Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)

Billericay
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
120px Boundary of Billericay in Essex in 2005.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
1983–2010
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Basildon and Billericay
Created from	Basildon
1950–February 1974
Replaced by	Basildon
Created from	South East Essex
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Billericay was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

It returned Conservative MPs at every election except 1966.

Boundaries

1950-1955: The Urban Districts of Billericay, Benfleet, Canvey Island, and Rayleigh.

1955-1974: The Urban Districts of Billericay and Brentwood.

1983-1997: The District of Basildon wards of Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Laindon, Wickford North, and Wickford South, and the Borough of Thurrock wards of Corringham and Fobbing, Orsett, Stanford-le-Hope, and The Homesteads.

1997-2010: The District of Basildon wards of Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Laindon, Pitsea East, Pitsea West, Wickford North, and Wickford South.

For the 2010 general election, this seat was effectively merged with Basildon to form a new constituency of Basildon and Billericay.

History

Billericay has elected somewhat colourful characters to Westminster, namely Harvey Proctor, the right-wing MP who resigned after homosexual sex charges, and Teresa Gorman, the Maastricht rebel who stood down after accusing the Commons Standards and Privileges committee of sexism over questions surrounding her registered business dealings.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1950–1974

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Bernard Braine	Conservative
	1955	Richard Body	Conservative
	1959	Edward Gardner	Conservative
	1966	Eric Moonman	Labour
	1970	Robert McCrindle	Conservative
	Feb 1974	constituency abolished: see Basildon

MPs 1983–2010

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Harvey Proctor	Conservative
	1987	Teresa Gorman	Conservative
	2001	John Baron	Conservative
	2010	constituency abolished: see Basildon and Billericay

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard Richard Braine	23,803	50.52
	Labour	Albert Edward Oram	19,437	41.26
	Liberal	Sidney Hayden	3,872	8.22
Majority			4,366	9.27
Turnout				79.57

General Election 1951: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard Richard Braine	26,936	56.65
	Labour	Brian Ralph Clapham	20,613	43.35
Majority			6,323	13.30
Turnout				77.12
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	24,327	54.73
	Labour	Brian Ralph Clapham	20,121	45.27
Majority			4,206	9.46
Turnout				75.50
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Lucas Gardner	29,224	46.41
	Labour	Rita A. Smythe	24,402	38.75
	Liberal	Peter MT Sheldon-Williams	9,347	14.84
Majority			4,822	7.66
Turnout				80.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Lucas Gardner	35,347	44.29
	Labour	Rita A. Smythe	33,755	42.30
	Liberal	Peter MT Sheldon-Williams	10,706	13.41
Majority			1,592	1.99
Turnout				82.48
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Moonman	40,013	46.54
	Conservative	Edward Lucas Gardner	38,371	44.63
	Liberal	Lionel Wernick	7,587	8.83
Majority			1,642	1.91
Turnout				84.12
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Arthur McCrindle	47,719	52.2
	Labour	Eric Moonman	43,765	47.8
Majority			3,954	4.3
Turnout				74.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Harvey Proctor	29,635	53.7	N/A
	Liberal	P.M.A.E. Bonner	15,020	27.2	N/A
	Labour	C.W. Sewell	10,528	19.1	N/A
Majority			14,615	26.5	N/A
Turnout			55,183	73.8	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

General Election 1987: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Ellen Gorman	33,741	54.9	+1.2
	Social Democratic	Michael Birch	15,755	25.6	−1.6
	Labour	Richard Stuart Howitt	11,942	19.4	+0.3
Majority			17,986	29.3
Turnout			61,438	77.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Ellen Gorman	37,406	56.5	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Francis Bellard	14,912	22.5	−3.1
	Labour	Ms. Alison F. Miller	13,880	21.0	+1.5
Majority			22,494	34.0	+4.6
Turnout			66,198	82.5	+5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.3

General Election 1997: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa Ellen Gorman	22,033	39.8	−17.9
	Labour	Paul A. Richards	20,677	37.3	+17.2
	Liberal Democrat	Geoff Williams	8,763	15.8	−6.5
	Loyal Conservative	Brian R.J.O. Hughes	3,377	6.1	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	John R. Buchanan	570	1.0	N/A
Majority			1,356	2.4
Turnout			55,420	72.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Baron	21,608	47.4	+7.6
	Labour	Mrs. Amanda Nicole Campbell	16,595	36.4	−0.9
	Liberal Democrat	Francis Bellard	6,323	13.9	−1.9
	UKIP	Nicholas John Yeomans	1,072	2.4	N/A
Majority			5,013	11.0
Turnout			45,598	58.1	−14.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2005: Billericay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Charles Baron	25,487	52.2	+4.8
	Labour	Anneliese Dodds	14,281	29.2	−7.2
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Hibbs	6,471	13.2	−0.7
	BNP	Bryn Robinson	1,435	2.9	N/A
	UKIP	Seantino Callaghan	1,184	2.4	+0.0
Majority			11,206	22.9
Turnout			48,858	61.4	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.0

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex
• Billericay
• Laindon