Southend West is a constituency in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

. The seat is currently held by

Anna Firth Annalissa Firth (, born 1965 or 1966) is a British politician and former barrister who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend West since the 2022 by-election. A member of the Conservative Party, she was also a councillor on S ...

who won the 2022 by-election, following

the murder "The Murder" is a cinematic score written and composed by Bernard Herrmann for the horror-thriller film ''Psycho'' (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The score, its second movement in particular, is well recognized as one of the most famous sco ...

of the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

MP,

David Amess David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

History

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election under the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

, when the Parliamentary Borough of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

was split in two. Since creation, the seat has been held every election by the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, with majorities ranging from 5.7% during the Labour Landslide of 1997 to 43.4% in 1955. It has historically been seen by pundits as a safe Conservative seat. Because four members of the

Guinness family The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout Guinne ...

have held the seat (or its predecessor,

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

) it has been dubbed in political analyses in the media as "Guinness-on-Sea". The seat was represented by

for 24 years, from 1997 to 15 October 2021, when he was stabbed and killed. Amess was previously the MP for Basildon from 1983. A

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

was held to elect a replacement MP. In a similar vein to the subsequent by-election following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016, all major contender parties stated they would not field candidates in opposition to the Conservative nominee.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1950–1955: The County Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh, Milton, Prittlewell, St Clements, Victoria, and Westborough. Formed primarily from western parts of the abolished Parliamentary Borough of

. 1955–1983: The County Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of Blenheim, Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh, Prittlewell, St Clement's, Southbourne, and Westborough. Realignment of boundary with

Southend East Southend East railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the Southchurch area to the east of Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is down the main line from London Fenchurch Street via and it is situated between to the west ...

. 1983–2010: The Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of Belfairs, Blenheim, Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh, Prittlewell, and Westborough. Marginal changes following the redistribution of wards in the

Borough of Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. 2010–present: The Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of Belfairs, Blenheim Park, Chalkwell, Eastwood Park, Leigh, Prittlewell, St Laurence, Westborough, and West Leigh. Further marginal changes were due to a redistribution of local authority wards. The constituency comprises a small part of the West of

, and includes

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a town and civil parish in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011, it had a population of 22,509. Geography Leigh-on-Sea is on the northern ...

and

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

. It is bounded to the North and East by

Rochford and Southend East Rochford and Southend East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Sir James Duddridge, a Conservative. History This seat was created for the 1997 general election primarily from the abol ...

, to the North by Rayleigh and Wickford, to the West by

Castle Point Castle Point is a local government district with borough status in south Essex, east of central London. The borough comprises the towns and villages of Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley. The borough council is situated at ...

, and to the South by the very end of the

Thames estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

Constituency profile

Registered jobseekers were in November 2012 close to the national average of 3.8%, at 3.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''. Leigh-on-Sea has a number of Liberal Democrat councillors, whilst Eastwood Park has voted for the Lib Dems on occasion, and there is some Labour strength in Westborough (their strongest ward in the constituency), Blenheim Park and St Laurence, however the remaining areas are predominantly Conservative.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Jack Monroe Jack Monroe (born 17 March 1988) is a British food writer, journalist and activist known for campaigning on poverty issues, particularly hunger relief. She initially rose to prominence by writing a blog titled ''A Girl Called Jack'' (now r ...

had previously been standing for the

National Health Action Party The National Health Action Party (NHA) is a political party in the United Kingdom. The party grew out of the movement opposing the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. It campaigns for renationalisation of the privatised parts of the English Nat ...

, before withdrawing their candidacy on 11 May 2017, citing death threats and concern for their health.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Notes

References

External links

Southend West Liberal Democrat Prospective MP

Southend West UKIP Prospective MP

Southend Liberal Democrats

Southend West Conservatives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southend West (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Essex Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950 Politics of Southend-on-Sea