Constituency view

Southend West and Leigh

East of England, England

Lab gain from Con

Current MP

Current representation

David Burton-Sampson

Labour

Male

Previous MP: Anna Firth (Conservative) - defeated 2024

Majority1,949

Turnout62.5%

Electorate75,154

Valid votes46,968

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour16,739 - 35.6%

Conservative14,790 - 31.5%

Reform8,273 - 17.6%

Green3,262 - 6.9%

Lib Dem3,174 - 6.8%

Other730 - 1.6%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£205,014,695

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

£1,952 total benefits bill per resident · 14% below average

Southend West and Leigh: £1,952
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 339 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£205,014,695	328/575
Change over 2 years	+18.7%
Median local wage (2025)	£29,949	-1.5%

Universal Credit£117,315,280
£1,117 per resident · 9,238 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 3,574 · 1 in 18 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£43,445,977
£414 per resident · 5,971 claimants (+23.5% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 2,452 · 41% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 2,868
Housing Benefit£17,291,295
£165 per resident · 1,930 claimants
Disability Living Allowance£14,094,033
£134 per resident · 2,359 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£6,578,841
£63 per resident · 1,034 claimants
Carer's Allowance£6,289,269
£60 per resident · 1,456 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 89.0%White British 84.0%Asian 5.2%Black, African or Caribbean 2.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.8%Other 1.0%

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 92.8%White British 89.2%Asian 3.2%Black, African or Caribbean 1.6%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.9%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 96.5%White British 93.8%Asian 1.8%Black, African or Caribbean 0.5%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.0%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 97.7%White British N/AAsian 1.6%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

Southend West and Leigh (2021)

UK 89.4%Other EU 3.9%Other countries 6.8%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Southend West and Leigh (2011)

UK 91.8%Other EU 2.3%Other countries 5.9%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Southend West and Leigh (2001)

UK 94.6%Other EU 1.1%Other countries 4.3%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Southend West and Leigh (1991)

UK 95.4%Other EU 2.1%Other countries 2.5%

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

Southend West and Leigh

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Southend West and Leigh	National	Difference	Rank
% White	89.0%	83.0%	+5.9pp	370/650
% White British	84.0%	74.4%	+9.6pp	311/632
% Asian	5.2%	8.6%	-3.4pp	274/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	2.1%	3.7%	-1.6pp	237/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	2.8%	2.7%	+0.2pp	228/650
% Other ethnic group	1.0%	2.0%	-1.0pp	312/650
% UK-born	89.4%	84.0%	+5.4pp	327/650
% Non-UK-born	10.6%	16.0%	-5.4pp	324/650
% Other EU-born	3.9%	6.0%	-2.1pp	380/650
% Other countries-born	6.8%	10.1%	-3.3pp	291/650
% Christian	43.1%	46.7%	-3.6pp	429/575
% Muslim	2.6%	6.3%	-3.7pp	253/575
% Hindu	1.2%	1.6%	-0.5pp	185/575
% Sikh	0.1%	0.9%	-0.8pp	366/575
% Jewish	1.1%	0.5%	+0.7pp	30/575
% Buddhist	0.5%	0.4%	+0.0pp	138/575
% Other religion	0.6%	0.6%	-0.0pp	184/575
% No religion	44.9%	37.0%	+7.9pp	76/575
% Religion not stated	6.0%	6.0%	-0.0pp	260/575
% Has any religion	49.2%	57.0%	-7.8pp	496/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Southend West and Leigh

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.