Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency)

Maidenhead
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Maidenhead in Berkshire.
Outline map
Location of Berkshire within England.
County Berkshire
Electorate 74,028 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Maidenhead, Bray, Wargrave, Sonning, Twyford
Current constituency
Created 1997
Member of parliament Theresa May (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from Windsor & Maidenhead, and Wokingham
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency South East England

Maidenhead is a constituency[n 1] in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It has been represented by Theresa May since it was created in 1997. May succeeded David Cameron as UK Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party on 13 July 2016. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, May served as Home Secretary from 2010-2016.

It is considered a safe seat for the Conservative Party, as it has never been held by any party other than the Conservatives; nor had any of its predecessor constituencies.

History

The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the former seats of Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham. Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has held the seat since its creation. May won the seat in the 1997 election, where over 100 Conservatives lost their seats, and held its lowest share of seats in over 150 years. At the 2010 general election May achieved the 9th highest share of the vote of the 307 seats held by a Conservative.[2]

The closest election in the seat was in 2001, in which May's majority was cut from almost 12,000 votes in 1997 to just 3,284 votes ahead of the Liberal Democrat candidate. Notably, the Labour candidate in said election was activist and comedy writer John O'Farrell, whose campaign was the subject of a BBC documentary entitled Losing My Maidenhead.

Due to their strong performance in 2001, the seat was one of several targeted by the Liberal Democrats in 2005 as part of a 'decapitation strategy' to deprive senior Conservatives of their seats; as with similar efforts in Haltemprice and Howden and West Dorset, however, this strategy was unsuccessful, as May retained her seat with almost double her 2001 majority. Since this election, she has held it by majorities of at least 30%.

Constituency profile

Housing is, in the Wokingham district part, at the northern end of a belt in which still more than 40% is detached and less than 10.8% is purpose-built flats or tenements (maisonettes) (2011 figures, by district)[3] Reflecting a national trend in this period, the latter band was in 2001 a band of fewer than 8% of housing stock as flats. The other borough, namely Windsor and Maidenhead, is the most expensive house price district of the country outside of Greater London[4] Homes are in the technology-rich M4 corridor including the largest company headquarters estate in Europe at Slough and though most of the communities have slower links to London than Maidenhead town centre, they instead have close links to Reading and Bracknell. A minority commute to the City of London which is just under one hour's commute from the two mainline stations.[5] Fortunate geographical features are illustrated colourfully by the internationally leading restaurants, the Fat Duck at Bray and Waterside Inn; by the low hills in the north of the seat and by the Chiltern Hills to the north. Taking the constituent electoral ward results since the decline of the Liberal Party in the 1910s, the area has to date been a safe seat for Conservative candidates. One broadsheet political column encapsulated the constituency as a "seat of Thamesside towns",[6] these house a majority of its residents other than Twyford which spans the multi-stream river in the town over which it has two fords. The agriculture in the area consists of some pasture, fields of wheat and fruit.

Boundaries

The constituency borders the constituencies of Reading East, Henley, Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Windsor, Bracknell and Wokingham, and includes the following wards:

1997–2010: The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead wards of Belmont, Bisham and Cookham, Boyn Hill, Cox Green, Furze Platt, Hurley, Oldfield, Pinkney's Green, and St Mary's, and the District of Wokingham wards of Charvil, Coronation, Hurst, Remenham and Wargrave, Sonning, and Twyford and Ruscombe.

2010–present: The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead wards of Belmont, Bisham and Cookham, Boyn Hill, Bray, Cox Green, Furze Platt, Hurley and Walthams, Maidenhead Riverside, Oldfield, and Pinkney's Green, and the District of Wokingham wards of Charvil, Coronation, Hurst, Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe, Sonning, and Twyford.

