Canvey Island in Essex has a reputation which far exceeds its size. The 7.12 square miles of reclaimed land turned Essex seaside town has been a Conservative stronghold for the the past 27 years, with its Castle Point constituency returning massive majorities for Rebecca Harris MP since 2010.
Although Tory dominance was whittled away by Reform at the most recent General Election , in 2019 a whopping 76.7% of Canvey Islanders voted Blue - earning it the title of the most Conservative constituency in the whole of the UK. But it's not just right-wing leanings that have put the 38,000 person island on the map.
It is also known as 'East End on Sea', many Londoners swapping the big smoke for a calmer life in the early 1900s when an entrepreneur built Southview Park on the then largely agricultural island, selling the dream of sea views and fresh air to Cockneys. They would be joined a century later by a growing population of orthodox Jews who had spilled over from North London's Stamford Hill. In between these great shifts of population, tragedy befell Canvey.
In 1953 the terrible North Sea Flood swamped the island, killing 58 people and leading 13,000 residents to be evacuated. This would also signal the end of Canvey's remarkable record as the fastest growing seaside resort in Britain, which it had held for 40 years. Do you know of a tight-knit community in a small town or village we should visit? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.
com It was with this history of demographic change, .