proved to be unprofitable and in 1896 construction began on a replacement iron pier which would be longer and feature an electric tram. At , this pier was the second longest in the country, behind only the pier at Southend-on-Sea. The town's heyday as a seaside resort was during the late Victorian era; the population nearly doubled from 4,410 to 8,442 between 1881 and 1901. Much of the resulting late Victorian seafront architecture is still in existence today. In 1910, a pavilion was added to the landward end of the pier. By 1931, the town's population had grown to 14,533. At the beginning of World War II, the army cut two gaps between the landward end of the pier and the seaward terminal as a counter-invasion measure. The pier's two gaps were bridged for pedestrians after the war. 1963 marked the end of steamboat services from the pier. In 1970, a fire destroyed the pier's pavilion and plans were made to replace it with a sports centre, which was opened in 1976 by former Prime Minister Edward Heath. The centre section of the pier was torn down by a storm in 1978, leaving the end of the pier isolated in the sea. It has not been rebuilt due to the cost; however, residents and businesses in the town have campaigned for its restoration. The sports centre was demolished in 2012, leaving a bare platform. Governance Since 1983, Herne Bay has been in the North Thanet constituency, represented by Roger Gale. Herne Bay, along with Whitstable and Canterbury, is in the City of Canterbury local government district, although it remains a separate town, with countryside between it and Canterbury. The town contains the five electoral wards of Heron, Herne and Broomfield, Greenhill and Eddington, West Bay and Reculver. These wards have thirteen of the fifty seats on the Canterbury City council. As at the 2011 local elections, twelve of those seats were held by the Conservatives and one by the Liberal Democrats. Geography Herne Bay is in northeast Kent, on the coast of the Thames Estuary. The town is east of the town of Whitstable and north by east of the city of Canterbury. The village of Herne is about to the south, and the village of Reculver is about to the east. The town's suburbs are Hampton, Greenhill and Studd Hill in the west, Eddington and Broomfield in the south,