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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.^[1]

Constituencies

Conservative† Labour‡ Liberal Democrat¤ Reform#

Constituency^{[nb 1]}	Electorate^[2]	Majority^[1]
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 ‡

2024 Boundary changes

Former name	Boundaries 2010–2024	Current name	Boundaries 2024-present
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		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 North West Essex CC Rayleigh and Wickford CC South Basildon and East Thurrock CC Southend East and Rochford CC Southend West and Leigh BC Thurrock BC Witham CC

For the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which redrew the constituency map ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Boundary Commission for England retained 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. The commission opted to rename Southend West to Southend West and Leigh (although the town of Leigh-on-Sea had already been part of the Southend West constituency prior to the boundary changes), and rename Rochford and Southend East to Southend East and Rochford to acknowledge that Southend-on-Sea had achieved city status during the course of the review.^[3] In addition, Saffron Walden was renamed 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^[4]

2024

The number votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Essex in the 2024 general election were as follows:^[1]

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	2
Liberal Democrats	78,238	9.5%	1.1%	1	1
Greens	42,582	5.2%	2.9%	0
Others	14,054	1.7%	0.3%	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.

1852 to 1885

Conservative Independent Whig Liberal Radical Whig

Constituency	1852	53	54	57	1857	57	59	1859	60	1865	67	1868	70	1874	78	1880	83
Colchester	Manners			Rebow				Papillon		Rebow			Learmonth			Causton
Colchester	Hawkins				Miller						Karslake	Brewer		Mackworth-Praed		Willis
Harwich	Peacocke	J. Bagshaw					Jervis-White-Jervis									Tyler
Harwich	Waddington				Warburton	R. J. Bagshaw		Campbell	Rowley	Kelk
Maldon	Du Cane		Peacocke		T. S. Western			→		Earle		Bentall		Sandford	Courtauld
Maldon	Miller		Bramley-Moore					Peacocke
North Essex / E Essex (1868)	Tyrell				Du Cane							Round
North Essex / E Essex (1868)	Beresford									T. B. Western		Ruggles-Brise					Strutt
South Essex	Bowyer-Smijth				Wingfield-Baker			Perry-Watlington		Selwin-Ibbetson		Wingfield-Baker		Baring
South Essex	Bramston									Cecil		Johnston		Makins
West Essex												Cecil
West Essex												Selwin-Ibbetson

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
East Ham North†	Bethell					Crook	Lawrence	Crook		Lawrence					Mayhew
East Ham South†	Edwards					Barnes									Campbell-Jn		Barnes
Epping	Colvin						Lyle	Churchill	→
Essex South East	Hilder						Hoffman	Looker					Oldfield		Raikes
Harwich	Newton					Hillary		Rice					Pybus	→			Holmes
Ilford†	Griggs		Wise									Hamilton						Hutchinson
Leyton East†	Malone		→	→		Alexander	Church	Alexander					Brockway		Mills
Leyton West†	Wrightson		Newbould			Cassels							Sorensen		Sugden		Sorensen
Maldon	Flannery					Ruggles-Brise	Crittall	Ruggles-Brise												Driberg
Plaistow†	Thorne
Saffron Walden	Beck		→		→	Mitchell							Butler
Southend	R. Guinness										G. Guinness						H. Channon
Romford†	Martin						Rhys						Muggeridge		Hutchison		Parker
Silvertown†	Jones	→																	Hollins
Stratford†	Lyle					Groves
Upton†	Wild					Margesson	Gardner	Holt					Gardner		Chotzner	Gardner
Walthamstow East†	Johnson							Greenwood	→				Wallace		Beauchamp
Walthamstow West†	Jesson					McEntee		Crawfurd					McEntee

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
South East Essex	Gunter						Braine
Barking†	Hastings										Driberg
Chelmsford	Millington	→		Ashton									St John-Stevas
Colchester	Smith			Alport								Buck
Dagenham†	Parker
East Ham North†	Daines								Prentice
East Ham South†	Barnes						Oram
Epping	Manning			Davies	Finlay								Newens					Tebbit
Harwich	Holmes					Ridsdale										→
Hornchurch†	Bing						Lagden							Lee Williams				Squire
Ilford North†	Ridealgh			Hutchinson		Iremonger
Ilford South†	Ranger			Cooper										Shaw				Thorne
Leyton West / Leyton (1950)†	Sorensen
Maldon	Driberg						Harrison
Romford†	Macpherson			Lockwood			Ledger											Leonard
Saffron Walden	Butler
Southend / Southend W (1950)	H. Channon									P. Channon
Thurrock	Solley		→	Delargy
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
Billericay				Braine			Body				Gardner			Moonman				McCrindle
Southend East				McAdden
Chigwell							Biggs-Davison

1974 to 2010

Conservative Independent Labour Liberal Democrats UKIP

Constituency	Feb 74	76	77	1979	80	1983	1987	88	1992	1997	2001	2005	08	08
Basildon	Moonman			Proctor		Amess				Smith
Braintree	Newton									Hurst		Newmark
Brentwood and Ongar	McCrindle								Pickles
Chelmsford / West Chelmsford (1997)	St John-Stevas						Burns
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
South East Essex / Castle Point (1983)	Braine								Spink	Butler	Spink		→	→
Southend West	Channon									Amess
Thurrock	Delargy	McDonald					Janman		MacKinlay
Billericay						Proctor	Gorman				Baron
Rochford / Rayleigh (1997)						Clark					Francois
North Essex										Jenkin

2010 to present

Conservative Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UKIP

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