: Clacton in the 2024 United Kingdom general election

See also: 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies § Notional 2019 general election results

General election 2024: Clacton^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Nigel Farage	21,225	46.2	N/A
	Conservative	Giles Watling	12,820	27.9	−44.0
	Labour	Jovan Owusu-Nepaul	7,448	16.2	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Bensilum	2,016	4.4	−1.8
	Green	Natasha Osben	1,935	4.2	+1.3
	Independent	Tony Mack	317	0.7	N/A
	UKIP	Andrew Pemberton	116	0.3	N/A
	Climate	Craig Jamieson	48	0.1	N/A
	Heritage	Tasos Papanastasiou	33	0.1	N/A
Majority			8,405	18.3
Turnout			45,958	58.0
	Reform UK gain from Conservative		Swing	+45.1

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[26]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	32,825	71.9
	Labour	7,108	15.6
	Liberal Democrats	2,829	6.2
	Green	1,341	2.9
	Others	1,566	3.4
Turnout		45,669	60.1
Electorate		75,959

General election 2019: Clacton^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Giles Watling	31,438	72.3	+11.1
	Labour	Kevin Bonavia	6,736	15.5	−9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Callum Robertson	2,541	5.8	+3.8
	Green	Chris Southall	1,225	2.8	+1.2
	Independent	Andy Morgan	1,099	2.5	N/A
	Independent	Colin Bennett	243	0.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Just-John Sexton	224	0.5	N/A
Majority			24,702	56.8	+21.0
Turnout			43,506	61.3	−2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.5

General election 2017: Clacton^{[27][28][29][30]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Giles Watling	27,031	61.2	+24.5
	Labour	Natasha Osben	11,203	25.4	+11.0
	UKIP	Paul Oakley	3,357	7.6	−36.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Grace	887	2.0	+0.2
	Green	Chris Southall	719	1.6	−1.1
	Independent	Caroline Shearer	449	1.0	N/A
	English Democrat	Robin Tilbrook	289	0.7	N/A
	Independent	Nick Martin	210	0.5	N/A
Majority			15,828	35.8
Turnout			44,145	63.7	−0.4
	Conservative gain from UKIP		Swing	+30.7

General election 2015: Clacton^[31][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Douglas Carswell	19,642	44.4	N/A
	Conservative	Giles Watling	16,205	36.7	−16.3
	Labour	Tim Young	6,364	14.4	−10.6
	Green	Chris Southall	1,184	2.7	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Grace	812	1.8	−11.1
Majority			3,437	7.7
Turnout			44,207	64.1	−0.1
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing	+50.7

By-election 2014: Clacton^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Douglas Carswell	21,113	59.7	N/A
	Conservative	Giles Watling	8,709	24.6	−28.4
	Labour	Tim Young[33]	3,957	11.2	−13.8
	Green	Chris Southall	688	1.9	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Graham	483	1.3	−11.6
	Independent	Bruce Sizer	205	0.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Alan "Howling Laud" Hope[34]	127	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Charlotte Rose	56	0.2	N/A
Majority			12,404	35.1
Turnout			35,338	51.2	−13.0
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing	+44.1

General election 2010: Clacton^[35][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Carswell	22,867	53.0	+8.6
	Labour	Ivan Henderson	10,799	25.0	–10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Green	5,577	12.9	–0.6
	BNP	Jim Taylor	1,975	4.6	N/A
	Tendring First	Terry Allen	1,078	2.5	N/A
	Green	Chris Southall	535	1.2	N/A
	Independent	Chris Humphrey	292	0.7	N/A
Majority			12,068	28.0	+19.5
Turnout			43,123	64.2	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.7

2005 notional result
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	20,035	46.6
	Labour	14,219	33.1
	Liberal Democrats	6,059	14.1
	Others	2,655	6.2
Turnout		42,968	62.9
Electorate		68,363

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex
• See of Rochester
• Tendring District
• Vista Road Recreation Ground

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).