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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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Billericay
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Parents |
> United Kingdom > England > East of England > East of England
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Established | June 09, 1983 |
Disbanded | May 01, 2010 |
Contributor | RP |
Last Modified | RBH May 01, 2021 07:45pm |
Description |
This constituency is a little different from that of the same name that existed before the 1997 boundary changes, and is relatively middle-class, containing many owner-occupiers. It takes in the relatively affluent communities of Basildon - Billericay, Wickford, Pitsea, Burstead and part of Laindon. During the 1980s and 1990s, Billericay's representatives in Parliament had more than their fair share of headlines and controversy. Harvey Proctor was the Tory MP between 1983 and 1987, until his career disintegrated in a mire of sex scandals. He was succeeded by Eurosceptic Teresa Gorman, who had a run-in with the Committee on Standards and Privileges, which saw her suspended from the Commons for a month. Ms Gorman's rebellious antics led to a candidate standing against her as a "Loyal Conservative" in 1997, a tactic which drew more than 3,000 votes from her and combined with the massive anti-Conservative swing at that election slashed her majority to just 2.5%. However, in 2001 new Conservative candidate John Baron was returned with a healthy 11% majority.
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