Beaconsfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Beaconsfield
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Beaconsfield in .
County	Buckinghamshire
Electorate	75,320 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Beaconsfield, Marlow
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Dominic Grieve (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	South Buckinghamshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Beaconsfield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is among the safest of Conservative seats.

In the Beaconsfield by-election, 1982 caused by the death of Sir Ronald Bell, the losing (third-placed) Labour candidate was Tony Blair. Tim Smith thus remains the last person to date to have beaten Blair in an election. Paul Tyler was in second place; he 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

The constituency was created in 1974, mostly from the former seat of South Buckinghamshire. It consists of all civil parishes in the South Bucks district; the parishes of Hedsor, Little Marlow, Marlow, and Wooburn and Bourne End in the Wycombe district; and the Flackwell Heath part of the parish of Chepping Wycombe in the Wycombe district.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Buckinghamshire, the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the existing Beaconsfield constituency prior to the 2010 General Election. The electoral wards used in the redrawn seat are:

• The entire South Bucks district;
• Flackwell Heath and Little Marlow, Hedsor-cum-Bourne End, and The Wooburns, in the Wycombe district;
• Marlow North and West, and Marlow South East in the Wycombe district, previously in the Wycombe constituency.

History

Dominic Grieve's win for the Conservatives in 2010, with a remarkable 61.1% of the vote, was the second highest vote share polled by that party in the entire election after William Hague in Richmond (Yorks).

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	Feb 1974	Sir Ronald Bell	Conservative
	1982 by-election	Tim Smith	Conservative
	1997	Dominic Grieve	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Beaconsfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dominic Grieve	32,053	61.1	+7.0
	Liberal Democrat	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
	Independent	Quentin Baron	191	0.4	N/A
Majority			21,782	41.5
Turnout			52,490	70.0	+6.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Beaconsfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dominic Grieve	24,126	55.4	+2.6
	Liberal Democrat	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
Turnout			43,523	63.9	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

General Election 2001: Beaconsfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dominic Grieve	22,233	52.8	+3.5
	Labour	Stephen Lathrope	9,168	21.8	+1.7
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Lloyd	9,117	21.6	+0.3
	UKIP	Andrew Moffatt	1,626	3.9	+3.0
Majority			13,065	31.0
Turnout			42,144	60.8	-12.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Beaconsfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dominic Grieve	24,709	49.2	−14.8
	Liberal Democrat	P. Mapp	10,722	21.4	+2.1
	Labour	A. Hudson	10,063	20.1	+6.5
	Referendum Party	H. Lloyd	2,197	4.4	N/A
	Independent Conservative	C. Story	1,434	2.9
	UKIP	C. Cooke	451	0.9	N/A
	Pro Life	G. Duval	286	0.6	N/A
	Natural Law	T. Dyball	193	0.4	+0.0
	Independent	R. Matthews	146	0.3	N/A
Majority			13,987	27.9	−16.7
Turnout				72.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.2

"

General Election 1992:Beaconsfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Smith	33,817	64.0	-2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Ms. PA Purse	10,220	19.3	-4.4
	Labour	DG Smith	7,163	13.5	+3.2
	Independent Conservative	WF Foulds	1,317	2.5	+2.5
	Natural Law	APO Foss	196	0.4	+0.4
	Independent	Ms. J 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
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Smith
	Liberal Democrat
	Labour
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Beaconsfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Smith
	Liberal Democrat
	Labour
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Beaconsfield by-election, 1982
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	−
	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	E.L. Glasson	10,443	20.2	−5.2
	Liberal	P. Meyer	8,853	17.1	−9.1
	National Front	J. Noyes	548	1.1	N/A
Majority			21,495	41.5	+19.4
Turnout				76.2	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

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

Sources

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