Basildon is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

It is one of the best known bellwether constituencies in the UK, having voted for the winning party in each election since its creation in 1974. The failure of the Labour Party to win it in the 1992 election ? Basildon would be the first to declare of all the marginal seats ? foreshadowed Labour's fourth straight defeat at the hands of the Conservative party.

Boundaries

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England has made radical changes to all parliamentary constituencies in the county for the 2009/10 UK General Election. The current Basildon constituency is to be divided, with the larger part merged with Billericay to form a new Basildon and Billericay constituency, whilst the southern electoral wards will form a new constituency of South Basildon and East Thurrock

Profile

Basildon was a (famously) Conservative seat between 1979 and 1997 as the quintessential Essex man constituency based on the new town of Basildon. Much of its population has its origins in the East End of London, who as a group traditionally voted for the Labour Party.

However, throughout the 1980s and until the Labour landslide victory of 1997, many voters in the area transferred their loyalties to the Conservative Party. The MP throughout that period was David Amess, who himself originated from East London (Plaistow) ,and now holds the safer seat of Southend West.

Labour took the seat in 1997 and 2001 with a large majority, and in 2005 with a reduced majority. Basildon has thus proved to be a "bellwether" seat, voting for the eventual winning party since 1974.

Members of Parliament

Election results

2000s

1990s

Due to constituency boundary changes between 1992 and 1997, the changes in percentage of vote share in 1997 are given relative to the notional 1992 results, which reflect what the results would have been in 1992 had the election been fought with the 1997 boundaries.

1980s

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

ar:???????? (????? ???????? ?? ??????? ???????)

---

Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article