Factfile: Clacton by-election

  • Anglia
The Clacton by-election is set to be held on 9 October 2014. Credit: The Clacton by-election is due to take place on Thursday 9 October 2014.

The Clacton by-election is due to take place on Thursday 9 October 2014. It follows the resignation of the sitting Conservative MP Douglas Carswell as he switched parties to UKIP.

Mr Carswell was first elected as a Conservative MP in 2005 when Clacton was part of the Harwich constituency. He was re-elected in 2010 after boundary changes created a seat called Clacton.

Nominations closed for the by-election on Tuesday 16 September and eight candidates are standing for election.

Candidates in the Clacton by-election

  • Douglas Carswell - UK Independence Party

  • Andy Graham - Liberal Democrats

  • Howling Laud Hope - Official Monster Raving Loony Party

  • Charlotte Rose - Independent

  • Bruce Sizer - Independent

  • Chris Southall - Green Party

  • Giles Watling - Conservative

  • Tim Young - Labour

The Conservatives won the Clacton seat in the 2010 General Election with a comfortable majority of 12,068. Labour came second and would need a 14% swing from the Conservatives to win the seat.

UKIP didn't stand in 2010 but in the Tendring district of Essex, which includes much of the Clacton constituency, the party took 48% of the vote in the 2014 European Election.

The Clacton constituency has a population of more than 85,000. Credit: ITV News Anglia

The Clacton constituency is centred on the seaside resort of Clacton-on-Sea but also includes the other tourist destinations of Walton-on-the-Naze, the genteel Frinton-on-Sea and Holland-on-Sea.

It also includes inland villages like St Osyth, Weeley and Thorpe-Le-Soken.

Jaywick is a seaside village to the south of the constituency which is one of the most deprived areas in the UK. It was originally conceived as a holiday village with the houses designed for short-term holiday use but many have become permanent residences.

Jaywick near Clacton is one of the most deprived areas of the UK. Credit: Jeff Moore/Empics Entertainment

One-quarter of the adult population of the Clacton constituency is retired and nearly 26,000 of the people are aged 65 or older. The area has one of the oldest age profiles in the UK.

The Clacton area is one of the driest parts of the UK with the average annual rainfall in St Osyth a mere 513 mm (20.2 inches) compared to a England average of 857 mm (33.7 inches).

Exterior scenes of the BBC TV comedy series Hi-de-Hi were filmed in nearby Dovercourt at the Warners holiday camp.

The result of the Clacton by-election is expected to be declared in the early hours of Friday 10 October 2014. Credit: Wullie Marr/EMPICS Entertainment

Until 2010, Clacton was part of a constituency which included Harwich. From 1935 until 1997, Harwich was represented by three MPs: Sir Stanley Holmes, who started out as a Liberal, Sir Julian Ridsdale, who was a Conservative and Liberal and then in 1992 by Conservative Iain Sproat.

Labour won the seat in their landslide year of 1997 with local stevedore and trade union official Ivan Henderson and he held it until 2005.

  • Population: 85,359

  • People aged 65+: 25,785 (30% of the population)

  • Number of households: 39,357

  • 74% of households are owner-occupiers

  • 39% of the population aged 16+ has no formal educational qualifications