Constituency view

Rochester and Strood

South East, England

Lab gain from Con

Current MP

Current representation

Lauren Edwards

Labour

Female

Previous MP: Kelly Tolhurst (Conservative) - defeated 2024

Majority2,930

Turnout57.4%

Electorate74,257

Valid votes42,598

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour15,403 - 36.2%

Conservative12,473 - 29.3%

Reform9,966 - 23.4%

Green2,427 - 5.7%

Lib Dem1,894 - 4.4%

Other435 - 1.0%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£250,914,539

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

£2,291 total benefits bill per resident · 1% above average

Rochester and Strood: £2,291
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 236 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£250,914,539	228/575
Change over 2 years	+23.4%
Median local wage (2025)	£37,790	+8.3%

Universal Credit£145,143,205
£1,325 per resident · 11,403 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 3,866 · 1 in 18 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£53,030,316
£484 per resident · 7,244 claimants (+22.6% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 2,912 · 40% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 3,532
Housing Benefit£19,452,996
£178 per resident · 2,217 claimants
Disability Living Allowance£17,913,635
£164 per resident · 3,011 claimants
Carer's Allowance£8,490,825
£78 per resident · 1,962 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£6,883,564
£63 per resident · 1,076 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 85.9%White British 80.0%Asian 5.1%Black, African or Caribbean 5.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.8%Other 1.2%

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 90.8%White British 87.0%Asian 4.5%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.9%Other 0.6%

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 95.1%White British 92.6%Asian 3.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.9%Other 0.3%

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 95.4%White British N/AAsian 3.7%Black, African or Caribbean 0.6%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

Rochester and Strood (2021)

UK 87.4%Other EU 5.0%Other countries 7.6%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Rochester and Strood (2011)

UK 90.8%Other EU 2.7%Other countries 6.5%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Rochester and Strood (2001)

UK 93.8%Other EU 1.3%Other countries 4.9%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Rochester and Strood (1991)

UK 94.3%Other EU 2.0%Other countries 3.8%

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

Rochester and Strood

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Rochester and Strood	National	Difference	Rank
% White	85.9%	83.0%	+2.8pp	411/650
% White British	80.0%	74.4%	+5.6pp	362/632
% Asian	5.1%	8.6%	-3.5pp	280/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	5.1%	3.7%	+1.4pp	139/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	2.8%	2.7%	+0.1pp	232/650
% Other ethnic group	1.2%	2.0%	-0.7pp	269/650
% UK-born	87.4%	84.0%	+3.5pp	374/650
% Non-UK-born	12.6%	16.0%	-3.5pp	277/650
% Other EU-born	5.0%	6.0%	-1.0pp	290/650
% Other countries-born	7.6%	10.1%	-2.5pp	260/650
% Christian	44.8%	46.7%	-1.9pp	388/575
% Muslim	2.0%	6.3%	-4.3pp	278/575
% Hindu	0.9%	1.6%	-0.7pp	210/575
% Sikh	1.5%	0.9%	+0.7pp	66/575
% Jewish	0.1%	0.5%	-0.3pp	257/575
% Buddhist	0.4%	0.4%	-0.0pp	187/575
% Other religion	0.7%	0.6%	+0.2pp	78/575
% No religion	44.0%	37.0%	+7.0pp	101/575
% Religion not stated	5.4%	6.0%	-0.6pp	429/575
% Has any religion	50.6%	57.0%	-6.4pp	455/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Rochester and Strood

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.