Castle Point (UK Parliament constituency)

Castle Point
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Castle Point in Essex.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
Population	88,011 (2011 census)
Electorate	64,562 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Rebecca Harris (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	South East Essex
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Castle Point is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rebecca Harris of the Conservative Party.

This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of South East Essex. Covering the area of Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley and in all but one election has been won by a Conservative candidate, passing to Labour once, in the 1997 election. The former MP defeated in 1997, Bob Spink, regained the seat in 2001. He was re-elected in 2005 but subsequently resigned from the Conservative Party on 22 April 2008. Spink briefly joined the United Kingdom Independence Party but resigned the whip shortly afterwards and sat as an Independent MP. In the 2010 election, Spink lost in Castle Point to the Conservative candidate, Rebecca Harris.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England has created a Castle Point constituency based entirely within the boundaries of the district council of the same name. The seat is one of only a very few to undergo 1990s and 2000s boundary reviews without any changes at all, having seen population growth in line with the average seat (which is slightly larger), including development in the designated development plans of the Thames Gateway.