Gravesham
Labour hold

The Conservatives' chances of regaining this seat, one of their eight losses in the county of Kent, seem slim, as the Borough of Gravesham returned almost twice as many Labour councillors (29 to 15) in elections on the same boundaries in May 1999, and were nearly nine per cent ahead in the aggregate of the popular vote on a turnout of 32 per cent in a midterm year. Chris Pond, the former director of the Low Pay Unit, looks likely to draw his parliamentary salary for another term.

Chris Pond, PPS to Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo, ought to have expected something better as a high profile social policy expert who ran the Low Pay Unit before being elected here in 1997, but may not have been well served by a soft-spoken, unpartisan manner. A milkman's son, born 1952, educated at secondary schools in Palmers Green and Southgate, and Sussex University, he held various university research posts before spending 17 years at the Low Pay Unit. Now divorced from ex-MEP Carole Tongue, he has been dubbed a "stomach-churning loyalist" by the Independent, and a government "stooge" by Tory MP Julie Kirkbride.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 17.11% 14.99% 114.09 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.07% 2.13% 3.15 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.72% 2.49% 28.91 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 1.85% 4.43% 41.89 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 10.76% 7.27% 147.87 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.62% 2.56% 24.13 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 1.70% 3.94% 43.02 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 10.00% 13.04% 76.66 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 19.69% 12.70% 154.99 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 9.80% 8.14% 120.33 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 4.89% 4.02% 121.70 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 5.36% 3.19% 168.12 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 11.17% 11.31% 98.74 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 1.56% 3.06% 50.89 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 4.41% 2.52% 174.95 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.31% 2.10% 15.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 7.04

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 8.60% 9.41% 91.35 £5-10K 15.21% 16.63% 91.43 £10-15K 15.89% 16.58% 95.86 £15-20K 13.63% 13.58% 100.38 £20-25K 10.81% 10.39% 104.01 £25-30K 8.29% 7.77% 106.65 £30-35K 6.28% 5.79% 108.43 £35-40K 4.75% 4.33% 109.53 £40-45K 3.60% 3.27% 110.11 £45-50K 2.74% 2.48% 110.31 £50-55K 2.10% 1.90% 110.23 £55-60K 1.62% 1.47% 109.95 £60-65K 1.26% 1.15% 109.52 £65-70K 0.99% 0.91% 109.00 £70-75K 0.78% 0.72% 108.41 £75-80K 0.62% 0.57% 107.78 £80-85K 0.50% 0.46% 107.13 £85-90K 0.40% 0.37% 106.45 £90-95K 0.32% 0.31% 105.78 £95-100K 0.26% 0.25% 105.11 £100K + 1.35% 1.34% 100.78