The seat's largest settlement is the town of Maidenhead in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Members of Parliament


ElectionMember[7] PartyNotes
1997 constituency created from Windsor and Maidenhead & Wokingham
1997 Rt Hon Theresa May Conservative Home Secretary 2010–2016; Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister 2016–present

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: Maidenhead[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Theresa May 37,718 64.8 −1.0
Labour Pat McDonald 11,261 19.3 +7.4
Liberal Democrat Tony Hill 6,540 11.2 +1.3
Green Derek Wall 907 1.6 −2.0
UKIP Gerard Batten 871 1.5 −6.9
Animal Welfare Andrew Knight 282 0.5 N/A
Gremloids Lord Buckethead 249 0.4 N/A
Independent Grant Smith 152 0.3 N/A
Monster Raving Loony Howling Laud Hope 119 0.2 N/A
Christian Peoples Edmonds Victor 69 0.1 N/A
The Just Political Party Julian Reid 52 0.1 N/A
Independent Yemi Hailemariam 16 0.0 N/A
Give Me Back My Elmo Bobby Smith 3 0.0 N/A
Majority 26,457 45.5 −8.5
Turnout 58,239 76.4 +3.8
Conservative hold Swing −4.3

General Election 2015: Maidenhead[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Theresa May 35,453 65.8 +6.4
Labour Charlie Smith 6,394 11.9 +4.8
Liberal Democrat Tony Hill 5,337 9.9 −18.3
UKIP Herbie Crossman[11] 4,539 8.4 +6.1
Green Emily Blyth 1,915 3.6 +2.7
Independent Ian Taplin 162 0.3 N/A
Class War Joe Wilcox 55 0.1 N/A
Majority 29,059 54.0 +22.8
Turnout 53,855 72.6 −1.1
Conservative hold Swing +0.8

General Election 2010: Maidenhead[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Theresa May 31,937 59.5 +7.6
Liberal Democrat Tony Hill 15,168 28.2 −8.0
Labour Pat McDonald 3,795 7.1 −2.1
UKIP Kenneth Wright 1,243 2.3 +0.9
BNP Tim Rait 825 1.5 +0.1
Green Peter Forbes 482 0.9 N/A
Freedom and Responsibility Peter Prior 270 0.5 N/A
Majority 16,769 31.2 +18.6
Turnout 53,720 73.7 +3.4
Conservative hold Swing +7.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Maidenhead[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Theresa May 23,312 50.8 +5.8
Liberal Democrat Kathryn Newbound 17,081 37.3 −0.1
Labour Janet Pritchard 4,144 9.0 −6.2
BNP Tim Rait 704 1.5 N/A
UKIP Douglas Lewis 609 1.3 −0.4
Majority 6,231 13.6 +6.0
Turnout 45,850 71.7 +9.7
Conservative hold Swing +3.0

General Election 2001: Maidenhead[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Theresa May 19,506 45.0 −4.8
Liberal Democrat Kathryn Newbound 16,222 37.4 +11.2
Labour John O'Farrell 6,577 15.2 −2.9
UKIP Dennis Cooper 741 1.7 +1.2
Monster Raving Loony Lloyd Clarke 272 0.6 N/A
Majority 3,284 7.6 -15.9
Turnout 43,318 62.0 −13.6
Conservative hold Swing -8.0

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Maidenhead[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Theresa May 25,344 49.8 −11.8
Liberal Democrat Andrew Ketteringham 13,363 26.3 −3.5
Labour Denise Robson 9,205 18.1 +9.5
Referendum Charles Taverner 1,638 3.2 N/A
Liberal David Munkley 896 1.8 N/A
UKIP Neil Spiers 277 0.5 N/A
Glow Bowling Party Kristian Ardley 166 0.3 N/A
Majority 11,981 23.5 N/A
Turnout 50,889 75.6 N/A
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
References
  1. ↑ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Electoral Commission – Previous UK general elections".
  3. ↑ 2011 census interactive maps Archived 29 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "BBC News, UK House prices, South East". 21 October 2013 – via bbc.co.uk.
  5. ↑ "National Rail Enquiries – Official source for UK train times and timetables".
  6. ↑ Constituency Profile The Guardian
  7. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)
  8. ↑ "Statement of persons nominated - Maidenhead". Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ↑ The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (2015-04-30). "General Election Results 2015: Maidenhead Constituency". Electoral Services – Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  11. ↑ "UK Polling Report".
  12. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Election 2010 – Maidenhead". BBC. 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  14. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Witney		 Constituency represented by the Prime Minister
2016–present		 Incumbent

Coordinates: 51°32′N 0°43′W / 51.54°N 0.72°W / 51.54; -0.72

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.