Rayleigh and Wickford is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, the Boundary Commission for England made significant alterations to existing constituencies to allow for the creation of an additional parliamentary seats in the county. The previous Rayleigh

Rayleigh (UK Parliament constituency)

Rayleigh was a parliamentary constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 seat was altered as a consequence of these changes.

The new seat was formed from the following electoral wards:

• The Basildon District Council
  Basildon (district)
  Basildon is a local government district in south Essex in the East of England, centred around the town of Basildon. The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 from the former area of Basildon Urban District and the part of Thurrock Urban District that was within the...
  
  .wards of Wickford Castledon, Wickford North, and Wickford Park from Billericay
  Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)
  Billericay was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.It returned Conservative MPs at every election except 1966....
  
  .http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7032/7032.asp
• The Rochford District Council
  Rochford (district)
  Rochford is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named for one of its main settlements, Rochford, though the major centre of population in the district is the town of Rayleigh...
  
   wards of Ashingdon and Canewdon, Downhall and Rawreth, Grange, Hawkwell North, Hawkwell South, Hawkwell West, Hockley Central, Hockley North, Hockley West, Hullbridge, Lodge, Rayleigh Central, Sweyne Park, Trinity, Wheatley and Whitehouse from Rayleigh
  Rayleigh (UK Parliament constituency)
  Rayleigh was a parliamentary constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
  
  .

The area around South Woodham Ferrers

South Woodham Ferrers

South Woodham Ferrers is a town and civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It is approximately from London and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 16,629. The town is located east of Fenn Creek, and near where it meets the River Crouch...

 in the Chelmsford Borough Council

Chelmsford (borough)

Chelmsford is a local government district and borough in Essex, England. It is named after its main settlement, Chelmsford, which is also the county town of Essex.-History:...

 that was previously in the Rayleigh constituency was moved to the new Maldon

Maldon (UK Parliament constituency)

Maldon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Mark Francois Mark Francois Mark Gino Francois is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford.-Early life:...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

Elections in the 2010s

* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament