# Mole Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Mole Valley is a former constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Sir Paul Beresford, a Conservative, until it was abolished in 2024, primarily replaced by Dorking and Horley.

## Boundaries

1983–1997: The District of Mole Valley, and the Borough of Guildford ward of Tillingbourne.
1997–2024: The District of Mole Valley wards of Beare Green, Bookham North, Bookham South, Box Hill and Headley, Brockham, Betchworth and Buckland, Capel, Leigh and Newdigate, Charlwood, Dorking North, Dorking South, Fetcham East, Fetcham West, Holmwoods, Leatherhead North, Leatherhead South, Leith Hill, Mickleham, Westhumble and Pixham, Okewood, and Westcott; and the Borough of Guildford wards of Clandon and Horsley, Effingham, Lovelace, Send, and Tillingbourne.
The constituency was larger than the Mole Valley District of Surrey as it included five wards in the east of the Borough of Guildford, three of which are nearer to Woking than to Dorking. The largest town in the Mole Valley constituency was Dorking, the second largest was Leatherhead and there are many rural and semi-rural villages, generally within one hour's reach of London so properly classed as part of the London Commuter Belt.
Further to the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the seat underwent boundary changes, adding the town of Horley, and losing Leatherhead. As a consequence, it was reformed as the new seat of Dorking and Horley, starting from the 2024 general election.

## History and constituency profile

The county constituency was created in 1983; much of the same area was covered by the Dorking constituency which preceded it. It was a Conservative safe seat in terms of length of party tenure and great size of its majorities. It has a majority adult demographic of affluent middle-class families living in commuter towns and villages speedily connected to business parks by road and central London by rail, it was one of a few seats to return a new candidate as Conservative MP who won a majority in excess of 10,000 in the 1997 Labour landslide; the main opposition since 1983 was the Liberal Democrats and their largest predecessor party, the Liberal Party.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1983 | Kenneth Baker | Conservative |
| | 1997 | Sir Paul Beresford | Conservative |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Beresford | 31,656 | 55.4 | −6.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Kennedy | 19,615 | 34.4 | +15.1 |
| | Labour | Brian Bostock | 2,965 | 5.2 | −8.7 |
| | Green | Lisa Scott-Conte | 1,874 | 3.3 | +0.7 |
| | Independent | Robin Horsley | 536 | 0.9 | New |
| | UKIP | Geoffrey Cox | 464 | 0.8 | −1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,041 | 21.0 | −21.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 57,110 | 76.5 | +0.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −10.7 | |
General election 2017: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Beresford | 35,092 | 61.9 | +1.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Kennedy | 10,955 | 19.3 | +4.8 |
| | Labour | Marc Green | 7,864 | 13.9 | +5.6 |
| | Green | Jacquetta Fewster | 1,463 | 2.6 | −2.8 |
| | UKIP | Judy Moore | 1,352 | 2.4 | −8.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 24,137 | 42.6 | −3.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,866 | 76.3 | +2.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −1.8 | |
General election 2015: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Beresford | 33,434 | 60.6 | +3.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Kennedy | 7,981 | 14.5 | −14.2 |
| | UKIP | Paul Oakley | 6,181 | 11.2 | +6.1 |
| | Labour | Leonard Amos | 4,565 | 8.3 | +1.3 |
| | Green | Jacquetta Fewster | 2,979 | 5.4 | +3.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 25,453 | 46.1 | +17.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,329 | 74.2 | −0.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +8.7 | |
General election 2010: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Beresford | 31,263 | 57.5 | +2.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alice Humphreys | 15,610 | 28.7 | −1.8 |
| | Labour | James Dove | 3,804 | 7.0 | −3.7 |
| | UKIP | Leigh Jones | 2,752 | 5.1 | +2.1 |
| | Green | Rob Sedgwick | 895 | 1.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,653 | 28.8 | +4.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,324 | 74.8 | +3.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +2.3 | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Beresford | 27,060 | 54.8 | +4.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nasser Butt | 15,063 | 30.5 | +1.5 |
| | Labour | Farmida Bi | 5,310 | 10.7 | −5.9 |
| | UKIP | David Payne | 1,475 | 3.0 | +0.2 |
| | Veritas | Roger Meekins | 507 | 1.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,997 | 24.3 | +2.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,415 | 72.5 | +3.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +1.4 | |
General election 2001: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Beresford | 23,790 | 50.5 | +2.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Celia Savage | 13,637 | 29.0 | −0.3 |
| | Labour | Dan Redford | 7,837 | 16.6 | +1.8 |
| | UKIP | Ronald Walters | 1,333 | 2.8 | +2.0 |
| | ProLife Alliance | William Newton | 475 | 1.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,153 | 21.5 | +2.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,072 | 68.9 | −9.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +1.4 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus change in share of vote is based on a notional calculation.
General election 1997: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Beresford | 26,178 | 48.0 | −13.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Cooksey | 15,957 | 29.3 | +0.6 |
| | Labour | Christopher Payne | 8,057 | 14.8 | +5.4 |
| | Referendum | Nick Taber | 2,424 | 4.4 | New |
| | Ind. Conservative | Richard Burley | 1,276 | 2.3 | New |
| | UKIP | Ian Cameron | 435 | 0.8 | New |
| | Natural Law | Judith Thomas | 197 | 0.4 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,221 | 18.7 | −10.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,524 | 78.4 | −3.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −6.9 | |
General election 1992: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Kenneth Baker | 32,549 | 59.3 | −1.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Watson | 16,599 | 30.3 | +0.4 |
| | Labour | Tim Walsh | 5,291 | 9.6 | +0.3 |
| | Natural Law | Judith Thomas | 442 | 0.8 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,950 | 29.0 | −1.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,881 | 82.0 | +5.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −0.9 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Kenneth Baker | 31,689 | 60.8 | ±0.0 |
| | Liberal | Susan Thomas | 15,613 | 29.9 | −0.8 |
| | Labour | Christopher King | 4,846 | 9.3 | +0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,076 | 30.9 | +0.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,148 | 77.0 | +2.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +0.4 | |
General election 1983: Mole Valley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Kenneth Baker | 29,691 | 60.8 | |
| | Liberal | Susan Thomas | 14,973 | 30.7 | |
| | Labour | Fanny Lines | 4,147 | 8.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,718 | 30.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,811 | 75.0 | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |