UK Explained

East Thanet

Represented in Parliament by Ms Polly Billington (Labour). Here is who won the last general election here, and a few numbers about the area.

See Ms Polly Billington’s page: roles, questions, expenses, interests →

Your MP at a glance

Polly Billington, Labour. Open their full page →

These describe the record. They do not say why an MP voted or claimed as they did.

How East Thanet compares

Every dot is one of the 631 areas that have figures. The large red dot is this area; green dots are areas like it.

TYPICAL FULL-TIME PAY, A WEEK

This area is 560 of 631 for pay, counting from the highest.

UK £767This area £672£400£1,100
PEOPLE CLAIMING UNEMPLOYMENT-RELATED BENEFITS

Higher than 575 areas and lower than 73.

UK 3.9%This area 5.8%0.0%12.0%

Areas like this one

The three areas with the closest pay and claimant rate. This says nothing about politics or geography.

AreaWeekly payClaimants
East Thanet£6725.8%
Burnley£6685.8%
Leicester South£6725.7%
Bolton North East£6725.6%
United Kingdom£7673.9%

Printable one-page briefing

Who lives in East Thanet

From the 2021 Census, next to the figure for England and Wales as a whole. Census day was 21 March 2021, so some things will have changed.

About the areaThis areaEngland and WalesCompared
Number of people105,08759,597,740 in total
Aged under 1619%18%about the same
Aged 65 and over22%19%3 points higher
Adults with a degree or higher27%34%7 points lower
Households that own their home58%62%4 points lower
Households renting from a council or housing association13%17%4 points lower
Households renting privately28%20%8 points higher

Source: ONS, Census 2021 (England and Wales), via the UK Data Service statistics portal. Fetched 2026-10-04. These describe who lives here. They do not explain how anyone votes.

WINNER, 2024
Polly Billington

Labour

MAJORITY
6,971

votes ahead of second place

TURNOUT
57%

of people who could vote did

Polly Billington won with 40% of the votes, and Helen Harrison (Conservative) came second with 24%.

Votes for each party

Labour40% · 17,054
Conservative24% · 10,083
Reform UK20% · 8,591
Green Party11% · 4,590
Liberal Democrat3% · 1,365
Independent2% · 1,030
Every candidate
CandidatePartyVotesShare
Polly BillingtonLabour17,05439.9%
Helen HarrisonConservative10,08323.6%
Paul WebbReform UK8,59120.1%
Steve RobertsGreen Party4,59010.7%
Jai SinghLiberal Democrat1,3653.2%
Grahame BirchallIndependent5631.3%
Paul HoltonIndependent3690.9%
Mo ShafaeiIndependent980.2%

2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.

Your area at a glance

Typical pay for full-time workers who live here
£672 a week
This areaUK: £767 a week

Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Working-age people claiming unemployment-related benefits
5.8%
This areaUK: 3.9%

Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.

At a general election each area elects one MP, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half. The area figures describe the people who live here. They do not show whether any MP or vote is the cause.

Updated 4 Oct 2026