Beaconsfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Beaconsfield /ˈbɛkənzfiːld/ is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Joy Morrissey of the Conservative Party.

Beaconsfield
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire
County	Buckinghamshire
Population	99,387 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	76,582 (2018)[2]
Major settlements	Beaconsfield, Marlow
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Joy Morrissey (Conservative)
Created from	South Buckinghamshire

History

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, and less well-known Langley, Wraysbury, Sunnymeads and Datchet were in the county. This leads to the unusual shape of the constituency, further accentuated in irregularity by the Thames meander containing Cookham, Berkshire to the west and southwest.

EU referendum

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]

2010 election

The incumbent's win in 2010, Dominic Grieve, 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, North Yorkshire.

1982 candidates

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. Tim Smith was the first and only person ever to have beaten Blair in an election and won; 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.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1974–1983: The Urban District of Beaconsfield, the Rural District of Eton, and the parishes of Hedsor and Wooburn in the Rural District of Wycombe.[6]

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

1983–1997: The District of South Bucks, and the District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath, Loudwater, The Wooburns, and Tylers Green.[7]

Gained areas to the east of High Wycombe (former 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 County Constituency of East Berkshire.

1997–2010: The District of South Bucks, and the District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow, Loudwater, The Wooburns, and Tylers Green.[8]

Minor change (transfer of Little Marlow from Wycombe).

2010–present: 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, and The Wooburns.[9]

Marlow transferred from Wycombe.

The seat consists of Beaconsfield, most of Burnham (including Burnham Beeches forest), Denham, Dorney, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal, Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, 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]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[10]	Party
	February 1974	Ronald Bell	Conservative
	1982 by-election	Tim Smith
	1997	Dominic Grieve
	September 2019		Independent
	2019	Joy Morrissey	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Beaconsfield[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Joy Morrissey	32,477	56.1	9.1
	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	N/A
Majority			15,712	27.1	16.8
Turnout			57,868	74.5	2.2
Registered electors			77,720
	Conservative hold		Swing	-19.1

General election 2017: Beaconsfield[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Dominic Grieve	36,559	65.3	2.0
	Labour	James English	12,016	21.4	10.0
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Chapman	4,448	7.9	0.6
	UKIP	John Conway	1,609	2.9	10.9
	Green	Russell Secker	1,396	2.5	1.7
Majority			24,543	43.9	5.6
Turnout			56,028	72.3	1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.0

General election 2015: Beaconsfield[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Dominic Grieve	33,621	63.2	2.2
	UKIP	Tim Scott	7,310	13.8	8.8
	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	49.5	8.0
Turnout			53,163	71.1	1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.3

General election 2010: Beaconsfield[14][15]

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	N/A
	A Vote Against MP Expense Abuse	Andrew Cowen	475	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Quentin Baron	191	0.4	N/A
Majority			21,782	41.5	+6.5
Turnout			52,490	70.0	+6.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Beaconsfield[16]

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[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Dominic Grieve	22,233	52.8	+3.5
	Labour	Stephen Lathrope	9,168	21.8	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Lloyd	9,117	21.6	+0.3
	UKIP	Andrew Moffatt	1,626	3.9	+3.0
Majority			13,065	31.0	+3.1
Turnout			42,144	60.8	−12.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.91

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Beaconsfield[18]

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	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	Christopher Story	1,434	2.9	N/A
	UKIP	Christopher Cooke	451	0.9	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Gillian Duval	286	0.6	N/A
	Natural Law	Tom Dyball	193	0.4	+0.0
	Independent	Robert Matthews	146	0.3	N/A
Majority			13,987	27.9	−16.7
Turnout			50,201	72.8	−6.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.2

General election 1992: Beaconsfield[19][20]

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	+2.5
	Natural Law	Andrew Foss	196	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Joan Martin	166	0.3	+0.3
Majority			23,597	44.6	+2.4
Turnout			52,879	79.0	+4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Beaconsfield[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Tim Smith	33,324	66.0	+2.2
	Liberal	David Ive	11,985	23.7	−1.8
	Labour	Kenneth Harper	5,203	10.3	−0.36
Majority			21,339	42.3	+4.0
Turnout			50,512	74.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 1983: Beaconsfield[22]

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	N/A
Turnout			47,911	72.4	N/A
	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	N/A
	Democratic Monarchist	Bill Boaks	99	0.3	N/A
	Benn in Ten Unless Proportional Representation	Thomas Keen	51	0.1	N/A
Majority			13,053	35.0	−8.2
Turnout			37,306
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Beaconsfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ronald Bell	31,938	61.7	+13.4
	Labour	Edwin Lloyd Glasson	10,443	20.2	−5.2
	Liberal	Percy Walter Meyer	8,853	17.1	−9.1
	National Front	John Noyes	548	1.1	N/A
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	−1.5
	Liberal	William Harold Eastwell	12,606	26.2	−2.0
	Labour	Marigold Egerton 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	N/A
	Liberal	William Harold Eastwell	14,792	28.2	N/A
	Labour	Peter Martyn Jones	11,691	22.3	N/A
Majority			11,248	21.4	N/A
Turnout			52,523	77.3	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• 1982 Beaconsfield by-election
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Buckinghamshire

Notes and references

Notes

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

1. "Beaconsfield: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
2. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010–2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
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. 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. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
11. "Beaconsfield Parliamentary constituency". BBC News Online. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
12. 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.
13. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Beaconsfield". YourNextMP. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
16. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

• Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources: UK General Elections since 1832