List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex

The county of Essex in relation to England

The county of Essex (which includes the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock) is divided into 18 parliamentary constituencies (sub-classified into six of borough type and twelve of county status, affecting the level of expenses permitted and status of returning officer).

The county saw the majority of its population and seats removed on the creation of the county of Greater London in 1965. Since then, the Conservatives have won a majority of the seats in the revised county. In the 2019 general election, all of Essex's seats were won by Conservative MPs by more than 50% of the vote. However, at the 2024 election, the Conservatives were reduced to ten seats, held on significantly reduced majorities. Labour won five seats, Reform UK two seats, and the Liberal Democrats one.

Constituencies

Further information: 2024 United Kingdom general election

  Conservative†   Labour‡   Liberal Democrat¤   Reform#

Constituency	Electorate	Majority	Member of Parliament		Nearest opposition		Map
Basildon and Billericay BC	76,993	20		Richard Holden †		Alex Harrison ‡
Braintree CC	75,662	3,670		James Cleverly †		Matthew Wright ‡
Brentwood and Ongar CC	74,937	5,980		Alex Burghart †		Paul Godfrey #
Castle Point BC	70,923	3,251		Rebecca Harris †		Keiron McGill #
Chelmsford BC	76,454	4,753		Marie Goldman ¤		Vicky Ford †
Clacton CC	75,959	8,405		Nigel Farage #		Giles Watling †
Colchester BC	76,843	8,250		Pam Cox ‡		James Cracknell †
Epping Forest CC	74,553	5,682		Neil Hudson †		Rosalind Doré ‡
Harlow CC	73,479	2,504		Chris Vince ‡		Hannah Ellis †
Harwich and North Essex CC	74,838	1,162		Bernard Jenkin †		Alex Diner ‡
Maldon CC	76,794	6,906		John Whittingdale †		Pamela Walford #
North West Essex CC	76,280	2,610		Kemi Badenoch †		Issy Waite ‡
Rayleigh and Wickford CC	76,422	5,621		Mark Francois †		Grant Randall #
South Basildon and East Thurrock CC	73,322	98		James McMurdock #		Jack Ferguson ‡
Southend East and Rochford CC	70,094	4,027		Bayo Alaba ‡		Gavin Haran †
Southend West and Leigh BC	76,824	1,949		David Burton-Sampson ‡		Anna Firth †
Thurrock BC	73,347	6,474		Jen Craft ‡		Sophie Preston-Hall #
Witham CC	75,064	5,145		Priti Patel †		Rumi Chowdhury ‡

Boundary changes

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England increased Essex's representation from 17 to 18 MPs, with the creation of the constituency of Witham. This had a significant impact on the boundaries of the majority of the existing constituencies and also resulted in several name changes.

Former name	Boundaries 1997-2010	Current name	Boundaries 2010–2024
Basildon BC Billericay CC Braintree CC Brentwood and Ongar CC Castle Point BC Colchester BC Epping Forest CC Harlow CC Harwich CC Maldon and East Chelmsford CC North Essex CC Rayleigh CC Rochford and Southend East CC Saffron Walden CC Southend West BC Thurrock BC West Chelmsford CC		Basildon and Billericay BC Braintree CC Brentwood and Ongar CC Castle Point BC Chelmsford BC Clacton CC Colchester BC Epping Forest CC Harlow CC Harwich and North Essex CC Maldon CC Rayleigh and Wickford CC Rochford and Southend East CC Saffron Walden CC South Basildon and East Thurrock CC Southend West BC Thurrock BC Witham CC

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021. Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission proposed retaining the number of constituencies in Essex at eighteen, with minor boundary changes to reflect changes to electoral wards within the county and to bring the electorates within the statutory range. It was proposed that Southend West be renamed Southend West and Leigh, and Rochford and Southend East renamed Southend East and Rochford to acknowledge that Southend-on-Sea had achieved city status during the course of the review. In addition, Saffron Walden was abolished and replaced with North West Essex. These changes came into effect from the 2024 general election.

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019

2024

The number votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Essex in the 2024 general election were as follows:

Party	Votes	%	Change from 2019	Seats	Change from 2019
Conservative	270,382	32.9%	31.6%	10	8
Labour	235,891	28.7%	7.5%	5	5
Reform	179,977	21.9%	New	2	New
Liberal Democrats	78,238	9.5%	1.1%	1	1
Greens	42,582	5.2%	2.9%	0	0
Others	14,054	1.7%	0.3%	0	0
Total	821,124	100.0		18

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Essex in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party	Votes	%	Change from 2017	Seats	Change from 2017
Conservative	577,118	64.5%	6.0%	18	0
Labour	189,471	21.2%	7.8%	0	0
Liberal Democrats	95,078	10.6%	4.8%	0	0
Greens	20,438	2.3%	0.8%	0	0
Others	12,502	1.4%	3.8%	0	0
Total	894,607	100.0		18

Percentage votes

Election year	1974 (Feb)	1974 (Oct)	1979	1983	1987	1992	1997	2001	2005	2010	2015	2017	2019	2024
Conservative	40.3	40.9	52.5	51.9	54.1	53.9	40.3	42.8	46.0	49.2	50.3	58.5	64.5	32.9
Labour	32.9	35.2	28.9	17.8	18.9	23.5	36.4	34.7	28.9	18.6	18.4	29.0	21.2	28.7
Reform	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21.9
Liberal Democrat1	26.7	23.8	17.7	29.7	26.6	21.7	18.2	16.7	19.1	21.3	6.7	5.8	10.6	9.5
Green Party	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	*	*	1.0	3.0	1.5	2.3	5.2
UKIP	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	4.1	20.5	4.6	*	*
Other	-	0.1	0.9	0.6	0.3	1.0	5.0	5.8	6.0	5.8	1.1	0.6	1.4	1.7

¹1974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Seats

Election year	1974 (Feb)	1974 (Oct)	1979	1983	1987	1992	1997	2001	2005	2010	2015	2017	2019	2024
Conservative	11	11	12	15	16	15	10	11	13	17	17	18	18	10
Labour	3	3	2	1	0	1	6	5	3	0	0	0	0	5
Reform	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Liberal Democrat1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1
UKIP	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Total	14	14	14	16	16	16	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18

¹1974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps

1885-1910

• 
  1885
• 
  1886
• 
  1892
• 
  1895
• 
  1900
• 
  1906
• 
  Jan 1910
• 
  Dec 1910

1918-1945

• 
  1918
• 
  1922
• 
  1923
• 
  1924
• 
  1929
• 
  1931
• 
  1935
• 
  1945

1950-1970

• 
  1950
• 
  1951
• 
  1955
• 
  1959
• 
  1964
• 
  1966
• 
  1970

1974-present

• 
  Feb 1974
• 
  Oct 1974
• 
  1979
• 
  1983
• 
  1987
• 
  1992
• 
  1997
• 
  2001
• 
  2005
• 
  2010
• 
  2015
• 
  2017
• 
  2019
• 
  2024

Historical representation by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

Key: bulk or all of areas marked † form part of present-day Greater London.

1885 to 1918

  Conservative   Independent Labour   Independent Labour Party   Labour   Liberal   Liberal-Labour

Constituency	1885	1886	88	92	1892	93	94	95	1895	97	1900	01	1906	08	Jan 1910	Dec 1910	11	12	17
Chelmsford	Beadel			Usborne							Rasch			Pretyman
Colchester	Trotter		Greville		Naylor-Leyland			Pearson							Worthington-Evans
Epping	Selwin-Ibbetson				Lockwood														Colvin
Essex South East	Makins	Rasch									Tufnell		Whitehead		Kirkwood			Guinness
Harwich	Round												Lever		Newton
Maldon	Kitching	Gray			Dodd				Strutt				T. Bethell		Flannery
Saffron Walden	Gardner								Gold		Wodehouse	Pease			Proby	Beck
Romford†	Westlake	Theobald					Money-Wigram			Sinclair			J. Bethell
Walthamstow†	Buxton	Makins			Byrne					Woods	Morgan		Simon
West Ham North†	Cook	Fulton			Grove				Gray				Masterman				de Forest
West Ham South†	Leicester	Banes			Hardie	→			Banes				Thorne

1918 to 1945

  British Socialist (1919-20) / Communist (1920-22)   Coalition Liberal (1918-22) / National Liberal (1922-23)   Coalition National Democratic & Labour   Common Wealth   Conservative   Constitutionalist   Independent   Labour   Liberal   National Liberal (1931-68)   National Socialist

Constituency	1918	18	19	20	21	1922	1923	1924	24	26	27	28	1929	31	1931	34	1935	37	40	42	45
Chelmsford	Pretyman						Robinson	Curtis-Bennett		Howard-Bury					Henderson		Macnamara				Millington
Colchester	Worthington-Evans												Lewis
Epping	Colvin						Lyle	Churchill	→
Essex South East	Hilder						Hoffman	Looker					Oldfield		Raikes
Harwich	Newton					Hillary		Rice					Pybus	→			Holmes
Maldon	Flannery					Ruggles-Brise	Crittall	Ruggles-Brise												Driberg
Saffron Walden	Beck		→		→	Mitchell							Butler
Southend	R. Guinness										G. Guinness						H. Channon
Romford†	Martin						Rhys						Muggeridge		Hutchison		Parker
Walthamstow East†	Johnson							Greenwood	→				Wallace		Beauchamp
Walthamstow West†	Jesson					McEntee		Crawfurd					McEntee
Leyton East†	Malone		→	→		Alexander	Church	Alexander					Brockway		Mills
Leyton West†	Wrightson		Newbould			Cassels							Sorensen		Sugden		Sorensen
Silvertown†	Jones	→																	Hollins
Stratford†	Lyle					Groves
East Ham North†	Bethell					Crook	Lawrence	Crook		Lawrence					Mayhew
East Ham South†	Edwards					Barnes									Campbell-Jn		Barnes
Ilford†	Griggs		Wise									Hamilton						Hutchinson
Plaistow†	Thorne
Upton†	Wild					Margesson	Gardner	Holt					Gardner		Chotzner	Gardner

