Southend East and Rochford (UK Parliament constituency)

Southend East and Rochford is a constituency^[a] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Bayo Alaba, a member of the Labour Party.^[b]

Southend East and Rochford
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Southend East and Rochford in the East of England
County	Essex
Electorate	70,094 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Prittlewell, Rochford, Shoeburyness, Southend, Thorpe Bay
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Bayo Alaba (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Southend East, Rochford

Prior to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, coming into effect at the 2024 general election, the constituency was known as Rochford and Southend East.^[2]

Constituency profile

Rochford and Southend East had a relatively marginal Conservative majority on its 1997 creation, as it had some of Labour's stronger wards in Southend, such as Kursaal, Milton, St. Luke's and Victoria, with the party nearly gaining its predecessor seat Southend East in 1966, and secondly in a by-election in 1980, though in the elections since a much larger majority suggests a Conservative safe seat. In more recent elections, it had become more marginal however than other Essex constituencies that elected Labour MPs in the 21st century such as Harlow and Basildon.

Dependency on social housing^[3] and unemployment benefit in the constituency is low^[4] and in the Rochford local council only 14.5% of households do not have a car (band 5 of 5 in the 2011 census) whereas 27% of households in the Southend part lack a car (band 2 of 5).^[5]

Local government

Currently the 31 Council seats held in Rochford and Southend East are 7 Conservative (from Rochford), 10 Independent, 7 Labour, 5 Conservative and 2 UKIP (from Southend).

History

This seat was created for the 1997 general election primarily from the abolished constituency of Southend East, with the addition of Rochford and Great Wakering, which were previously in the abolished Rochford constituency.

It was held by the Conservatives since its formation until 2024. The 2017 election saw a 5% swing to Labour, cutting Duddridge's majority by 3,928 votes. In the 2019 election however, a 7.4% swing from Labour to the Conservatives gave Duddridge a 12,286 majority; his largest ever majority under the seat's current boundaries.

At the 2024 election, Duddridge stood down and the constituency elected Bayo Alaba as its first Labour MP on a swing of 18.9%.

Boundaries

1997–2010

• The Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of Milton, St Luke's, Shoebury, Southchurch, Thorpe, and Victoria; and
• The District of Rochford wards of Barling and Sutton, Foulness and Great Wakering East, Great Wakering Central, Great Wakering West, Rochford Eastwood, Rochford Roche, and Rochford St Andrews.^[6]

2010–2024

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

• The Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of Kursaal, Milton, St Luke's, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe, Victoria, and West Shoebury; and
• The District of Rochford wards of Barling and Sutton, Foulness and Great Wakering, and Rochford.^[7]

Small reduction in electorate due to redistribution of local authority wards.

Current (Southend East and Rochford)

Further to 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 Rochford wards of: Foulness & The Wakerings; Roche North & Rural; Roche South.

• The City of Southend-on-Sea wards of: Kursaal; Milton; Shoeburyness; Southchurch; Thorpe; Victoria; West Shoebury.^[8]

St Luke's ward transferred to the newly named constituency of Southend West and Leigh. Minor gain of sparsely populated area to the north of the constituency from Rayleigh and Wickford.

The constituency covers the town of Rochford and the town centre, main seafront and eastern part of Southend-on-Sea, such as Thorpe Bay and Shoeburyness.

Members of Parliament

Southend East and Rochford prior to 1997

Election		Member[9]	Party
	1997	Sir Teddy Taylor	Conservative
	2005	Sir James Duddridge	Conservative
	2024	Bayo Alaba	Labour

Elections

Election results 1950-2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Southend East and Rochford^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bayo Alaba	15,395	38.8	+7.5
	Conservative	Gavin Haran	11,368	28.7	–30.3
	Reform UK	Leslie Lilley[c]	7,214	18.2	N/A
	Green	Simon Cross	2,716	6.8	+6.7
	Liberal Democrats	James Allen	2,269	5.7	–0.7
	Confelicity	Lee Clark	488	1.2	N/A
	Heritage	Bianca Isherwood	206	0.5	N/A
Majority			4,027	10.1	N/A
Turnout			39,656	56.5	–5.1
Registered electors			70,217
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	18.9

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[11]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	25,463	59.0
	Labour	13,521	31.3
	Liberal Democrats	2,775	6.4
	Others	1,356	3.1
	Green	42	0.1
Turnout		43,157	61.6
Electorate		70,094

General election 2019: Rochford and Southend East^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Duddridge	27,063	58.7	+10.0
	Labour	Ashley Dalton	14,777	32.0	–5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Miller	2,822	6.1	+3.4
	Independent	Navin Kumar	1,107	2.4	N/A
	Psychedelic Future	Jason Pilley	367	0.8	N/A
Majority			12,286	26.7	+15.0
Turnout			46,136	61.0	–3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.4

General election 2017: Rochford and Southend East^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Duddridge	23,013	48.7	+2.3
	Labour	Ashley Dalton	17,465	37.0	+12.3
	Independent	Ron Woodley	2,924	6.2	N/A
	UKIP	Neil Hookway	1,777	3.8	–16.7
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Gwizdala	1,265	2.7	–0.6
	Green	Simon Cross	804	1.7	–3.3
Majority			5,548	11.7	–10.0
Turnout			47,248	64.3	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	–5.0

General election 2015: Rochford and Southend East^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Duddridge	20,241	46.4	−0.5
	Labour	Ian Gilbert	10,765	24.7	+4.4
	UKIP	Floyd Waterworth[16]	8,948	20.5	+14.7
	Green	Simon Cross[17]	2,195	5.0	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Gwizdala	1,459	3.3	–16.1
Majority			9,476	21.7	–4.9
Turnout			43,608	60.6	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	–2.4

General election 2010: Rochford and Southend East^[18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Duddridge	19,509	46.9	+1.5
	Labour	Kevin Bonavia[20]	8,459	20.3	−11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Longley[21]	8,084	19.4	+4.7
	UKIP	James Moyies[22]	2,405	5.8	+0.9
	BNP	Geoff Strobridge[23]	1,856	4.5	N/A
	Green	Andrew Vaughan[24]	707	1.7	–1.8
	Independent	Anthony Chytry	611	1.5	N/A
Majority			11,050	26.6	+12.7
Turnout			41,631	58.5	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Rochford and Southend East^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Duddridge	17,874	45.3	–8.3
	Labour	Fred Grindrod	12,384	31.4	–3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Longley	5,967	15.1	+7.7
	UKIP	John Croft	1,913	4.8	N/A
	Green	Andrew Vaughan	1,328	3.4	+0.8
Majority			5,490	13.9	–4.9
Turnout			39,466	55.4	+2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	–2.4

General election 2001: Rochford and Southend East^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teddy Taylor	20,058	53.6	+4.9
	Labour	Chris Dandridge	13,024	34.8	–4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Newton	2,780	7.4	–2.0
	Green	Adrian Hedges	990	2.6	N/A
	Liberal	Brian Lynch	600	1.6	–0.6
Majority			7,034	18.8	+8.8
Turnout			37,452	52.7	–11.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Rochford and Southend East^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teddy Taylor	22,683	48.7
	Labour	Nigel Smith	18,458	39.7
	Liberal Democrats	Paula Smith	4,387	9.4
	Liberal	Brian Lynch	1,007	2.2
Majority			4,225	9.0
Turnout			46,535	63.7
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

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

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. After nominations for the 2024 general election closed, Reform UK withdrew support for Lilley on the 29 June, after reports of "offensive comments" on asylum seekers.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000022-QINU`"'