Constituency view

Herne Bay and Sandwich

South East, England

Con hold

Current MP

Current representation

Roger Gale

Conservative

Male

Majority2,499

Turnout62.7%

Electorate77,869

Valid votes48,827

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Conservative17,243 - 35.3%

Labour14,744 - 30.2%

Reform10,602 - 21.7%

Green3,529 - 7.2%

Lib Dem2,709 - 5.5%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£236,119,295

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

£2,303 total benefits bill per resident · 2% above average

Herne Bay and Sandwich: £2,303
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 231 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£236,119,295	258/575
Change over 2 years	+24.2%
Median local wage (2025)	£35,333	+0.5%

Universal Credit£127,015,575
£1,239 per resident · 10,098 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 4,063 · 1 in 14 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£59,253,577
£578 per resident · 7,954 claimants (+21.6% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 3,038 · 38% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 4,031
Disability Living Allowance£18,463,858
£180 per resident · 3,125 claimants
Housing Benefit£14,823,032
£145 per resident · 1,975 claimants
Carer's Allowance£8,296,682
£81 per resident · 1,916 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£8,266,570
£81 per resident · 1,298 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 95.3%White British 92.0%Asian 1.7%Black, African or Caribbean 0.6%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.7%Other 0.6%

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 97.0%White British 94.2%Asian 1.3%Black, African or Caribbean 0.4%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.1%Other 0.2%

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 98.3%White British 96.0%Asian 0.7%Black, African or Caribbean 0.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.7%Other 0.1%

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 98.8%White British N/AAsian 0.6%Black, African or Caribbean 0.3%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

Herne Bay and Sandwich (2021)

UK 93.6%Other EU 2.8%Other countries 3.6%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Herne Bay and Sandwich (2011)

UK 94.4%Other EU 1.9%Other countries 3.7%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Herne Bay and Sandwich (2001)

UK 95.6%Other EU 1.1%Other countries 3.3%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Herne Bay and Sandwich (1991)

UK 95.9%Other EU 1.9%Other countries 2.2%

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

Herne Bay and Sandwich

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Herne Bay and Sandwich	National	Difference	Rank
% White	95.3%	83.0%	+12.3pp	221/650
% White British	92.0%	74.4%	+17.6pp	153/632
% Asian	1.7%	8.6%	-6.9pp	455/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	0.6%	3.7%	-3.1pp	455/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	1.7%	2.7%	-1.0pp	381/650
% Other ethnic group	0.6%	2.0%	-1.3pp	397/650
% UK-born	93.6%	84.0%	+9.7pp	172/650
% Non-UK-born	6.4%	16.0%	-9.7pp	479/650
% Other EU-born	2.8%	6.0%	-3.2pp	502/650
% Other countries-born	3.6%	10.1%	-6.5pp	439/650
% Christian	51.3%	46.7%	+4.6pp	153/575
% Muslim	0.7%	6.3%	-5.6pp	414/575
% Hindu	0.4%	1.6%	-1.2pp	348/575
% Sikh	0.1%	0.9%	-0.8pp	422/575
% Jewish	0.2%	0.5%	-0.3pp	140/575
% Buddhist	0.4%	0.4%	-0.0pp	187/575
% Other religion	0.5%	0.6%	-0.1pp	275/575
% No religion	40.7%	37.0%	+3.7pp	223/575
% Religion not stated	5.7%	6.0%	-0.3pp	357/575
% Has any religion	53.6%	57.0%	-3.4pp	346/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Herne Bay and Sandwich

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.