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Beaconsfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°35′N 0°38′W / 51.58°N 0.64°W / 51.58; -0.64
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beaconsfield
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Map
Boundaries since 2024
Map of constituency
Boundary of Beaconsfield in South East England
CountyBuckinghamshire
Population99,387 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate72,315 (2023)[2]
Major settlementsBeaconsfield, Marlow, Bourne End, Burnham
Current constituency
Created1974 (1974)
Member of ParliamentJoy Morrissey (Conservative)
Created fromSouth Buckinghamshire

Beaconsfield (/ˈbɛkənzfiːld/) is a constituency[n 1] in Buckinghamshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Joy Morrissey of the Conservative Party. She succeeded Independent and former Conservative Dominic Grieve, whom she defeated following his suspension from the party. The constituency was established for the February 1974 general election.

History

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Memorial Green, the Old Town, Beaconsfield
Memorial Green, the Old Town, Beaconsfield

The constituency was created in 1974, mostly from the former seat of South Buckinghamshire, since which date the area has formed the southernmost part of Buckinghamshire — before 1974 the notable settlements of Slough and Eton, as well as less well-known Langley, Wraysbury, Sunnymeads and Datchet were in the county.

This leads to the shape of the constituency, further accentuated in irregularity by the Thames meander containing Cookham, Berkshire to the west and southwest.

1982 by-election candidates

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In the 1982 Beaconsfield by-election caused by the death of Sir Ronald Bell, the third-placed candidate was Tony Blair for the Labour Party. Conservative Tim Smith was the first and only person ever to have beaten Blair in an election and won; Liberal Paul Tyler was in second place. Tyler later became an MP for North Cornwall, meaning that, most unusually, the three main-party candidates subsequently served in the House of Commons at the same time.

2010 election

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Incumbent Dominic Grieve's win in 2010, with 61.1% of the vote, was the second highest share of the vote in the general election for a Conservative candidate after William Hague in Richmond (Yorks).

2016 EU referendum

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Beaconsfield is estimated to have voted 51% remain in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.[3][4] Although estimates of the constituency results have not been confirmed, the official UK Electoral Commission EU referendum results detail the area of South Buckinghamshire, which contains the Beaconsfield constituency, as voting to leave the EU with a percentage of 50.7%.[5]

Boundaries and boundary changes

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1974–1983

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  • The Urban District of Beaconsfield;
  • The Rural District of Eton; and
  • The Rural District of Wycombe parishes of Hedsor and Wooburn.[6]

The constituency was formed largely from southern parts of the abolished constituency of South Buckinghamshire (Beaconsfield and the Rural District of Eton). The parishes of Hedsor and Wooburn were transferred from Wycombe.

1983–1997

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Gained areas to the east of High Wycombe (parish of Chepping Wycombe) from Wycombe. The parts of the former Rural District of Eton, including Datchet, which had been transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire by the Local Government Act 1972 were included in the new constituency of East Berkshire.

1997–2010

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  • The District of South Bucks; and
  • The District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow, Loudwater, The Wooburns, Tylers Green.[8]

Minor change (transfer of Little Marlow from Wycombe).

2010–2024

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Map
Map of boundaries 2010-2024
  • The District of South Bucks; and
  • The District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath and Little Marlow, Marlow North and West, Marlow South East, The Wooburns.[9]

Marlow transferred from Wycombe.

In April 2020, the Districts of South Bucks and Wycombe, together with those of Aylesbury and Chiltern were merged into the new unitary authority of Buckinghamshire Council. Accordingly, the current contents of the constituency became:

  • The Buckinghamshire Council wards of Beaconsfield, Cliveden, Denham, Farnham Common & Burnham Beeches, Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow & Marlow South East, Gerrards Cross, Iver, Marlow, Stoke Poges & Wexham, and The Wooburns, Bourne End & Hedsor.

