South Basildon and East Thurrock is a parliamentary constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 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.

Its predecessor seat, Basildon

Basildon (UK Parliament constituency)

Basildon was a parliamentary 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....

, was a well known bellwether seat

Bellwether

A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...

, having consistently voted for the winning party in each election. In 2010, South Basildon and East Thurrock maintained this tradition to an extent by electing a 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...

 MP

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,...

, Stephen Metcalfe

Stephen Metcalfe (UK politician)

Stephen James Metcalfe is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for South Basildon and East Thurrock since May 2010. Metcalfe is married to Angela, with whom he has two children, Tom and Katie...

, in an election when the Conservative Party emerged as the largest party in a hung parliament

Hung parliament

In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...

.

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 a number of radical changes to existing constituencies to allow for an extra seat to be awarded to the county.

Despite its name, this new constituency is actually the successor to the Basildon

Basildon (UK Parliament constituency)

Basildon was a parliamentary 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....

 constituency.

The Basildon constituency that existed after 1997 was never wholly within the Basildon district, nor even contained the whole of the Basildon

Basildon

Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...

 urban area, but it extended south into the Thurrock council area to take in towns such as Stanford-le-Hope

Stanford-le-Hope

Stanford-le-Hope is a town and Church of England parish situated in the county of Essex, England. The town is within the unitary authority of Thurrock and located 23.8 miles east of Charing Cross in London...

 and Corringham

Corringham

Corringham may refer to:*Corringham, Essex, England*Corringham, Lincolnshire, England...

.

This new seat retains all of the Thurrock wards, loses some areas around central Basildon, and replaces them with Pitsea

Pitsea

Pitsea is a small town in the east of the Basildon district of south Essex, England. It comprises five sub-districts: Eversley, Northlands Park Neighbourhood , Chalvedon, Pitsea Mount and Burnt Mills. Vange is located to the west of Pitsea, Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet to the east and Nevendon...

 to the east of Basildon. Additionally, the ward of East Tilbury

East Tilbury

East Tilbury is a village in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, England and one of the traditional parishes in Thurrock.-History:In Saxon times, the location on which the church now stands was surrounded by tidal marshland...

 is added from the Thurrock

Thurrock (UK Parliament constituency)

Thurrock is a parliamentary 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.- Boundaries :...

 constituency.

The electoral wards used in the new seat are:

• Corringham and Fobbing, East Tilbury, Orsett, Stanford East and Corringham Town, Stanford-le-Hope
  Stanford-le-Hope
  Stanford-le-Hope is a town and Church of England parish situated in the county of Essex, England. The town is within the unitary authority of Thurrock and located 23.8 miles east of Charing Cross in London...
  
   West and The Homesteads from Thurrock
  Thurrock
  Thurrock is a unitary authority with borough status in the English ceremonial county of Essex. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The local authority is Thurrock Council....
  
   district
• Langdon Hills, Nethermayne, Pitsea
  Pitsea
  Pitsea is a small town in the east of the Basildon district of south Essex, England. It comprises five sub-districts: Eversley, Northlands Park Neighbourhood , Chalvedon, Pitsea Mount and Burnt Mills. Vange is located to the west of Pitsea, Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet to the east and Nevendon...
  
   North West, Pitsea South East and Vange from Basildon.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Stephen Metcalfe Stephen Metcalfe (UK politician) Stephen James Metcalfe is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for South Basildon and East Thurrock since May 2010. Metcalfe is married to Angela, with whom he has two children, Tom and Katie...	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