1945 to 1974

  Common Wealth   Conservative   Labour Independent Group (1949-50)   Labour   National Liberal (1931-68)

Constituency	1945	46	49	1950	1951	54	1955	56	57	59	1959	61	1964	1966	67	68	69	1970
Leyton East†	Bechervaise
Silvertown†	Comyns
Stratford†	Nicholls
Chelmsford	Millington	→		Ashton									St John-Stevas
Colchester	Smith			Alport								Buck
East Ham North†	Daines								Prentice
East Ham South†	Barnes						Oram
Epping	Manning			Davies	Finlay								Newens					Tebbit
Essex South East	Gunter						Braine
Harwich	Holmes					Ridsdale										→
Ilford North†	Ridealgh			Hutchinson		Iremonger
Leyton West / Leyton (1950)†	Sorensen
Maldon	Driberg						Harrison
Romford†	Macpherson			Lockwood			Ledger											Leonard
Saffron Walden	Butler
Southend / Southend W (1950)	H. Channon									P. Channon
Walthamstow E†	Wallace						Harvey							Robinson			McNair-Wilson
Walthamstow W†	McEntee			Attlee				Redhead							Silvester			Deakins
West Ham S†	Elwyn Jones
West Ham N†	Lewis
Woodford / W & Wanstead ('64)†	Churchill												Jenkin
Ilford South†	Ranger			Cooper										Shaw				Thorne
Barking†	Hastings										Driberg
Dagenham†	Parker
Hornchurch†	Bing						Lagden							Lee Williams				Squire
Thurrock	Solley		→	Delargy
Southend East				McAdden
Billericay				Braine			Body				Gardner			Moonman				McCrindle
Chigwell							Biggs-Davison

1974 to 2010

  Conservative   Independent   Labour   Liberal Democrats   UKIP

Constituency	Feb 74	Oct 74	76	77	1979	80	1983	1987	88	1992	1997	2001	2005	08	08
Essex South East / Castle Point (1983)	Braine									Spink	Butler	Spink		→	→
Colchester (1974-83, 97-) / Colc. N (1983-97)	Buck									Jenkin	Russell
Epping Forest	Biggs-Davison								Norris		Laing
Harlow	Newens						Hayes				Rammell
Harwich	Ridsdale									Sproat	Henderson		Carswell
Maldon / S Colchester & Maldon (1983) / Maldon & E Chelmsford (1997)	Wakeham									Whittingdale
Southend East / Rochford & S'end E (1997)	McAdden					Taylor							Duddridge
Saffron Walden	Kirk			Haselhurst
Southend West	Channon										Amess
Thurrock	Delargy		McDonald					Janman		MacKinlay
Chelmsford / West Chelmsford (1997)	St John-Stevas							Burns
Billericay							Proctor	Gorman				Baron
Basildon	Moonman				Proctor		Amess				Smith
Braintree	Newton										Hurst		Newmark
Brentwood and Ongar	McCrindle									Pickles
Rochford / Rayleigh (1997)							Clark					Francois
North Essex											Jenkin

2010 to present

  Conservative   Independent   Liberal Democrats   UKIP

Constituency	2010	14	2015	17	2017	2019	22	2024
Castle Point	Harris
Colchester	Russell		Quince					Cox
Epping Forest	Laing							Neil Hudson
Harlow	Halfon							Vince
Clacton	Carswell	→		→	Watling			Farage
Maldon	Whittingdale
Rochford & Southend East / S.E. & R. (2024)	Duddridge							Alaba
Saffron Walden / NW Essex (2024)	Haselhurst				Badenoch
Southend West / Southend W & Leigh (2024)	Amess						Firth	Burton-Sampson
Thurrock	Doyle-Price							Craft
Chelmsford	Burns				Ford			Goldman
Basildon & Billericay	Baron							Holden
South Basildon & East Thurrock	Metcalfe							McMurdock
Braintree	Newmark		Cleverly
Brentwood and Ongar	Pickles				Burghart
Rayleigh & Wickford	Francois
Harwich & North Essex	Jenkin
Witham	Patel

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Essex
• Historical list of parliamentary constituencies in Essex
• List of former parliamentary constituencies in Essex