Maidstone and The Weald
Encyclopedia
Maidstone and The Weald is a county constituency which elects one Member of Parliament
(MP) in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
.
in south eastern England
and includes parts of the areas of Maidstone
and Tunbridge Wells
boroughs. Towns include Maidstone
and Cranbrook
and - until the next election - Tenterden
.
, after the previous Maidstone constituency
was split in two. The southeast Maidstone wards of Shepway and Park Wood
and the rural wards east of the town joined Faversham
in the new Faversham and Mid Kent constituency. The remaining two-thirds of the electorate in west/central Maidstone were reunited with the town wards that had been lost to Mid Kent in 1983, and joined by a rural part of the Weald to the south of the town, previously in the Tunbridge Wells
constituency.
Most of the electorate live in urban Maidstone, which has some light industry but whose economy is increasingly dominated by the service sector (eg insurance). The south of the constituency is rural with significant orchards and market gardens. Many residents commute to London
.
. The modified Maidstone and The Weald constituency is formed from the following electoral wards:
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
Boundaries
The constituency is located in the middle of the county of KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in south eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and includes parts of the areas of Maidstone
Maidstone (borough)
Maidstone is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Its administrative centre is Maidstone which is also the County town of Kent...
and Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells (borough)
Tunbridge Wells is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells.The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the municipal borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells along with Southborough urban district, Cranbrook Rural...
boroughs. Towns include Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
and Cranbrook
Cranbrook, Kent
Cranbrook is a small town in Kent in South East England which was granted a charter in 1290 by Archbishop Peckham, allowing it to hold a market in the High Street. Located on the Maidstone to Hastings road, it is five miles north of Hawkhurst. The smaller settlements of Swattenden, Colliers...
and - until the next election - Tenterden
Tenterden
Tenterden is a Cinque Port town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother....
.
History
The constituency was created for the 1997 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, after the previous Maidstone constituency
Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)
Maidstone was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The parliamentary borough of Maidstone returned two Members of Parliament from 1552 until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member...
was split in two. The southeast Maidstone wards of Shepway and Park Wood
Park Wood, Maidstone
Park Wood is a mixture of private housing and a former council estate on the south east extremity of Maidstone in Kent, England. The former council properties are now managed by Golding Homes. In 2006, a large part of Park Wood was redevoloped, and various new housing estates have been built in the...
and the rural wards east of the town joined Faversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
in the new Faversham and Mid Kent constituency. The remaining two-thirds of the electorate in west/central Maidstone were reunited with the town wards that had been lost to Mid Kent in 1983, and joined by a rural part of the Weald to the south of the town, previously in the Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells (UK Parliament constituency)
Tunbridge Wells is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returns one Member of Parliament , elected under the first-past-the-post voting system.-Boundaries:...
constituency.
Most of the electorate live in urban Maidstone, which has some light industry but whose economy is increasingly dominated by the service sector (eg insurance). The south of the constituency is rural with significant orchards and market gardens. Many residents commute to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Kent, the Boundary Commission for England has made major changes to the existing constituency boundaries as a consequence of population changes across the county. One major change is that Tenterden will be lost to AshfordAshford (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.-Boundaries:...
. The modified Maidstone and The Weald constituency is formed from the following electoral wards:
- Allington, Barming, Bridge, Coxheath, Hunton and LintonLinton, KentLinton is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the Greensand ridge, south of Maidstone on the A229 Hastings road....
, East, Fant, Heath, High Street, Loose, Marden and Yalding, North, South and Staplehurst from the borough of Maidstone. - Benenden and Cranbrook, and Frittenden and Sissinghurst from Tunbridge Wells.
Members of Parliament
The MP for the seat from its creation in 1997 was Ann Widdecombe of the Conservative Party. She was previously MP for the former seat of Maidstone from 1987, and served as a Home Office minister in the government of John Major from 1995 to 1997, and as Shadow Home Secretary from 1999 to 2001. She stood down at the 2010 general election and was succeeded by Helen Grant, also of the Conservative Party.| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general... |
Ann Widdecombe Ann Widdecombe Ann Noreen Widdecombe is a former British Conservative Party politician and has been a novelist since 2000. She is a Privy Councillor and was the Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1987 to 1997 and for Maidstone and The Weald from 1997 to 2010. She was a social conservative and a member of... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 2010 | Helen Grant Helen Grant (politician) Helen Grant is a British lawyer and Conservative Party politician. She is the current Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald in Kent. She was elected at the 2010 general election, replacing the constituency's previous incumbent, Ann Widdecombe, who had decided to step down as an MP... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Sources
- T H B Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
- Robert Waller, The Almanac of British PoliticsAlmanac of British PoliticsThe Almanac of British Politics is a reference work which aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United Kingdom through an approach of profiling the social, economic and historical characteristics of each parliamentary constituency and of their individual representative Member of...
(1st edition, London: Croom Helm, 1983; 5th edition, London: Routledge, 1996) - Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical SocietyRoyal Historical SocietyThe Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
, 1979)