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Gillingham and Rainham
Gillingham and Rainham
Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
	Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
	Boundary of Gillingham and Rainham in South East England
County	Kent
Electorate	73,951 (2023)
Major settlements	Gillingham; Rainham; Twydall;
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Naushabah Khan (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Gillingham

Gillingham and Rainham is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Naushabah Khan of the Labour Party.^[2]^{[n 2]} It was previously represented since its 2010 creation by Rehman Chishti of the Conservative Party and replaced the previous constituency of Gillingham.

Boundaries

2010–2023: The Borough of Medway wards of Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Hempstead and Wigmore, Rainham Central, Rainham North, Rainham South, Twydall and Watling.

2023–present: Further to a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023,^[3]^[4] the constituency now comprises the following wards of the Borough of Medway:

Gillingham North (nearly all); Gillingham South; Hempstead & Wigmore (nearly all); Rainham North; Rainham South East; Rainham South West; Twydall; Watling.^[5]

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020, left the boundaries unchanged.^[6]

Constituency profile

The constituency is generally suburban and centred on Gillingham, historically a small port, which is within the London Commuter Belt. Local retail, industry, business parks, trades and professions provide constituents with a high level of employment, mostly on moderate to middle incomes;^[7] however, the area is not wholly resilient to unemployment. Registered claimants who were registered jobseekers were marginally lower than the national average of 3.8% at 3.5% of the population, according to a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[8]

Residents' wealth is around average for the UK, but below average for the South East region.^[9] The predecessor constituency of Gillingham was a Labour-Conservative marginal seat though prior to 1997 was a safe Conservative seat. The current constituency had been considered a safe Conservative seat until 2024.

Members of Parliament

Gillingham prior to 2010

Election		Member^[10]	Party
	2010	Rehman Chishti	Conservative
	2024	Naushabah Khan	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Gillingham and Rainham^[11]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Naushabah Khan	15,562	37.8	+9.4
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	11,590	28.2	−33.1
	Reform UK	Rizvi Rawoof	8,792	21.4	N/A
	Green	Kate Belmonte	2,318	5.6	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Bourne	2,248	5.5	+0.1
	Independent	Peter Cook – UCAT	344	0.8	+0.3
	CPA	Roger Peacock	175	0.4	+0.1
	SDP	Peter Wheeler	111	0.3	N/A
Majority			3,972	9.6	N/A
Turnout			41,140	55.9	−6.1
Registered electors			73,523
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	21.3

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Gillingham and Rainham^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	28,173	61.3	+5.9
	Labour	Andy Stamp	13,054	28.4	–7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Bullion	2,503	5.4	+2.6
	Green	George Salomon	1,043	2.3	+1.2
	UKIP	Rob Martin	837	1.8	–2.5
	Independent	Peter Cook	229	0.5	N/A
	CPA	Roger Peacock	119	0.3	0.0
Majority			15,119	32.9	+13.6
Turnout			45,958	62.5	–4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.8

General election 2017: Gillingham and Rainham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	27,091	55.4	+7.4
	Labour	Andy Stamp	17,661	36.1	+10.5
	UKIP	Martin Cook	2,097	4.3	–15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chaplin	1,372	2.8	–0.8
	Green	Clive Gregory	520	1.1	–1.3
	CPA	Roger Peacock	127	0.3	N/A
Majority			9,430	19.3	–3.1
Turnout			48,868	66.9	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	–1.5

General election 2015: Gillingham and Rainham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	22,590	48.0	+1.8
	Labour	Paul Clark	12,060	25.6	–2.1
	UKIP	Mark Hanson	9,199	19.5	+16.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chaplin^[15]	1,707	3.6	–14.5
	Green	Neil Williams	1,133	2.4	+1.6
	TUSC	Jacqui Berry^[16]	273	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Roger Peacock	72	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Mike Walters	44	0.1	N/A
Majority			10,530	22.4	+3.9
Turnout			47,078	64.8	–1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

General election 2010: Gillingham and Rainham^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rehman Chishti	21,624	46.2	+5.5
	Labour	Paul Clark	12,944	27.7	–13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Stamp	8,484	18.1	+2.8
	UKIP	Robert Oakley	1,515	3.2	+0.6
	BNP	Brian Ravenscroft	1,149	2.5	N/A
	English Democrat	Dean Lacey	464	1.0	N/A
	Green	Trish Marchant	356	0.8	N/A
	Independent	Gordon Bryan	141	0.3	N/A
	Medway Independent Party	George Meegan	109	0.2	N/A
Majority			8,680	18.5	N/A
Turnout			46,786	66.0	+2.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+9.3

Paul Clark was the incumbent MP for Gillingham.

Notes

^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.