Hastings and Rye stretches along the East Sussex coast and inland into parts of Rother. Hastings and St Leonards form the largest continuous urban area, with a dense seafront, town centre and residential neighbourhoods rising onto surrounding hills. The constituency extends east to Rye and Winchelsea and includes smaller villages and countryside between the coast and the Kent border. Rye provides a distinct historic market-town centre within a much more rural eastern section. Chalk and sandstone cliffs, wooded hills, marshland and the English Channel give the seat a varied physical landscape. It therefore combines a substantial seaside town with small historic settlements and rural coastal countryside.
Election data comes from UK Parliament. Turnout percentage is calculated by Project Open Gov from Parliament's turnout and electorate figures.
People and place
A population and household snapshot for Hastings and Rye, using validated House of Commons Library constituency datasets.
Estimated population105,194
EstimateMid-2024 estimate
Region / nationSouth East
Age profile
0 to 1719.2% · 20,151 people
18 to 246.2% · 6,569 people
25 to 3411.3% · 11,860 people
35 to 4918.5% · 19,491 people
50 to 6421.9% · 23,048 people
65 and over22.9% · 24,075 people
Population figures are mid-2024 estimates from the House of Commons Library. Project Open Gov calculates the estimated population shown above by summing the six published age-band counts. View population source ↗
Home ownership and renting
Housing tenure shows how households in this constituency described their home at the most recent census.
46,906 householdsCensus 2021
Home owners58.6% · 27,465 households
Private renters26.7% · 12,509 households
Social renters14.2% · 6,648 households
Other tenure0.6% · 284 households
“Other tenure” combines shared ownership and households recorded as living rent free.
Housing-tenure figures come from the most recent census: 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 in Scotland. View housing-tenure source ↗
Household composition
A broad view of household types in this constituency. Project Open Gov uses the four broad groups supplied by the Commons Library so the presentation remains consistent across the UK.
46,903 householdsCensus 2021
One-person households35.4% · 16,581 households
Families with dependent children24.9% · 11,663 households
Other single-family households35.3% · 16,534 households
Other household types4.5% · 2,125 households
Household-composition figures come from the Commons Library constituency dataset. The source uses census data and Project Open Gov displays its broad household groups rather than attempting to harmonise the detailed categories itself. View household-composition source ↗
Disability and day-to-day activities
The source records whether day-to-day activities are limited and uses separate person-level tables for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
104,817 people in the source baseCensus 2021Source comparison: England & Wales
Day-to-day activities limited a lot9.7% · 10,175 people
Day-to-day activities limited a little12.7% · 13,311 people
Not disabled under the Equality Act77.6% · 81,331 people
Comparison note: the workbook uses different source terminology across the UK: England & Wales uses “Disabled under the Equality Act”, while Scotland and Northern Ireland use “Disabled” / “Non-disabled”. Project Open Gov therefore preserves the source categories and does not present them as one single like-for-like UK legal definition.
Disability figures come from the Commons Library constituency workbook. This profile uses the person-level tables only; the workbook also contains separate household-level disability tables which are not used here. View disability source ↗
Petitions
Open UK Government and Parliament petitions that have reached at least 10,000 signatures nationally, ranked here by the number of signatures recorded in this constituency.
Petition signatures are not a poll and do not show what the constituency as a whole thinks. A person can also sign more than one petition.
Open petitionCloses 20 November 2026
Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks
Signatures in this constituency505
Signatures nationally134,545
Government response published · Debate scheduled for 16 November 2026
Signature counts come from the official UK Government and Parliament petitions data and may change while a petition remains open. Browse official petitions ↗
Funding and local projects
National Lottery grants awarded to organisations recorded in this parliamentary constituency since 4 July 2024.
The constituency is based on the recipient organisation recorded in the source data. The funded activity may sometimes take place across a wider area.
Grants recorded159
Total awarded£7,093,797
Most recent awards
National Lottery grantAwarded 25 June 2026
Hollington Youth Section
Hollington United Football Club
£1,500
Sport England · Sport
About this award
This project will provide equipment for the club's recently formed youth section. The funding will be for balls and training equipment.
National Lottery grantAwarded 25 June 2026
Creative Connections
Arts on Prescription C.I.C.
£20,000
The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment
About this award
Arts on Prescription C.I.C. - Environment - National Lottery Awards for All England
National Lottery grantAwarded 25 June 2026
The Flatland ReMake Project
Flatland Projects CIC
£9,750
The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment
About this award
Flatland Projects CIC - Environment - National Lottery Awards for All England
National Lottery grantAwarded 24 June 2026
The Monster in the Maze
PROLOGUE OPERA LTD
£29,995
Arts Council England · Arts
About this award
The Monster in the Maze - Music - National Lottery Project Grants
National Lottery grantAwarded 24 June 2026
Myth Monster - building partnerships and reaching audiences
Dens and Signals Ltd
£30,000
Arts Council England · Arts
About this award
Myth Monster - building partnerships and reaching audiences - Theatre - National Lottery Project Grants
154 more awards are available.
Source: DCMS National Lottery Grants Database. The figures shown cover awards from 4 July 2024 to 1 July 2026. View official grants data ↗
Consent on Project Open Gov
We use essential cookies to make this website work.
We would also like to use optional cookies to understand how people use the site and to manage embedded third-party content where it is used.
You can accept optional cookies, reject them, or manage your preferences.
Essential cookies
Always active
These cookies are needed for the website to work properly, including security, basic site functions, caching, forms and cookie preference settings. They are always active.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Analytics cookies
These optional cookies help us understand how people use Project Open Gov, such as which pages are visited and how the site is reached. We use this information to improve the website. Analytics cookies are only used if you agree.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
External media cookies
These optional cookies may be used when third-party embedded content is loaded, such as videos or social media content. Project Open Gov does not use these cookies for advertising or remarketing.
