Medway (constituency)

1885–1918

The Mid or Medway Division of Kent was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. It comprised a rural area consisting of the petty sessional divisions of Bearstead, Rochester and part of Malling PSD, but did not include the Medway Towns which were comprised in the parliamentary boroughs of Chatham and Rochester. It also surrounded, but did not include the town of Maidstone.^[3] It comprised these parishes:^[4]

The Rochester seat is an old one, going back to the 16th century, but it saw many changes in the 20th century. In 1918 it was split between Chatham and Gillingham. The Chatham seat became Rochester and Chatham in 1950, and then Medway in 1983.

1983–2010

The constituency was revived in 1983 by Parliament's acceptance of a Boundary Commission national review,^[5] and was defined as comprising thirteen wards of the then City of Rochester upon Medway: All Saints, Cuxton and Halling, Earl, Frindsbury, Frindsbury Extra, Hoo St. Werburgh, Rede Court, St. Margarets and Borstal, Temple Farm, Thames Side, Town, Troy Town and Warren Wood.^[5]

Boundaries were not changed at the next redistribution that followed the Fourth Review for the 1997 election.^[6]

In 1998, Rochester-upon-Medway was merged with the neighbouring Gillingham Borough Council to form the larger unitary Borough of Medway.^[7] The Medway constituency covered only part of the new unitary authority, which also encompassed the entirety of the (Gillingham constituency and the majority of the Chatham and Aylesford constituency. Because of this, the seat was renamed Rochester and Strood in 2010 to avoid confusion.

Boundary review

Following the boundary review of parliamentary representation in Kent between 2000 and 2008, the Boundary Commission for England renamed the Medway seat to Rochester and Strood, in order to avoid confusion with the larger unitary authority of Medway.^[8]

Upon its creation, the new Rochester and Strood constituency consisted of ten wards of the Borough of Medway: Cuxton and Halling, Peninsula, River, Rochester East, Rochester South and Horsted, Rochester West, Strood North, Strood Rural and Strood South.^[9]

MPs 1885–1918

MPs 1983–2010

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

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;

• Unionist: Charles Warde
• Liberal:

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s