Gillingham and Rainham
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 18115 (41.3%)
Labour: 17615 (40.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 6753 (15.4%)
Other: 1431 (3.3%)
Majority: 500 (1.1%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 18367 (40.7%)
Labour: 18621 (41.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 6734 (14.9%)
UKIP: 1191 (2.6%)
Other: 254 (0.6%)
Majority: 254 (0.6%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 16510 (39.1%)
Labour: 18782 (44.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 5755 (13.6%)
UKIP: 933 (2.2%)
Other: 232 (0.5%)
Majority: 2272 (5.4%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 18207 (35.9%)
Labour: 20187 (39.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 9649 (19%)
Referendum: 1492 (2.9%)
Other: 1148 (2.3%)
Majority: 1980 (3.9%)
Boundary changes:
Profile: Note that Rallings & Thrasher`s notional figures have Gillingham and Rainham as a Labour seat, so the mainstream media will treat this as a Labour held seat at the next election.
Outgoing MP: Paul Clark(Labour) (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: 
Rehman Chishti (Conservative) born Pakistan. Barrister and adviser to Francis Maude. Medway councillor since 2003. Contested Horsham for Labour in 2005 before defecting to the Conservative party in March 2006. Paul Clark(Labour) (more information at They work for you)
Andrew Stamp (Liberal Democrat) born 1982, Gillingham. Educated at Rochester Math School and University of Nottingham. Estate Agent. Contested Gillingham 2005.
Trish Marchant (Green)Robert Oakley (UKIP) 
Dean Lacey (English Democrat)
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 95773
Male: 49%
Female: 51%
Under 18: 25.3%
Over 60: 17.6%
Born outside UK: 6.2%
White: 94.9%
Black: 0.6%
Asian: 2.7%
Mixed: 1.2%
Other: 0.6%
Christian: 72.6%
Hindu: 0.7%
Muslim: 1.1%
Sikh: 0.9%
Full time students: 2.4%
Graduates 16-74: 11.9%
No Qualifications 16-74: 28.9%
Owner-Occupied: 79.1%
Social Housing: 10.5% (Council: 7.5%, Housing Ass.: 3%)
Privately Rented: 8.2%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 9.3%
UKIP have selected Bob Oakley here.
Paul Clark now a Transport Minister.
Paul Clark is ‘unpaid’ in his current role now. Brings back memories of him holding John Prescott’s croquet mallet in 2006. This time Paul Clark will be tea boy in the transport office.
I would guess the swing here could be quite large – about 7%.
Labour and LDs each down about 4, UKIP down 1, with the Tories picking up the extra votes.
So something like;
Cons 23000
Lab 16500
Lib Dem 5500
Others 1000
Record breaker George Meegan has announced he is to stand as an Independent candidate here: http://bit.ly/6yKQsO.
Which seat was Gillingham in before 1918?
Gillingham itself was in the Chatham constituency but outlying areas of the current seat were split between Medway and Faversham county seats.
Thank you