Gillingham and Rainham is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Naushabah Khan of the Labour Party. It was previously represented since its 2010 creation by Rehman Chishti of the Conservative Party and replaced the previous constituency of Gillingham.
Gillingham and Rainham is a generally suburban constituency located in the borough of Medway in Kent. It contains the connected towns and villages of Gillingham, Rainham, Twydall, Hempstead and Wigmore. Gillingham is an important commercial centre for the region, and employment in the town was traditionally focused on the Royal Navy's Chatham Dockyard, which lies just outside the constituency's boundaries. High levels of deprivation are present in Gillingham, which contains mostly terraced housing. Rainham, Wigmore and Hempstead are generally affluent and suburban in character with mostly detached or semi-detached housing. The average house price in the constituency is low compared to the rest of South East England and marginally lower than the national average.
In general, residents of the constituency have low levels of education and professional employment. Average household income is similar to the rest of the country but lower than the regional average. White people made up 84% of the population at the 2021 census, a similar proportion to the country as a whole. At the local council, Gillingham is represented by the Labour Party whilst the rest of the constituency elected Conservatives. Voters strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, with an estimated 62% voting in favour of Brexit compared to 52% nationwide.
2010âÂÂ2023: The Borough of Medway wards of Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Hempstead and Wigmore, Rainham Central, Rainham North, Rainham South, Twydall and Watling.
2023âÂÂpresent: Further to a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following wards of the Borough of Medway:
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020, left the boundaries unchanged.
Gillingham prior to 2010
Paul Clark was the incumbent MP for Gillingham.