Post by nobodyimportant on Apr 10, 2020 10:02:13 GMT
Maidenhead constituency covers the Northwards bump in the River Thames between Windsor and Reading. Slightly over half the constituency population live in the town of Maidenhead itself. Other than that there are various villages along the Thames such as Sonning, Cookham and Bray. There is a large, rural area in the heart of the constituency, which today is an area of relatively intact green belt agricultural land but historically was notorious for its highwaymen. On the Western side of the constituency is a second river, and a second area of population, this time a cluster of villages centred around Twyford plus a part of Woodley. The multistream River Loddon runs through this area, surrounded by nature reserves and, in the southwest corner of the constituency, Dinton Pastures Country Park.
The A4 (the Bath Road) and Great Western Main Line run East to West through the centre of the constituency and still provide the main routes through the constituency as they long have done, although both are more likely to be taking people out of the constituency than within it - Reading in the West and London in the East providing the main destinations both for leisure and work purposes. The M4 runs through the southern part of the constituency, but there is only one way of accessing it within the constituency (to the South of Maidenhead), and in peak hours much of the constituency can get to London faster than they can get onto the M4. Other main roads in the constituency include the A404 to Marlow and High Wycombe, the A308 to Windsor and Staines and the A321 to Henley (in the North) and Wokingham (in the South).
The area is relatively rich throughout, although there are distinct divisions between areas that are merely comfortably off and those occupied exclusively by the super-rich, often within the same village. The poorest part of the constituency is the area around and to the North of Maidenhead town centre, but even here nowhere comes in the 1/3 most deprived ares in the country according to the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation, and most of the constituency falls within the two least deprived deciles.
The seat itself has been continuously Conservative since its creation in 1997 (and represented by just a single MP during that time), with much of the constituency having been represented by Conservatives continuously since 1874. The party has typically been dominant in local elections as well.
The Conservatives have gotten over half the vote in each of the last 5 elections, and even won a majority of more than 50% in 2015.
The Lib Dems have challenged at times, however, and on a local level have occasionally dominated - the 2003 local results, in which the Lib Dems won 24 of the 30 seats RBWM part of the constituency, as well as both Twyford and Coronation in the Wokingham part, led to this being designated a Lib Dem target seat for the 2005 election as part of their "decapitation" strategy, but like most such seats this one refused to change colour and actually swung slightly in the other direction. After that it was continuously downhill for the Lib Dems both on both local and national level to 2015, when they were beaten by Labour for the first time ever, while on a local level they were reduced to just two councillors in the constituency, only one of whom had been up that year. Since then the party has recovered somewhat, winning 7 of the 20 seats up in RBWM and 1 of the 3 up in Wokingham at the 2019's local elections (holding 9 of 29 seats in total - half the tally of the Conservatives), and seeing vote share rise at both general elections - slightly in 2017 and significantly in 2019.
Labour are notable mainly by their absence - they last won a ward within the current boundaries of this constituency in 1973 (in Maidenhead town centre)*, and have never gotten over a fifth of the vote in a general election. In 2015 and both elections since Labour has ran a campaign primarily aimed at people who usually vote Lib Dem, enabling them to take second place in 2015 and extend it in 2017 when they got an all-time high vote share of 19.3%, but fell apart in 2019, when the Lib Dems took back a clear second place in the constituency, following successful local elections earlier in the year for the Lib Dems in both local councils.
This seat is now back to being a comfortable Conservative seat, with the Lib Dems in a clear but distant second. Which is probably the default state of a constituency like this.
Rumour has it that this may have been the seat of the Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019.
*edit: Oldfield was split between Labour and Conservative in 1995 as well. Thanks Merseymike for pointing that out.
The A4 (the Bath Road) and Great Western Main Line run East to West through the centre of the constituency and still provide the main routes through the constituency as they long have done, although both are more likely to be taking people out of the constituency than within it - Reading in the West and London in the East providing the main destinations both for leisure and work purposes. The M4 runs through the southern part of the constituency, but there is only one way of accessing it within the constituency (to the South of Maidenhead), and in peak hours much of the constituency can get to London faster than they can get onto the M4. Other main roads in the constituency include the A404 to Marlow and High Wycombe, the A308 to Windsor and Staines and the A321 to Henley (in the North) and Wokingham (in the South).
The area is relatively rich throughout, although there are distinct divisions between areas that are merely comfortably off and those occupied exclusively by the super-rich, often within the same village. The poorest part of the constituency is the area around and to the North of Maidenhead town centre, but even here nowhere comes in the 1/3 most deprived ares in the country according to the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation, and most of the constituency falls within the two least deprived deciles.
The seat itself has been continuously Conservative since its creation in 1997 (and represented by just a single MP during that time), with much of the constituency having been represented by Conservatives continuously since 1874. The party has typically been dominant in local elections as well.
The Conservatives have gotten over half the vote in each of the last 5 elections, and even won a majority of more than 50% in 2015.
The Lib Dems have challenged at times, however, and on a local level have occasionally dominated - the 2003 local results, in which the Lib Dems won 24 of the 30 seats RBWM part of the constituency, as well as both Twyford and Coronation in the Wokingham part, led to this being designated a Lib Dem target seat for the 2005 election as part of their "decapitation" strategy, but like most such seats this one refused to change colour and actually swung slightly in the other direction. After that it was continuously downhill for the Lib Dems both on both local and national level to 2015, when they were beaten by Labour for the first time ever, while on a local level they were reduced to just two councillors in the constituency, only one of whom had been up that year. Since then the party has recovered somewhat, winning 7 of the 20 seats up in RBWM and 1 of the 3 up in Wokingham at the 2019's local elections (holding 9 of 29 seats in total - half the tally of the Conservatives), and seeing vote share rise at both general elections - slightly in 2017 and significantly in 2019.
Labour are notable mainly by their absence - they last won a ward within the current boundaries of this constituency in 1973 (in Maidenhead town centre)*, and have never gotten over a fifth of the vote in a general election. In 2015 and both elections since Labour has ran a campaign primarily aimed at people who usually vote Lib Dem, enabling them to take second place in 2015 and extend it in 2017 when they got an all-time high vote share of 19.3%, but fell apart in 2019, when the Lib Dems took back a clear second place in the constituency, following successful local elections earlier in the year for the Lib Dems in both local councils.
This seat is now back to being a comfortable Conservative seat, with the Lib Dems in a clear but distant second. Which is probably the default state of a constituency like this.
Rumour has it that this may have been the seat of the Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019.
*edit: Oldfield was split between Labour and Conservative in 1995 as well. Thanks Merseymike for pointing that out.