The seat then consisted of Beaconsfield, most of Burnham (including Burnham Beeches forest), Denham, Dorney, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal, Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver, Stoke Poges, Taplow and Wexham (excluding Wexham Court);[n 2] Hedsor, Little Marlow, Marlow, Wooburn and Bourne End and the Flackwell Heath settlement of Chepping Wycombe.[n 3]

2024–present

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Further to the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies which became effective for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

  • The District of Buckinghamshire wards of: Beaconsfield; Cliveden; Denham (polling districts SJ, SJA, SJHD, SK, SKA and SWF); Farnham Common and Burnham Beeches; Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow and Marlow South East; Gerrards Cross (polling districts SB and SFH); Iver; Marlow; Stoke Poges and Wexham; Wooburns, Bourne End and Hedsor.[10]

The electorate was reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring the town of Gerrards Cross to Chesham and Amersham.

Members of Parliament

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South Buckinghamshire prior to 1974

Election Member[11] Party
February 1974 Ronald Bell Conservative
1982 by-election Tim Smith
1997 Dominic Grieve
September 2019 Independent
2019 Joy Morrissey Conservative

Elections

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Elections in the 2020s

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General election 2024: Beaconsfield[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joy Morrissey 18,494 38.8 –16.7
Liberal Democrats Anna Crabtree 13,039 27.3 N/A
Labour Matthew Patterson 7,216 15.1 +5.2
Reform UK John Halsall 6,055 12.7 N/A
Green Dominick Pegram 1,977 4.1 +0.4
Independent Pippa Allen 710 1.5 N/A
SDP Catherine Harker 131 0.3 N/A
Independent Cole Caesar 104 0.2 N/A
Majority 5,455 11.4 –14.8
Turnout 47,726 65.6 –7.2
Registered electors 72,751
Conservative hold

Elections in the 2010s

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2019 notional result[13]
Party Vote %
Conservative 29,211 55.5
Others 16,276 30.9
Labour 5,211 9.9
Green 1,935 3.7
Turnout 52,633 72.8
Electorate 72,315
General election 2019: Beaconsfield[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joy Morrissey 32,477 56.1 −9.2
Independent Dominic Grieve 16,765 29.0 N/A
Labour Alexa Collins 5,756 9.9 −11.5
Green Zoe Hatch 2,033 3.5 +1.0
Independent Adam Cleary 837 1.4 New
Majority 15,712 27.1 −16.8
Turnout 57,868 74.5 +2.2
Registered electors 77,720
Conservative hold Swing
General election 2017: Beaconsfield[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dominic Grieve 36,559 65.3 +2.1
Labour James English 12,016 21.4 +10.0
Liberal Democrats Peter Chapman 4,448 7.9 +0.5
UKIP John Conway 1,609 2.9 −10.9
Green Russell Secker 1,396 2.5 −1.7
Majority 24,543 43.9 −5.5
Turnout 56,028 72.3 +1.2
Conservative hold Swing −4.0
General election 2015: Beaconsfield[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dominic Grieve 33,621 63.2 +2.1
UKIP Tim Scott 7,310 13.8 +8.9
Labour Tony Clements 6,074 11.4 −0.3
Liberal Democrats Peter Chapman 3,927 7.4 −12.2
Green Dave Hampton 2,231 4.2 +2.7
Majority 26,311 49.4 +7.9
Turnout 53,163 71.1 +1.1
Conservative hold Swing −3.3
General election 2010: Beaconsfield[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dominic Grieve 32,053 61.1 +7.0
Liberal Democrats John Edwards 10,271 19.6 −2.4
Labour Jeremy Miles 6,135 11.7 −7.8
UKIP Delphine Gray-Fisk 2,597 4.9 +0.1
Green Jem Bailey 768 1.5 New
A Vote Against MP Expense Abuse Andrew Cowen 475 0.9 New
Independent Quentin Baron 191 0.4 New
Majority 21,782 41.5 +6.5
Turnout 52,490 70.0 +6.8
Conservative hold Swing +4.7

Elections in the 2000s

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General election 2005: Beaconsfield[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dominic Grieve 24,126 55.4 +2.6
Liberal Democrats Peter Chapman 8,873 20.4 −1.2
Labour Alex Sobel 8,422 19.4 −2.4
UKIP John Fagan 2,102 4.8 +0.9
Majority 15,253 35.0 +4.0
Turnout 43,523 63.9 +3.1
Conservative hold Swing +1.9
General election 2001: Beaconsfield[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dominic Grieve 22,233 52.8 +3.6
Labour Stephen Lathrope 9,168 21.8 +1.8
Liberal Democrats Stephen Lloyd 9,117 21.6 +0.2
UKIP Andrew Moffatt 1,626 3.9 +3.0
Majority 13,065 31.0 +3.2
Turnout 42,144 60.8 −12.0
Conservative hold Swing +0.9

