Beaconsfield
May 12, 2020 15:26:40 GMT
The Bishop, Delighted Of Tunbridge Wells, and 1 more like this
Post by Merseymike on May 12, 2020 15:26:40 GMT
If there was any seat which epitomised Conservatism, then Beaconsfield has to be a prime candidate. There has been a Beaconsfield constituency since the reorganisation of the southern part of Buckinghamshire which saw Slough and some of its surrounding areas switch into Berkshire. The original seat consisted of Beaconsfield itself and the small settlements which made up the Eton Rural District - which, confusingly, did not include Eton itself. Part of that district switched into Berkshire in 1974 although much of it stayed in the constituency until 1983, including the Labour-voting council estate of Britwell . There have been three small-scale boundary reviews since, with the most notable in 2010, where the riverside town of Marlow was switched into the constituency from Wycombe.
The current boundaries take in all of the South Bucks district, which includes Beaconsfield itself, Gerrards Cross, Denham and the small villages surrounding Slough. It also includes Marlow, and the Flackwell Heath, Wooburn and Bourne End wards of Wycombe District Council. Politically, all return Conservative councillors in usual circumstances. Beaconsfield itself has elected the odd Independent, and Marlow was represented largely by Liberals and Liberal Democrats in the 70's and 80's.
The seat is a largely uniform collection of predominantly middle-class villages and small towns, although there are clumps of social housing - many of them since purchased and sold - in all of the settlements. Marlow in particular has some relatively sizeable housing estates on the east side of the town. It has some of the highest house prices in the country and is a popular commuter zone for central London. No local ward has been truly competitive for some years and Labour have never held a ward since the departure of the Britwell area as the relatively small remaining Labour vote is scattered across the seat with no predominantly Labour area.
In 1982, one Anthony Blair (as he was then known) contested a by-election in 1982, amassing 10.4% of the vote - Labour's highest percentage since the 1983 boundary change was in 2017 when they scored 21%. The Conservatives, on the other hand, usually score in the 60's except in 1997, when they still managed to fall just short of 50%. The winning candidate in that year was Dominic Grieve, who no doubt imagined he would have a safe seat for life, but his pro-EU stance saw him leave the Conservative party in September 2019, and while his performance in 2019 at 29% was credible for an independent, where the LibDems stood down in his favour and he is reported to have done particularly well in Marlow with its LibDem history, he was still well behind the Conservatives who won the seat with 56% of the vote and a 15,712 majority. It seems unlikely that any other party but the Conservatives could be victorious in this affluent slice of Buckinghamshire
The current boundaries take in all of the South Bucks district, which includes Beaconsfield itself, Gerrards Cross, Denham and the small villages surrounding Slough. It also includes Marlow, and the Flackwell Heath, Wooburn and Bourne End wards of Wycombe District Council. Politically, all return Conservative councillors in usual circumstances. Beaconsfield itself has elected the odd Independent, and Marlow was represented largely by Liberals and Liberal Democrats in the 70's and 80's.
The seat is a largely uniform collection of predominantly middle-class villages and small towns, although there are clumps of social housing - many of them since purchased and sold - in all of the settlements. Marlow in particular has some relatively sizeable housing estates on the east side of the town. It has some of the highest house prices in the country and is a popular commuter zone for central London. No local ward has been truly competitive for some years and Labour have never held a ward since the departure of the Britwell area as the relatively small remaining Labour vote is scattered across the seat with no predominantly Labour area.
In 1982, one Anthony Blair (as he was then known) contested a by-election in 1982, amassing 10.4% of the vote - Labour's highest percentage since the 1983 boundary change was in 2017 when they scored 21%. The Conservatives, on the other hand, usually score in the 60's except in 1997, when they still managed to fall just short of 50%. The winning candidate in that year was Dominic Grieve, who no doubt imagined he would have a safe seat for life, but his pro-EU stance saw him leave the Conservative party in September 2019, and while his performance in 2019 at 29% was credible for an independent, where the LibDems stood down in his favour and he is reported to have done particularly well in Marlow with its LibDem history, he was still well behind the Conservatives who won the seat with 56% of the vote and a 15,712 majority. It seems unlikely that any other party but the Conservatives could be victorious in this affluent slice of Buckinghamshire
