Clacton (UK Parliament constituency)

Clacton
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Clacton in Essex for the 2010 general election.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
Population	85,359 (2011 census)
Electorate	67,447 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Clacton, Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of parliament	Douglas Carswell (UKIP)
Number of members	One
Created from	Harwich
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Coordinates: 51°50′N 1°09′E / 51.83°N 1.15°E / 51.83; 1.15

Clacton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.

Clacton is currently represented by Douglas Carswell. Carswell defected to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) on 28 August 2014 from the Conservative Party. He resigned to force a by-election, held on 9 October 2014, in which he stood as the UKIP candidate and was re-elected. Carswell retained the seat for UKIP at the subsequent general election.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission created this as a new seat, consisting of essentially the former Harwich constituency, minus the town of Harwich itself and a few nearby villages, plus St. Osyth and Weeley, moved from the old North Essex constituency. Apart from the North Sea it is surrounded by the Harwich and North Essex constituency on all other sides.