Rebecca Harris was first elected as the Conservative MP for Castle Point in 2010 being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 26,634.
The Castle Point constituency is a compact seat in south Essex along the banks of the River Thames between Basildon and Southend. It includes the commuter town of South Benfleet, Hadleigh known for its castle, and the seven square mile Canvey Island remembered for severe flooding in 1953 which killed 58 people.
Containing very high levels of home ownership, this constituency is said to contain some of the lowest levels of university graduates in the UK at less than a sixth of the population. This area was held briefly by Labour for four years after the Party secured a massive 17% swing here in 1997. However, in general this is normally safe Conservative territory, and with a very large 73% of the electorate backing Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum, the Conservatives gained over three quarters of the vote here in 2019, amongst its highest levels anywhere in the UK.
Harris has served in the Government Whips office since 2018.
Born in 1967, Rebecca Harris was educated at the London School of Economics. She worked in publishing before being elected to Parliament. She was the Marketing Director of Phillimore & Co, specialist publishers of British local history, between 1997 and 2007, having initially started at the company as a delivery driver.
She also previously had a stint working in the Conservative Party’s research department.
Harris served on Chichester Borough Council between 1999 and 2003.
Harris supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
In the past she has campaigned for changes with British Summer Time and moving the UK to central European Time. She unsuccessfully tried to introduce a Private Member’s Bill (the Daylight Saving Bill) to this effect in 2012.
Email: rebecca.harris.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.rebeccaharris.org/
Twitter: @RebeccaHarrisMP
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccaharris4castlepoint
