Faversham and Mid Kent is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2015, the seat has been held by Helen Whately of the Conservative Party.
Faversham and Mid Kent is a rural constituency located in Kent. Its largest settlement is the town of Faversham, which has a population of around 23,000. Other settlements include some eastern suburbs of the town of Maidstone (Weavering, Bearsted and Shepway) and the villages of Lenham and Teynham. Faversham is a historic market town traditionally known for its explosives industry. The constituency contains Leeds Castle, a popular tourist site. Wealth in the constituency is divided; Faversham has average levels of deprivation, Shepway is more deprived and Weavering and Bearsted are affluent. House prices are marginally higher than the national average.
In general, residents of the constituency are older and have low levels of education. Household income is in line with the rest of South East England and high compared to the rest of the country. White people made up 94% of the population at the 2021 census. At the local council level, Faversham is mostly represented by Liberal Democrats, the Maidstone suburbs by the Labour Party and the rural areas by a mixture of Greens, Conservatives and independents. An estimated 59% of voters in Faversham and Mid Kent supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the nationwide figure of 52%.
In 1997, the Faversham and Mid Kent constituency was formed when the previous Faversham seat was abolished and split into Sittingbourne and Sheppey and the town of Faversham which was then merged with Mid Kent to form this constituency.
It has been held by members of the Conservative Party throughout its existence.
1997âÂÂ2010: The Borough of Swale wards of Abbey, Boughton & Courtenay, Davington Priory, East Downs, St Ann's, Teynham and Lynsted, and Watling, and the Borough of Maidstone wards of Bearsted, Boxley, Detling, Harrietsham and Lenham, Headcorn, Hollingbourne, Langley, Leeds, Park Wood, Shepway East, Shepway West, Sutton Valence, and Thurnham.
The boundary change in 1997 caused some confusion among a large minority of residents of the Maidstone electoral wards as a constituency named Maidstone and The Weald was also created at the same time (largely replacing the former Maidstone constituency), but residents in the Shepway and Park Wood areas of the town found themselves in Faversham and Mid Kent instead.
2010âÂÂ2024: The Borough of Swale wards of Abbey, Boughton and Courtenay, Davington Priory, East Downs, St Ann's, and Watling, and the Borough of Maidstone wards of Bearsted, Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton, Boxley, Detling and Thurnham, Downswood and Otham, Harrietsham and Lenham, Headcorn, Leeds, North Downs, Park Wood, Shepway North, Shepway South, and Sutton Valence and Langley.
2024âÂÂpresent: Under the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was defined as comprising the following, as they existed on 1 December 2020:
The Swale wards of Teynham and Lynstead, and West Downs were transferred in from Sittingbourne and Sheppey, offset by the loss of the Maidstone wards of Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton, Headcorn, and Sutton Valence and Langley to the new constituency of Weald of Kent.
Following a local government boundary review in Maidstone which came into effect in May 2024, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election: