Member of Parliament

Winchelsea is in the parliamentary constituency of Hastings and Rye. The current Member of Parliament is Michael Foster (Lab). He has been the local MP since 1997, when he won the seat from the Conservatives, and was returned in 2001 and 2005. His majorities were: 2,560, 4,308 and 2,026, respectively. The results of the 2005 election were:

• Labour 18,107 (42.1% from 47.1% in 2001)
• Conservatives 16,081 (37.4% from 36.6% in 2001)
• Liberal Democrats 6,479 (15.1% from 10.4% in 2001)
• Turnout was 43,004 (67.8% compared to 58.4% in 2001)

The MP holds a surgery in Rye Town Hall on the second Friday of the month from 4:00pm, and another at the Constituency Office on the first and second Fridays of the month from 4:00pm. Surgeries are subject to availability. The MP also holds a telephone surgery every Wednesday evening while Parliament is in session. Access to all surgeries is by arrangement in advance through the Constituency Office. You can also walk into the Lobby of Parliament while it is in session and demand to speak to your MP, if he is at the House.

You can find out what, if anything, the MP is doing by checking www.faxyourmp.com. This tells you what he has said and done in Parliament. You can also e-mail from this site.