Beaconsfield () is a constituency in Buckinghamshire represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

since

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

by Joy Morrissey of the Conservative Party. She succeeded Independent and former Conservative

Dominic Grieve Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...

, whom she defeated following his suspension from the party. The constituency was established for the February 1974 general election.

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, as well as less well-known Langley, Wraysbury,

Sunnymeads Wraysbury is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in England. It is under the western approach path of London Heathrow airport. It is located on the east bank of the River Thames, roughly midway between Wind ...

and Datchet were in the county. This leads to the shape of the constituency, further accentuated in irregularity by the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

containing

Cookham Cookham is a historic River Thames, Thames-side village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, Bourne ...

, Berkshire to the west and southwest.

1982 by-election candidates

In the

1982 Beaconsfield by-election The 1982 Beaconsfield by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 May 1982 for the British House of Commons constituency of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. Previous MP The seat had become vacant on 27 February 1982, when the con ...

caused by the death of Sir Ronald Bell, the third-placed candidate was

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

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

at the same time.

2010 election

Incumbent

'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 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate after

William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

in Richmond (Yorks).

2016 EU referendum

Beaconsfield is estimated to have voted 51% remain in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. 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%.

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. 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 South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Beac ...

and the District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath, Loudwater, The Wooburns, Tylers Green. 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, Tylers Green. 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, The Wooburns. Marlow transferred from Wycombe. The seat consists of Beaconsfield, most of Burnham (including Burnham Beeches forest), Denham,

Dorney Dorney is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England, bordering on the River Thames to the west and south, and bisected by the Jubilee River. In 2011 it had a population of 752. It is west of neighbouring ...

, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal, Fulmer,

Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...

, Hedgerley,

Iver Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park. Geography, transport and economy Part of the 43-square- ...

Stoke Poges Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and southeast of Farnham Common. Etymology In the name Stoke Poges, ''stoke'' means " stockaded (pl ...

Taplow Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...

and

Wexham Wexham is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Buckinghamshire in southern England. It is on the boundary of the unitary authority of Borough of Slough, Slough, its post town. Wexham Park Hospital is a large hospital on the ...

(excluding Wexham Court); Hedsor, Little Marlow, Marlow, Wooburn and Bourne End and the

Flackwell Heath Flackwell Heath is a village in the civil parish of Chepping Wycombe on the outskirts of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. With an elevation of about , in the Chiltern Hills. It has a population of around 6000. History The name 'Flack ...

settlement of

Chepping Wycombe Chepping Wycombe is a civil parish in the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish includes the three large villages of Tylers Green, Loudwater and Flackwell Heath. The central part of the parish comprises extensive business and ...

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Notes

References

Sources

Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources: UK General Elections since 1832
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaconsfield (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Buckinghamshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 South Bucks District Beaconsfield