East Thanet is a British

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in the

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in a ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, represented since 2024 by

Polly Billington Polly Billington (born 1967) is a British Labour Party politician serving as Member of Parliament for East Thanet since 2024. Prior to her election she was an environmental campaigner and had worked as a broadcast journalist for the BBC b ...

of the Labour Party. The seat previously existed, under the name Thanet East, from 1974 to 1983, returning one Member of Parliament (MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. Further to the completion of the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, it was re-established as East Thanet for the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

. It is primarily the successor to the former South Thanet parliamentary constituency.

Boundaries

1974–1983 (Thanet East)

The Borough of Ramsgate, and the Urban District of Broadstairs and St Peter's.

2024–present (East Thanet)

Following the

, which came into effect for the

, the constituency is composed of the District of Thanet wards of Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Central Harbour, Cliffsend & Pegwell, Cliftonville East, Cliftonville West, Dane Valley, Eastcliff, Kingsgate, Margate Central, Nethercourt, Newington, Northwood, St Peters, Salmestone, Sir Moses Montefiore, and Viking. It comprises those parts of the former constituency of

South Thanet South Thanet was a constituency in Kent. The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies made moderate boundary changes to the constituency, which was renamed East Thanet, taking effect at the 2024 general election. Boundaries 1983–2010: The ...

in the District of Thanet (85.6% of the electorate), together with three wards from

North Thanet North Thanet was a constituency in Kent. It was represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1983 creation until abolition by Sir Roger Gale, a Conservative. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westmi ...

, including Central

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Constituency profile

Electoral Calculus Electoral Calculus is a political consultancy and pollster, known for its political forecasting website that attempts to predict future United Kingdom general election results. It uses MRP (Multi-level Regression and Post-stratification) to c ...

categorises the proposed seat as being part of the "Somewheres" demographic, indicating socially conservative, economically soft left views and strong support for

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

. The

High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), officially the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of the line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Euro ...

railway service has stimulated some regeneration of Margate and Ramsgate, with many residents moving to the towns from Greater London.Kent Online https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/greasy-spoons-have-been-replaced-with-chichi-little-bistros-262211/

History

The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election, when the former constituency of

was split in two, and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the

of the

. It was abolished for the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general elec ...

, when Thanet East and the neighbouring Thanet West constituency were replaced by new

and

constituencies. The constituency name was revived at the

, where it effectively replaced the South Thanet constituency, with 81.8% of the electorate of the former South Thanet seat becoming part of the new East Thanet, and 85.6% of the new East Thanet seat having previously belonged to the former South Thanet.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1974–1983

prior to 1974''

MPs since 2024

prior to 2024''

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Election results 1974–1983

Elections in the 1970s

Notes

References

External links

East Thanet UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{coord , 51.36, 1.42, type:adm3rd_region:GB-KEN, display=title Thanet Parliamentary constituencies in Kent Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2024