South East Essex was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

. It returned one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) to 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

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

History

South East Essex (formally the South Eastern division of Essex in its first incarnation) was one of eight single-member divisions of Essex (later classified as county constituencies) created by the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, replacing the three two member divisions of East, South and West Essex. The seat was reduced considerably in size under the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...

and again in the interim redistribution carried out for the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

, before being abolished for the 1950 general election. The constituency was re-established for the 1955 general election, and abolished again for the 1983 general election.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Dengie, Orsett, and Rochford, and the civil parishes of Rainham and Wennington. Formed primarily from the abolished South Division of Essex, together with southern part of the abolished East Division ( Dengie peninsular). See below for areas covered. 1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Grays Thurrock, Shoeburyness, and Tilbury, the Rural Districts of Orsett and Rochford, and part of the Rural District of Billericay. Gained southernmost parts of Chelmsford Division of Essex, including

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It is ...

. Area between River Crouch and River Blackwater (Dengie peninsular), including

Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex in the East of England. It lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town t ...

, transferred to

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

and westernmost area, including Rainham, transferred to

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

. Parts comprising Southend-on-Sea County Borough created as a separate Parliamentary Borough. 1945–1950: The Urban Districts of Benfleet, Billericay, Canvey Island, and Rayleigh, the Rural District of Rochford, and part of the County Borough of Southend-on-Sea. The

House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 (7 & 8 Geo.6. c.41) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established permanent boundary commissions for each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and provid ...

set up Boundaries Commissions to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies in time for the 1945 election. This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which South East Essex was divided into two constituencies. As a consequence, the Urban District of Thurrock (created largely from amalgamating the Urban Districts of Grays Thurrock and Tilbury and the Rural District of Orsett) was formed as the new

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

Division of Essex. Other marginal changes resulting from changes to local authority boundaries. Following the

First Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The First Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was a review of constituency boundaries for the Westminster Parliament in the United Kingdom carried out by the Boundary Commissions created by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seat ...

the seat was abolished. The bulk of the Division, comprising the Urban Districts of Benfleet,

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

and Rayleigh, formed the new County Constituency of

. The Rural District of Rochford, and the parts of the County Borough of Southend-on-Sea situated in the Division (

Shoeburyness Shoeburyness (; also called Shoebury) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. east of the city centre. It was an urban district of Essex from 1894 to 1933, when it ...

), included in the new Borough Constituency of

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 ...

. 1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Benfleet, Canvey Island, and Rayleigh, and the Rural District of Rochford. Re-established as a County Constituency. Benfleet, Canvey Island and Rayleigh were transferred back from Billericay, and Rochford from Southend East. 1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Benfleet, Canvey Island, and Rayleigh. The Rural District of Rochford was now transferred to Maldon. On abolition for the second time, Benfleet and Canvey Island (which now comprised the District of Castle Point) formed the new Borough Constituency of Castle Point. Rayleigh had been incorporated into the District of Rochford and was included in the new County Constituency thereof.

Areas covered

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1950

MPs 1955–1983

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; *Unionist: Rupert Guinness *Liberal:

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essex South East Parliamentary constituencies in Essex (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1955 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983