The ceremonial county of Kent, (which includes the unitary authority of Medway), is divided into 17 parliamentary constituencies - one borough constituency and 16 county constituencies.

Constituencies

  Conservative †   Labour ‡   Liberal Democrats ¤

Constituency[nb 1]	Electorate[1]	Majority[2][nb 2]	Member of Parliament[2]		Nearest opposition[2]		Map
Ashford CC	89,553	24,029		Damian Green †		Dara Farrell ‡
Canterbury CC	80,203	1,836		Rosie Duffield ‡		Anna Firth †
Chatham and Aylesford CC	71,642	18,540		Tracey Crouch †		Vince Maple ‡
Dartford CC	82,209	19,160		Gareth Johnson †		Sacha Gosine ‡
Dover CC	76,355	12,278		Natalie Elphicke †		Charlotte Cornell ‡
Faversham and Mid Kent CC	73,403	21,976		Helen Whately †		Jenny Reeves ‡
Folkestone and Hythe CC	88,272	21,337		Damian Collins †		Laura Davison ‡
Gillingham and Rainham BC	73,549	15,119		Rehman Chishti †		Andy Stamp ‡
Gravesham CC	73,242	15,581		Adam Holloway †		Lauren Sullivan ‡
Maidstone and The Weald CC	76,109	21,772		Helen Grant †		Dan Wilkinson ‡
North Thanet CC	72,756	17,189		Roger Gale †		Coral Jones ‡
Rochester and Strood CC	82,056	17,072		Kelly Tolhurst †		Teresa Murray ‡
Sevenoaks CC	71,757	20,818		Laura Trott †		Gareth Willis ¤
Sittingbourne and Sheppey CC	83,917	24,479		Gordon Henderson †		Clive Johnson ‡
South Thanet CC	73,223	10,587		Craig Mackinlay †		Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt ‡
Tonbridge and Malling CC	79,278	26,941		Tom Tugendhat †		Richard Morris ¤
Tunbridge Wells CC	74,823	14,645		Greg Clark †		Ben Chapelard ¤

2010 boundary changes

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England^[3] decided to retain Kent's 17 constituencies for the 2010 election, making minor changes to realign constituency boundaries with the boundaries of current local government wards, and to reduce the electoral disparity between constituencies, including the transfer of Cliftonville from North Thanet to South Thanet. They recommended two name changes: Gillingham to Gillingham and Rainham to reflect the similar stature of the two towns, and Medway to Rochester and Strood to avoid confusion with the larger Medway unitary authority.

Former name	Boundaries 1997-2010	Current name	Boundaries 2010–present
Ashford CC Canterbury CC Chatham and Aylesford CC Dartford CC Dover CC Faversham and Mid Kent CC Folkestone and Hythe CC Gillingham BC Gravesham CC Maidstone and The Weald CC Medway CC North Thanet CC Sevenoaks CC Sittingbourne and Sheppey CC South Thanet CC Tonbridge and Malling CC Tunbridge Wells CC	Parliamentary constituencies in Kent	Ashford CC Canterbury CC Chatham and Aylesford CC Dartford CC Dover CC Faversham and Mid Kent CC Folkestone and Hythe CC Gillingham and Rainham BC Gravesham CC Maidstone and The Weald CC North Thanet CC Rochester and Strood CC Sevenoaks CC Sittingbourne and Sheppey CC South Thanet CC Tonbridge and Malling CC Tunbridge Wells CC	Proposed Revised constituencies in Kent

Proposed boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.^[4] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission has proposed that an additional seat is created in Kent, with the formation of the constituency of Weald of Kent. As a consequence, Maidstone and the Weald, and Tonbridge and Malling would be renamed Maidstone and Malling, and Tonbridge respectively. Changes to North Thanet and South Thanet would result in them being replaced by Herne Bay and Sandwich, and East Thanet respectively. Although only subject to a very minor boundary change, Dover would revert to its previous name of Dover and Deal.^[5][6][7]

The following constituencies are proposed:

Containing electoral wards from Ashford

• Ashford (part)
• Weald of Kent (part)

Containing electoral wards from Canterbury

• Canterbury
• Herne Bay and Sandwich (part)

Containing electoral wards from Dartford

• Dartford
• Sevenoaks (part)

Containing electoral wards from Dover

• Dover and Deal
• Herne Bay and Sandwich (part)

Containing electoral wards from Folkestone and Hythe

• Ashford (part)
• Folkestone and Hythe

Containing electoral wards from Gravesham

• Gravesham

Containing electoral wards from Maidstone

• Faversham and Mid Kent (part)
• Maidstone and Malling (part)
• Weald of Kent (part)

Containing electoral wards from Medway

• Chatham and Aylesford (part)
• Gillingham and Rainham
• Rochester and Strood

Containing electoral wards from Sevenoaks

• Sevenoaks (part)
• Tonbridge (part)

Containing electoral wards from Swale

• Faversham and Mid Kent (part)
• Sittingbourne and Sheppey

Containing electoral wards from Thanet

• East Thanet
• Herne Bay and Sandwich (part)

Containing electoral wards from Tonbridge and Malling

• Chatham and Aylesford (part)
• Maidstone and Malling (part)
• Tonbridge (part)

Containing electoral wards from Tunbridge Wells

• Tunbridge Wells
• Weald of Kent (part)

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019^[8]

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Kent in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party	Votes	%	Change from 2017	Seats	Change from 2017
Conservative	532,342	60.1%	3.7%	16	0
Labour	221,554	25.0%	6.7%	1	0
Liberal Democrats	91,973	10.4%	4.9%	0	0
Greens	28,264	3.2%	1.0%	0	0
Others	11,063	1.3%	2.9%	0	0
Total	885,196	100.0		17

Historic 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.

See also

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

Notes

References