Gravesham (UK Parliament constituency)

Gravesham (/ˈɡreɪvʃəm/) is a British parliamentary constituency in Kent, represented by Lauren Sullivan of the Labour Party since the 2024 general election.

Gravesham
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 1983
Boundary of Gravesham in South East England
County	Kent
Electorate	72,866 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Gravesend, Northfleet
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Lauren Sullivan (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Gravesend

Constituency profile

The seat covers the historic riverside town of Gravesend and a more rural area extending to Higham and Vigo Village on the North Downs. The electorate voted strongly to leave in the 2016 EU referendum. Health and wealth are roughly average for the UK.^[2]

Boundaries

1983–present: The Borough of Gravesham wards of: Central; Chalk; Coldharbour; Higham; Istead Rise; Meopham North; Meopham South and Vigo; Northfleet North; Northfleet South; Painters Ash; Pelham; Riverside; Riverview; Shorne, Cobham and Luddesdown; Singlewell; Westcourt, Whitehill; Woodlands.^[3]

Since the constituency's creation, its boundaries have been co-terminous with those of the Borough of Gravesham. The largest town in the constituency is Gravesend.

The 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies left the boundaries unchanged.^[4]

History

This particular name of the seat was created in 1983 effectively as the new name for the Gravesend seat.

The constituency and its predecessor together can be considered a bellwether seat: from World War I, with the exceptions of the General Elections in 1929, 1951 and 2005, its winner came from the winning party nationally.^{[n 1]} In 2005, Adam Holloway was one of 36 Conservative candidates to gain a seat from other parties; he held the seat until 2024, when Labour gained it for the first time in 19 years with the election of Lauren Sullivan as MP.

Members of Parliament

Gravesend prior to 1983

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1983	Tim Brinton	Conservative
	1987	Jacques Arnold	Conservative
	1997	Chris Pond	Labour
	2005	Adam Holloway	Conservative
	2024	Lauren Sullivan	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Gravesham ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lauren Sullivan	16,623	38.5	+9.1
	Conservative	Adam Holloway	13,911	32.2	−30.0
	Reform UK	Matthew Fraser Moat	8,910	20.6	New
	Green	Rebecca Hopkins	2,254	5.2	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ukonu Obasi	1,534	3.5	−1.9
Majority			2,712	6.3	N/A
Turnout			43,232	59.0	−6.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+19.5

Elections in the 2010s

2019 general election: Gravesham ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Holloway	29,580	62.2	+6.6
	Labour	Lauren Sullivan	13,999	29.4	−7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ukonu Obasi	2,584	5.4	+2.9
	Green	Marna Gilligan	1,397	2.9	+1.4
Majority			15,581	32.8	+13.7
Turnout			47,560	64.9	−2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.8

2017 general election: Gravesham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Holloway	27,237	55.6	+8.8
	Labour	Mandy Garford	17,890	36.5	+6.4
	UKIP	Emmanuel Feyisetan	1,742	3.6	−15.0
	Liberal Democrats	James Willis	1,210	2.5	+0.3
	Green	Marna Gilligan	723	1.5	−0.8
	Independent	Michael Rogan	195	0.4	New
Majority			9,347	19.1	+2.4
Turnout			49,106	67.2	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.2

2015 general election: Gravesham^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Holloway	23,484	46.8	−1.7
	Labour	Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi[9]	15,114	30.1	+1.3
	UKIP	Sean Marriott	9,306	18.6	+13.8
	Green	Mark Lindop	1,124	2.2	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Anne-Marie Bunting	1,111	2.2	−11.1
Majority			8,370	16.7	−3.0
Turnout			50,139	67.5	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.5

2010 general election: Gravesham^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Holloway	22,956	48.5	+4.8
	Labour Co-op	Kathryn Smith	13,644	28.8	−13.4
	Liberal Democrats	Anna Arrowsmith	6,293	13.3	+2.6
	UKIP	Geoffrey Clark	2,265	4.8	+2.9
	English Democrat	Steve Uncles	1,005	2.1	New
	Green	Richard Crawford	675	1.4	New
	Independent	Alice Dartnell	465	1.0	New
Majority			9,312	19.7	+18.2
Turnout			47,303	67.4	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.1

Elections in the 2000s

2005 general election: Gravesham^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Holloway	19,739	43.7	+4.9
	Labour	Chris Pond	19,085	42.2	−7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Bruce Parmenter	4,851	10.7	+1.5
	UKIP	Geoff Coates	850	1.9	−0.2
	English Independence Party	Christopher Nickerson	654	1.4	New
Majority			654	1.5	N/A
Turnout			45,179	65.8	+3.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.3

2001 general election: Gravesham^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Pond	21,773	49.9	+0.2
	Conservative	Jacques Arnold	16,911	38.8	0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Bruce Parmenter	4,031	9.2	+1.5
	UKIP	William Jenner	924	2.1	New
Majority			4,862	11.1	+0.3
Turnout			43,639	62.7	−14.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.1

Elections in the 1990s

1997 general election: Gravesham^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Pond	26,460	49.7	+9.3
	Conservative	Jacques Arnold	20,681	38.8	−10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Merilyn Canet	4,128	7.8	−1.1
	Referendum	Patricia Curtis	1,441	2.7	New
	Independent Labour	Anthony Leyshon	414	0.8	New
	Natural Law	David Palmer	129	0.2	New
Majority			5,779	10.9	N/A
Turnout			53,253	76.9	−6.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-10.1

1992 general election: Gravesham^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacques Arnold	29,322	49.7	−0.4
	Labour	Graham A. Green	23,829	40.4	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Derek R. Deedman	5,269	8.9	−6.2
	Independent	AJ Bunstone	273	0.5	New
	Ind. Conservative	REB Khilkoff-Boulding	187	0.3	New
	Independent Socialist	BJ Buxton	174	0.3	New
Majority			5,493	9.3	−6.0
Turnout			59,054	83.4	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1980s

1987 general election: Gravesham^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacques Arnold	28,891	50.1	+3.1
	Labour	Martin Coleman	20,099	34.8	+3.1
	Liberal (Alliance)	Robert Crawford	8,724	15.1	−4.5
Majority			8,792	15.3	−0.2
Turnout			57,714	79.3	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.0

1983 general election: Gravesham^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Brinton	25,968	47.0
	Labour	John Ovenden	17,505	31.7
	SDP (Alliance)	M Horton	10,826	19.6
	Ecology	Martin Sewell	495	0.2
	National Front	P Johnson	420	0.8
Majority			8,463	15.5
Turnout			55,214	77.6
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Kent
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

Notes

1. Nonetheless, in the 1929 and 1951 elections, the seat elected into office the candidate from the party with the largest national share of the vote