Editing Chatham, Kent (section)

==Governance==
[[File:ChathamMedway2663.JPG|thumb|right| Medway Council Building at Gun Wharf]]
[[File:Old Town Hall, The Brook, Chatham, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 891430.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Chatham Town Hall]] (opened in 1900) now serves as the Brook Theatre for Medway Council.]]
Chatham lost its independence as a borough under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], by which, on 1 April 1974, it became part of the Borough of Medway, a [[non-metropolitan district]] of the county of [[Kent]]; under subsequent renaming the borough became the [[City of Rochester-upon-Medway|Borough of Rochester-upon-Medway]] (1979); and, from 1982, the [[City of Rochester-upon-Medway]]. Under the most recent change, in 1998, and with the addition of the Borough of Gillingham, the Borough of Medway became a [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority area]], administratively separate from Kent.<ref name="roch2000">Rochester, The past 2000 years, Published Privately City of Rochester Society 1999.</ref> It remains part of the county of Kent for [[Ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial purposes]].

Medway Council has recently moved its main administration building to Gun Wharf, the site of the earliest part of the dockyard,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.medway.gov.uk/pdf/06_ca_5_gun_wharf_6_kitchener_barracks1.pdf |title=Character Area 5: Gun Wharf |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928020423/http://www.medway.gov.uk/pdf/06_ca_5_gun_wharf_6_kitchener_barracks1.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a former [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyd's]] office building.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://medway.gov.uk/pdf/med_matters_issue15.pdf |title=Medway Matters |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104112853/http://medway.gov.uk/pdf/med_matters_issue15.pdf |archive-date=4 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was built between 1976 and 1978 and is Grade II listed.<ref>Historic England https://publicaccess1.medway.gov.uk/online-applications/files/40D3AE7DD53D70776D16D4C755389B05/pdf/MC_22_0605-HISTORIC_ENGLAND_COMMENTS-5994336.pdf{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Chatham is part of [[Chatham and Aylesford (UK Parliament constituency)|the parliamentary constituency of Chatham and Aylesford]]. Before 1997, Chatham had been included in the constituencies of [[Mid Kent (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Kent]], [[Rochester and Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)|Rochester and Chatham]] and [[Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chatham]].

Chatham has proven to be a marginal parliamentary seat. Since 1945, the members of parliament for Chatham have been as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member!!Party
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945]]
| [[Arthur Bottomley]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959]]
| [[Julian Critchley]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964]]
| [[Anne Kerr (politician)|Anne Kerr]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970]]
| [[Peggy Fenner]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|Oct 1974]]
| [[Robert Bean (politician)|Robert Bean]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979]]
| [[Peggy Fenner]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]]
| [[Andrew Rowe]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]
| [[Jonathan Shaw (politician)|Jonathan Shaw]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]
| [[Tracey Crouch]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]]
| [[Tristan Osborne]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|}