Constituency view

Eastbourne

South East, England

LD gain from Con

Current MP

Current representation

Josh Babarinde

Liberal Democrats

Male

Previous MP: Caroline Ansell (Conservative) - defeated 2024

Majority12,204

Turnout62.8%

Electorate72,590

Valid votes45,605

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Lib Dem23,742 - 52.1%

Conservative11,538 - 25.3%

Reform6,061 - 13.3%

Labour2,689 - 5.9%

Green1,421 - 3.1%

Other154 - 0.3%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£277,571,257

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

£2,662 total benefits bill per resident · 18% above average

Eastbourne: £2,662
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 161 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£277,571,257	182/575
Change over 2 years	+18.0%
Median local wage (2025)	£37,015	+17.0%

Universal Credit£158,338,646
£1,519 per resident · 12,619 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 4,696 · 1 in 13 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£56,337,386
£540 per resident · 7,687 claimants (+16.6% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 3,150 · 41% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 3,742
Housing Benefit£28,176,080
£270 per resident · 3,073 claimants
Disability Living Allowance£18,340,291
£176 per resident · 3,098 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£9,162,600
£88 per resident · 1,430 claimants
Carer's Allowance£7,216,255
£69 per resident · 1,667 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 90.8%White British 82.1%Asian 3.5%Black, African or Caribbean 1.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.8%Other 1.7%

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 94.1%White British 87.4%Asian 2.8%Black, African or Caribbean 0.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.8%Other 0.5%

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 96.6%White British 92.5%Asian 1.5%Black, African or Caribbean 0.4%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.1%Other 0.5%

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 98.3%White British N/AAsian 1.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.4%

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

Eastbourne (2021)

UK 84.8%Other EU 7.5%Other countries 7.7%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Eastbourne (2011)

UK 88.0%Other EU 4.9%Other countries 7.1%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Eastbourne (2001)

UK 92.0%Other EU 2.2%Other countries 5.8%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Eastbourne (1991)

UK 93.6%Other EU 3.1%Other countries 3.3%

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

Eastbourne

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Eastbourne	National	Difference	Rank
% White	90.8%	83.0%	+7.8pp	341/650
% White British	82.1%	74.4%	+7.7pp	341/632
% Asian	3.5%	8.6%	-5.1pp	340/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	1.3%	3.7%	-2.4pp	312/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	2.8%	2.7%	+0.1pp	235/650
% Other ethnic group	1.7%	2.0%	-0.3pp	217/650
% UK-born	84.8%	84.0%	+0.8pp	421/650
% Non-UK-born	15.2%	16.0%	-0.8pp	230/650
% Other EU-born	7.5%	6.0%	+1.6pp	148/650
% Other countries-born	7.7%	10.1%	-2.4pp	258/650
% Christian	46.0%	46.7%	-0.7pp	366/575
% Muslim	2.2%	6.3%	-4.1pp	274/575
% Hindu	0.5%	1.6%	-1.1pp	299/575
% Sikh	0.0%	0.9%	-0.8pp	503/575
% Jewish	0.2%	0.5%	-0.3pp	162/575
% Buddhist	0.6%	0.4%	+0.1pp	114/575
% Other religion	0.7%	0.6%	+0.2pp	80/575
% No religion	43.4%	37.0%	+6.4pp	122/575
% Religion not stated	6.5%	6.0%	+0.5pp	127/575
% Has any religion	50.2%	57.0%	-6.8pp	468/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Eastbourne

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.