South Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)

South Thanet was a constituency^{[n 1]} in Kent.^{[n 2]}

South Thanet
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Thanet in Kent
Location of Kent within England
County	Kent
Electorate	67,970 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Sandwich
1983–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Thanet West, Dover and Thanet East[2]
Replaced by	East Thanet

The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies made moderate boundary changes to the constituency, which was renamed East Thanet, taking effect at the 2024 general election.^[3]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

1983–2010: The District of Thanet wards of Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Central Eastcliff, Central Westcliff, Kingsgate, Minster Parish, Newington, Northwood, Pierremont, St Lawrence, St Peter's, Sir Moses Montefiore, Southwood, and Upton, and the District of Dover wards of Ash, Little Stour, Sandwich, Woodnesborough with Staple, and Worth.

2010–2024: The District of Thanet wards of Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Central Harbour, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Cliftonville East, Cliftonville West, Eastcliff, Kingsgate, Nethercourt, Newington, Northwood, St Peter's, Sir Moses Montefiore, and Viking, and the District of Dover wards of Little Stour and Ashstone, and Sandwich.

South Thanet consisted of the southern and eastern part of Thanet district (the towns of Ramsgate and Broadstairs, the Cliftonville area of Margate and the village of Cliffsend) together with the northern part of Dover district, comprising the ancient Cinque Port of Sandwich and surrounding villages.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1983	Jonathan Aitken	Conservative
	1997	Stephen Ladyman	Labour
	2010	Laura Sandys	Conservative
	2015	Craig Mackinlay	Conservative
	2024	constituency abolished

Electoral spending criminal investigation following the 2015 general election

In 2016 an investigation by Channel 4 News revealed that the Conservative Party had spent many thousands of pounds centrally on battlebuses to transport activists, and hotel accommodation for the activists, who went to campaign in marginal constituencies, including South Thanet. The expenditure on the buses was declared by the Conservative Party on its national declaration of "Campaign Spending", but in some cases the hotel accommodation was not declared at all as election spending when it should have been. In addition, there is controversy about whether the expenditure, both on the buses and the accommodation, should have been declared on the declarations of expenditure for the constituency made by each candidate's election agent. Kent Police began an investigation into the spending returns of Craig Mackinlay following the Channel 4 report.^[5]

In a court case on 1 June 2016, brought against Mackinlay and his election agent Nathan Gray,^[6] District Judge Barron granted more time for investigation saying "In this case, the allegations are far-reaching and the consequences of a conviction would be of a local and national significance with the potential for election results being declared void."^[7]

On 14 March 2017, it was reported that Mackinlay had been interviewed under caution by officers investigating the allegations.^[8] On 2 June 2017, six days before the 2017 general election, Mackinlay and two Conservative party officials were charged by the Crown Prosecution Service with offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983. They were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017.^[9]

On 9 January 2019, Mackinlay was cleared of election expenses fraud.^[10] One of the other defendants, Marion Little, was found guilty of two charges and given a nine-month suspended sentence and £5000 fine.^[11] She retained the OBE she had been awarded for political service in 2015.^[12]

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South Thanet^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Mackinlay	27,084	56.1	+5.3
	Labour	Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt	16,497	34.2	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Pennington	2,727	5.7	+2.7
	Green	Rebecca Wing	1,949	4.0	+2.4
Majority			10,587	21.9	+9.0
Turnout			48,257	65.8	−3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.5

General election 2017: South Thanet^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Mackinlay	25,262	50.8	+12.7
	Labour	Raushan Ara	18,875	37.9	+14.1
	UKIP	Stuart Piper	2,997	6.0	−26.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jordan Williams	1,514	3.0	+1.1
	Green	Trevor Roper	809	1.6	−0.6
	Independent	Tim Garbutt	181	0.4	New
	CPA	Faith Fisher	115	0.2	New
Majority			6,387	12.9	+7.2
Turnout			49,753	68.8	−1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § South Thanet

General election 2015: South Thanet ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Mackinlay	18,838	38.0	−9.9
	UKIP	Nigel Farage	16,026	32.3	+26.8
	Labour	Will Scobie	11,740	23.7	−7.7
	Green	Ian Driver	1,076	2.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	Russell Timpson	932	1.9	−13.2
	No description1	Al Murray	318	0.6	New
	Manston Airport Independent	Ruth Bailey	191	0.4	New
	We Are The Reality Party	Nigel Askew	126	0.3	New
	Party for a United Thanet	Grahame Birchall	63	0.1	New
	Independent	Dean McCastree	61	0.1	New
	Al-Zebabist Nation of Ooog	Zebadiah Abu-Obadiah	30	0.05	New
Majority			2,812	5.7	−9.7
Turnout			49,564	69.8	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−18.4

¹: Murray appeared on the ballot paper without any description,^[17] but campaigned under the label of the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP).^[18]

General election 2010: South Thanet^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Laura Sandys	22,043	47.9	+6.8
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	14,426	31.3	−8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Bucklitsch	6,935	15.1	+2.9
	UKIP	Trevor Shonk	2,529	5.5	+0.7
Majority			7,617	15.4	N/A
Turnout			46,023	65.3	+0.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South Thanet^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	16,660	40.4	−5.3
	Conservative	Mark MacGregor	15,996	38.8	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Guy Voizey	5,431	13.2	+3.8
	UKIP	Nigel Farage	2,079	5.0	+3.7
	Green	Howard Green	888	2.2	New
	Independent	Maude Kinsella	188	0.5	New
Majority			664	1.6	−3.0
Turnout			41,242	65.0	1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.5

General election 2001: South Thanet^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	18,002	45.7	−0.5
	Conservative	Mark MacGregor	16,210	41.1	+1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Guy Voizey	3,706	9.4	−2.3
	Independent	William Baldwin	770	2.0	New
	UKIP	Terry Eccott	502	1.3	New
	National Front	Bernard Franklin	242	0.6	New
Majority			1,792	4.6	−1.8
Turnout			39,432	63.9	−7.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.9

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South Thanet^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Ladyman	20,777	46.2	+18.1
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	17,899	39.8	−11.9
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Hewitt-Silk	5,263	11.7	−6.6
	Independent	C Crook	631	1.4	New
	Green	David Wheatley	418	0.9	−0.9
Majority			2,878	6.4	N/A
Turnout			44,488	71.6	−6.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.4

General election 1992: South Thanet^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	25,253	51.7	−2.6
	Labour	Mark James	13,740	28.1	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bill Pitt	8,948	18.3	−6.5
	Green	Sue Peckham	871	1.8	New
Majority			11,513	23.6	−5.9
Turnout			48,812	78.2	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.9

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South Thanet^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	25,135	54.3	−2.2
	Liberal	Bill Pitt	11,452	24.8	+0.7
	Labour	Chris Wright	9,673	20.9	+1.5
Majority			13,683	29.5	−2.9
Turnout			46,260	73.7	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.4

General election 1983: South Thanet^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Aitken	24,512	56.5
	Liberal	Ian Josephs	10,461	24.1
	Labour	Martin Clark	8,429	19.4
Majority			14,051	32.4
Turnout			43,402	70.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in Kent

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. 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.