# Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency)

Maidenhead is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Joshua Reynolds, a Liberal Democrat, since 2024. Following its creation at the 1997 general election, the seat was held for twenty-seven years by Conservative Member of Parliament Theresa May, who served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016 and as Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019.
Prior to the 2024 general election, it was considered a safe seat for the Conservative Party.

## Constituency profile

Housing is, in the Wokingham district part, at the northern end of a belt where more than 40% of dwellings are detached houses, and less than 10.8% are purpose-built flats or tenements (maisonettes) (2011 figures, by district) 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 district with the most expensive house prices in the country outside of Greater London. The seat is located in the technology-rich M4 corridor, which includes 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. Communities in the area will also benefit from the eventual opening of Crossrail, with trains running direct from Maidenhead and Twyford to the City of London and Stratford. The seat includes the renowned restaurants, the Fat Duck at Bray and The Waterside Inn. There are low hills in the north of the seat and the Chiltern Hills further to the north. Taking the constituent electoral ward results since the decline of the Liberal Party in the 1910s, the area has always been a safe seat for Conservative candidates. One broadsheet political column encapsulated the constituency as a "seat of Thamesside towns", these house a majority of its residents other than Twyford which spans the multi-stream river in the town. The agriculture in the area consists of some pasture, fields of wheat and fruit.

## History

The constituency was first drawn shortly after the 1992 general election. The electorate of Maidenhead and Windsor was becoming too large, so the Boundary Commission for England separated the seats for the next election, due in 1996 or 1997. It was formed from parts of the abolished safe seat of Windsor and Maidenhead and the constituency of Wokingham. It was first used in the 1997 election. Theresa May, Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019, has held the seat since its creation. In 1995, May, a former London councillor at the time working at the Association for Payment Clearing Services and as a Foreign affairs advisor, was selected to contest the new seat, defeating her future Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, in the selection process. (Hammond was later selected for the nearby seat of Runnymede and Weybridge). May won the seat in the 1997 election, in which over 100 Conservatives lost their seats, and the party obtained its lowest share of seats in 91 years. At the 2010 general election May achieved the 9th highest share of the vote of the 307 seats held by a Conservative.
Before 2024, 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. The Labour candidate in that 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: May retained her seat with almost double her 2001 majority. From that point, she held it with majorities of at least 30%, until she stood down prior to the 2024 general election. The Liberal Democrats would finally gain the seat during the election, with Joshua Reynolds being elected as the new MP for the constituency.

## Boundaries and boundary changes
### 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.
The Windsor and Maidenhead wards were previously part of the abolished constituency of that name. The Wokingham wards were transferred from the reconfigured constituency thereof.

### 2010–2024

* 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.
Bray was transferred from Windsor.
The constituency borders the constituencies of Reading East, Henley, Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Windsor, Bracknell and Wokingham. The seat's largest settlement is the town of Maidenhead in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire.

### 2024–present

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was defined as comprising the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
* The Borough of Bracknell Forest wards of: Ascot; Binfield with Warfield; Winkfield and Cranbourne.$^1$
* The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead wards of: Belmont; Bisham & Cookham; Boyn Hill; Bray; Cox Green; Furze Platt; Hurley & Walthams; Oldfield; Pinkneys Green; Riverside; St. Mary's.
The District of Wokingham wards were transferred out, mostly to Wokingham (including Twyford) and partly to the new constituency of Earley and Woodley (including Sonning); offset by the addition of the Bracknell Forest wards, including Binfield, from Windsor.
$^1$Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now includes the following wards of the Borough of Bracknell Forest from the 2024 general election:
* Binfield North & Warfield West (most); Binfield South & Jennett's Park (majority); Swinley Forest (small part); Whitegrove (small part); Winkfield & Warfield East.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1997 | constituency created from Windsor and Maidenhead & Wokingham | constituency created from Windsor and Maidenhead & Wokingham |
| 1997 | Theresa May | Conservative |
| 2024 | Joshua Reynolds | Liberal Democrats |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joshua Reynolds | 21,895 | 43.5 | +19.7 |
| | Conservative | Tania Mathias | 18,932 | 37.6 | −19.8 |
| | Labour | Jo Smith | 5,766 | 11.5 | −3.5 |
| | Green | Andrew Cooney | 1,996 | 4.0 | +0.2 |
| | Independent | George Wright | 791 | 1.6 | N/A |
| | SDP | Timothy Burt | 518 | 1.0 | N/A |
| | Independent | Qazi Yasir Irshad | 431 | 0.9 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,963 | 5.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,329 | 66.5 | −2.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 75,687 | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +19.8 | |

### Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result :
| Party | Party | Vote | % |
| | Conservative | 29,223 | 57.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 12,122 | 23.8 |
| | Labour | 7,652 | 15.0 |
| | Green | 1,917 | 3.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 50,914 | 69.3 |
| Electorate | Electorate | 73,463 |
General election 2019: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Theresa May | 32,620 | 57.7 | −6.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joshua Reynolds | 13,774 | 24.4 | +13.2 |
| | Labour | Patrick McDonald | 7,882 | 14.0 | −5.3 |
| | Green | Emily Tomalin | 2,216 | 3.9 | +2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,846 | 33.3 | −12.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,492 | 73.7 | −2.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −10.1 | |
General election 2017: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Theresa May | 37,718 | 64.8 | −1.0 |
| | Labour | Patrick McDonald | 11,261 | 19.3 | +7.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 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 |
| | No label | 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 |
| | CPA | 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 |
| | No label | Bobby Smith | 3 | 0.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 26,457 | 45.5 | −8.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 58,239 | 76.4 | +3.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −4.2 | |
General election 2015: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Theresa May | 35,453 | 65.8 | +6.3 |
| | Labour | Charlie Smith | 6,394 | 11.9 | +4.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tony Hill | 5,337 | 9.9 | −18.3 |
| | UKIP | Herbie Crossman | 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 | Majority | Majority | 29,059 | 53.9 | +22.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,855 | 72.6 | −1.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 2010: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Theresa May | 31,937 | 59.5 | +7.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tony Hill | 15,168 | 28.2 | −8.0 |
| | Labour | Patrick 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 | Majority | Majority | 16,769 | 31.3 | +18.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,720 | 73.7 | +3.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +7.8 | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Theresa May | 23,312 | 50.8 | +5.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 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 | Majority | Majority | 6,231 | 13.5 | +5.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,850 | 71.7 | +9.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +3.0 | |
General election 2001: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Theresa May | 19,506 | 45.0 | −4.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kathryn Newbound | 16,222 | 37.4 | +11.1 |
| | 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 | Majority | Majority | 3,284 | 7.6 | −15.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,318 | 62.0 | −13.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −8.0 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Maidenhead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Theresa May | 25,344 | 49.8 | −11.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 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 | Majority | Majority | 11,981 | 23.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,889 | 75.6 | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |