The constituency includes all of Ashford, which is seeing significant housing expansion[3] and has a manufacturing and services employment base; and surrounding rural areas including Tenterden and Wye. Residents' health and wealth are in line with UK averages.[4] Due to population growth in Ashford itself, the 2023 boundary review proposes that Tenterden is removed from the Ashford constituency.
1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Tenterden, the Sessional Divisions of Ashford and Cranbrook, the corporate towns of Lydd and New Romney, and part of the Liberty of Romney Marsh.
1918–1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Lydd, New Romney, and Tenterden, the Urban District of Ashford, and the Rural Districts of Cranbrook, East Ashford, Romney Marsh, Tenterden, and West Ashford.
1950–1974: The Municipal Borough of Tenterden, the Urban District of Ashford, and the Rural Districts of Cranbrook, East Ashford, Tenterden, and West Ashford.
1974–1983: The Municipal Borough of Tenterden, the Urban District of Ashford, and the Rural Districts of East Ashford, Tenterden, and West Ashford. Cranbrook Rural District was transferred to the new Royal Tunbridge Wells constituency.
1983–2010: The Borough of Ashford. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged from 1974.
2010–2024: The Borough of Ashford wards of Aylesford Green, Beaver, Biddenden, Bockhanger, Boughton Aluph and Eastwell, Bybrook, Charing, Downs North, Downs West, Godinton, Great Chart with Singleton North, Highfield, Isle of Oxney, Kennington, Little Burton Farm, Norman, North Willesborough, Park Farm North, Park Farm South, Rolvenden and Tenterden West, St Michael's, Singleton South, South Willesborough, Stanhope, Stour, Tenterden North, Tenterden South, Victoria, Washford, Weald Central, Weald East, Weald North, Weald South, and Wye.
The Borough of Ashford wards of: Aylesford & East Stour; Beaver; Bircholt; Bockhanger; Bybrook; Conningbrook & Little Burton Farm; Furley; Goat Lees; Godinton; Highfield; Kennington; Mersham, Sevington South with Finberry; Norman; Park Farm North; Park Farm South; Repton; Roman; Singleton East; Singleton West; Stanhope; Victoria; Washford; Willesborough; Wye with Hinxhill.
The District of Folkestone and Hythe wards of: North Downs East; North Downs West.[6]
The bulk of the geographic area of the constituency, including the town of Tenterden, and comprising approximately 35% of the current electorate[7]was moved to the newly created constituency of Weald of Kent. To partly compensate, the two North Downs wards were transferred from Folkestone and Hythe.
Political history
Created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Ashford has been won by a Conservative at every election except that of 1929 when it was won by a Liberal, after that party's turn towards the left marked by the People's Budget in 1911, who won with a majority of less than 1% of the vote.
The most marginal victory since 1929 occurred in 1997 when its voters returned a Conservative who won by a 9.7% majority. The 2015 result made the seat the 106th safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.[8]
The Conservatives lost the seat at the 2024 general election to Sojan Joseph of the Labour Party, the first time in the seat's history that it was won by Labour.
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
^A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
^"Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
^"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
^2011 Census Archived 11 February 2003 at the Wayback Machine Custom tables: administrative parish hierarchy. Retrieved 17 July 2013
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
^"Boundary review 2023: Which seats will change in the UK?".
^"Conservative Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
^"Damian Green MP, Ashford - TheyWorkForYou".
^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
^"Ashford Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
^"Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
^"View the Statement or Persons Nominated as candidates for the Ashford constituency". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Ashford.gov.uk" (PDF).
^"UKIP: Ashford". UKIP. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
^"Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
^C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.120 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
^"Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
