Southend East (UK Parliament constituency)
Southend East was a parliamentary constituency in Essex. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election.
History
Southend East was a safe Conservative seat throughout its existence, except for at a by-election in 1980 when the Conservatives held the seat by only 430 votes. From this by-election until its abolition, Southend East was held by the well-known Conservative Teddy Taylor.
Boundaries
1950-1983: The County Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of All Saints, Pier, Shoebury, Southchurch, and Thorpe, and the Rural District of Rochford.
1983-1997: The Borough of Southend-on-Sea wards of Milton, St Luke's, Shoebury, Southchurch, Thorpe, and Victoria.
The constituency included the town centre of Southend-on-Sea, and parts of the Borough of Southend to the east of the centre.
In 1997, Southend East was expanded to the north to include the town of Rochford to form the new constituency of Rochford and Southend East due to relatively low population.
Southend East railway station
Southend East railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line, serving the Southchurch area to the east of Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is 36 miles 49 chains (58.9 km) down the main line from London Fenchurch Street via Basildon and it is situated between Southend Central to the west and Thorpe Bay to the east. Its three-letter station code is SOE.
It was opened in 1932. The station and all trains serving it are currently operated by c2c.
Description
Southend East has two through platforms. Platform 1 is typically for westbound trains towards London Fenchurch Street and platform 2 is for eastbound trains towards Shoeburyness; there is one disused bay platform.
Between May 1949 and February 1969 the station was named Southend-on-Sea East. In April 2006, signs were erected with the label "Southend East for Southchurch Village" to better reflect its geographical location in the Southchurch area of Southend.
During 2006, a £425,000 refurbishment programme was completed at the station, providing level access to the London-bound platform, as well as new toilets, baby-changing facilities, a redecorated waiting room with CCTV, and a self-service ticket machine.