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1997: Beaconsfield[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dominic Grieve 24,709 49.2 −14.8
Liberal Democrats Peter Mapp 10,722 21.4 +2.1
Labour Alastair Hudson 10,063 20.0 +6.5
Referendum Humphrey Lloyd 2,197 4.4 New
Ind. Conservative Christopher Story 1,434 2.9 New
UKIP Christopher Cooke 451 0.9 New
ProLife Alliance Gillian Duval 286 0.6 New
Natural Law Tom Dyball 193 0.4 0.0
Independent Robert Matthews 146 0.3 New
Majority 13,987 27.8 −16.9
Turnout 50,201 72.8 −6.2
Conservative hold Swing −8.2
General election 1992: Beaconsfield[22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Smith 33,817 64.0 −2.0
Liberal Democrats Anne Purse 10,220 19.3 −4.4
Labour Graham Smith 7,163 13.5 +3.2
Ind. Conservative William Foulds 1,317 2.5 New
Natural Law Andrew Foss 196 0.4 New
Independent Joan Martin 166 0.3 New
Majority 23,597 44.7 +2.4
Turnout 52,879 79.0 +4.4
Conservative hold Swing +1.2

Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1987: Beaconsfield[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Smith 33,324 66.0 +2.2
Liberal David Ive 11,985 23.7 −1.9
Labour Kenneth Harper 5,203 10.3 −0.4
Majority 21,339 42.3 +4.1
Turnout 50,512 74.6 +2.2
Conservative hold Swing +2.0
General election 1983: Beaconsfield[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Smith 30,552 63.8
Liberal David Ive 12,252 25.6
Labour Sherwin Smith 5,107 10.7
Majority 18,300 38.2
Turnout 47,911 72.4
Conservative hold Swing
By-election 1982: Beaconsfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Smith 23,049 61.8 +0.1
Liberal Paul Tyler 9,996 26.8 +8.7
Labour Tony Blair 3,886 10.4 −9.8
New Britain Michael Byrne 225 0.6 New
Democratic Monarchist Bill Boaks 99 0.3 New
Benn in Ten Unless Proportional Representation Thomas Keen 51 0.1 New
Majority 13,053 35.0 −8.2
Turnout 37,306
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1979: Beaconsfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ronald Bell 31,938 61.7 +13.4
Labour Edwin Glasson 10,443 20.2 −5.3
Liberal Percy Meyer 8,853 17.1 −9.1
National Front John Noyes 548 1.1 New
Majority 21,495 41.5 +19.4
Turnout 51,782 76.2 +6.0
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Beaconsfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ronald Bell 23,234 48.3 −1.3
Liberal William Eastwell 12,606 26.2 −2.0
Labour Marigold Johnson 12,253 25.5 +3.2
Majority 10,628 22.1 +0.7
Turnout 48,093 70.2 −7.1
Conservative hold Swing +0.3
General election February 1974: Beaconsfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ronald Bell 26,040 49.6
Liberal William Eastwell 14,792 28.2
Labour Peter Jones 11,691 22.3
Majority 11,248 21.4
Turnout 52,523 77.3
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ^ These are all civil parishes in the South Bucks district
  3. ^ These are all civil parishes in the Wycombe (district)

References

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  1. ^ "Beaconsfield: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Final estimates of the Leave vote share in the EU referendum". Google Docs. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  4. ^ "How did different constituencies vote in the 2016 EU referendum?". Full Fact. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Results and turnout at the EU referendum". Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  6. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  7. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  8. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  9. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  10. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
  11. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
  12. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated, Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations" (PDF). Buckinghamshire Council. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Beaconsfield Parliamentary constituency". BBC News Online. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  15. ^ Bloom, Dan (7 June 2017). "Here is every single 2017 general election candidate in a plain text list". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Beaconsfield". YourNextMP. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  19. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  24. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

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51°35′N 0°38′W / 51.58°N 0.64°W / 51.58; -0.64

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