Constituency view

East Thanet

South East, England

Lab gain from Con

Current MP

Current representation

Polly Billington

Labour

Female

Majority6,971

Turnout57.0%

Electorate74,927

Valid votes42,713

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour17,054 - 39.9%

Conservative10,083 - 23.6%

Reform8,591 - 20.1%

Green4,590 - 10.7%

Lib Dem1,365 - 3.2%

Other1,030 - 2.4%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£355,966,236

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£3,351 total benefits bill per resident · 48% above average

East Thanet: £3,351
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 46 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£355,966,236	79/575
Change over 2 years	+18.7%
Median local wage (2025)	£35,025	+18.6%

Universal Credit£213,035,389
£2,005 per resident · 16,499 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 6,519 · 1 in 10 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£77,328,030
£728 per resident · 10,544 claimants (+17.8% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 4,183 · 40% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 5,120
Disability Living Allowance£22,529,590
£212 per resident · 3,795 claimants
Housing Benefit£21,631,041
£204 per resident · 2,861 claimants
Carer's Allowance£12,195,984
£115 per resident · 2,816 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£9,246,201
£87 per resident · 1,438 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 92.2%White British 85.9%Asian 2.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.6%Other 1.4%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 95.1%White British 89.3%Asian 2.1%Black, African or Caribbean 0.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.7%Other 0.3%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 97.5%White British 94.9%Asian 1.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.4%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.9%Other 0.2%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991

White 99.0%White British N/AAsian 0.6%Black, African or Caribbean 0.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.3%

England & Wales (1991)

White 94.1%White British N/AAsian 3.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

1991 values are reaggregated from 1997 parliamentary constituencies onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

East Thanet (2021)

UK 89.2%Other EU 5.7%Other countries 5.1%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

East Thanet (2011)

UK 90.6%Other EU 4.5%Other countries 5.0%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

East Thanet (2001)

UK 94.8%Other EU 1.1%Other countries 4.0%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

East Thanet (1991)

UK 96.1%Other EU 1.9%Other countries 2.0%

England & Wales (1991)

UK 92.7%Other EU 2.5%Other countries 4.8%

1991 country of birth data uses the 1991 census's Commonwealth-based classification. Ireland and EU countries are not separately broken out. Regional figures are approximations.

Inset map

East Thanet

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	East Thanet	National	Difference	Rank
% White	92.2%	83.0%	+9.2pp	316/650
% White British	85.9%	74.4%	+11.5pp	286/632
% Asian	2.6%	8.6%	-6.0pp	378/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	1.2%	3.7%	-2.5pp	321/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	2.6%	2.7%	-0.1pp	250/650
% Other ethnic group	1.4%	2.0%	-0.6pp	246/650
% UK-born	89.2%	84.0%	+5.2pp	333/650
% Non-UK-born	10.8%	16.0%	-5.2pp	318/650
% Other EU-born	5.7%	6.0%	-0.3pp	244/650
% Other countries-born	5.1%	10.1%	-4.9pp	349/650
% Christian	45.3%	46.7%	-1.4pp	380/575
% Muslim	1.7%	6.3%	-4.6pp	303/575
% Hindu	0.6%	1.6%	-1.0pp	273/575
% Sikh	0.1%	0.9%	-0.8pp	461/575
% Jewish	0.1%	0.5%	-0.3pp	207/575
% Buddhist	0.4%	0.4%	-0.0pp	187/575
% Other religion	0.7%	0.6%	+0.1pp	117/575
% No religion	45.2%	37.0%	+8.2pp	70/575
% Religion not stated	5.9%	6.0%	-0.1pp	269/575
% Has any religion	48.9%	57.0%	-8.1pp	506/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around East Thanet

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.