# Beaconsfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Beaconsfield (/ˈbɛkənzfiːld/) is a constituency in Buckinghamshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Joy Morrissey of the Conservative Party. She succeeded Independent and former Conservative Dominic Grieve, whom she defeated following his suspension from the party. The constituency was established for the February 1974 general election.

## History

The constituency was created in 1974, mostly from the former seat of South Buckinghamshire, since which date the area has formed the southernmost part of Buckinghamshire — before 1974 the notable settlements of Slough and Eton, as well as less well-known Langley, Wraysbury, Sunnymeads and Datchet were in the county.
This leads to the shape of the constituency, further accentuated in irregularity by the Thames meander containing Cookham, Berkshire to the west and southwest.

### 1982 by-election candidates

In the 1982 Beaconsfield by-election caused by the death of Sir Ronald Bell, the third-placed candidate was Tony Blair for the Labour Party. Conservative Tim Smith was the first and only person ever to have beaten Blair in an election and won; Liberal Paul Tyler was in second place. Tyler later became an MP for North Cornwall, meaning that, most unusually, the three main-party candidates subsequently served in the House of Commons at the same time.

### 2010 election

Incumbent Dominic Grieve's win in 2010, with 61.1% of the vote, was the second highest share of the vote in the general election for a Conservative candidate after William Hague in Richmond (Yorks).

### 2016 EU referendum

Beaconsfield is estimated to have voted 51% remain in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. Although estimates of the constituency results have not been confirmed, the official UK Electoral Commission EU referendum results detail the area of South Buckinghamshire, which contains the Beaconsfield constituency, as voting to leave the EU with a percentage of 50.7%.

## Boundaries and boundary changes
### 1974–1983

* The Urban District of Beaconsfield;
* The Rural District of Eton; and
* The Rural District of Wycombe parishes of Hedsor and Wooburn.
The constituency was formed largely from southern parts of the abolished constituency of South Buckinghamshire (Beaconsfield and the Rural District of Eton). The parishes of Hedsor and Wooburn were transferred from Wycombe.

### 1983–1997

* The District of South Bucks; and
* The District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath, Loudwater, The Wooburns, and Tylers Green.
Gained areas to the east of High Wycombe (parish of Chepping Wycombe) from Wycombe. The parts of the former Rural District of Eton, including Datchet, which had been transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire by the Local Government Act 1972 were included in the new constituency of East Berkshire.

### 1997–2010

* The District of South Bucks; and
* The District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow, Loudwater, The Wooburns, Tylers Green.
Minor change (transfer of Little Marlow from Wycombe).

### 2010–2024

* The District of South Bucks; and
* The District of Wycombe wards of Bourne End-cum-Hedsor, Flackwell Heath and Little Marlow, Marlow North and West, Marlow South East, The Wooburns.
Marlow transferred from Wycombe.
In April 2020, the Districts of South Bucks and Wycombe, together with those of Aylesbury and Chiltern were merged into the new unitary authority of Buckinghamshire Council. Accordingly, the current contents of the constituency became:
* The Buckinghamshire Council wards of Beaconsfield, Cliveden, Denham, Farnham Common & Burnham Beeches, Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow & Marlow South East, Gerrards Cross, Iver, Marlow, Stoke Poges & Wexham, and The Wooburns, Bourne End & Hedsor.
The seat then consisted of Beaconsfield, most of Burnham (including Burnham Beeches forest), Denham, Dorney, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal, Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver, Stoke Poges, Taplow and Wexham (excluding Wexham Court); Hedsor, Little Marlow, Marlow, Wooburn and Bourne End and the Flackwell Heath settlement of Chepping Wycombe.

### 2024–present

Further to the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies which became effective for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
* The District of Buckinghamshire wards of: Beaconsfield; Cliveden; Denham (polling districts SJ, SJA, SJHD, SK, SKA and SWF); Farnham Common and Burnham Beeches; Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow and Marlow South East; Gerrards Cross (polling districts SB and SFH); Iver; Marlow; Stoke Poges and Wexham; Wooburns, Bourne End and Hedsor.
The electorate was reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring the town of Gerrards Cross to Chesham and Amersham.

## Members of Parliament

South Buckinghamshire prior to 1974
| Election | Member | Party |
| February 1974 | Ronald Bell | Conservative |
| 1982 by-election | Tim Smith | Conservative |
| 1997 | Dominic Grieve | Conservative |
| September 2019 | Dominic Grieve | Independent |
| 2019 | Joy Morrissey | Conservative |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Joy Morrissey | 18,494 | 38.8 | −16.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anna Crabtree | 13,039 | 27.3 | N/A |
| | Labour | Matthew Patterson | 7,216 | 15.1 | +5.2 |
| | Reform UK | John Halsall | 6,055 | 12.7 | N/A |
| | Green | Dominick Pegram | 1,977 | 4.1 | +0.4 |
| | Independent | Pippa Allen | 710 | 1.5 | N/A |
| | SDP | Catherine Harker | 131 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Independent | Cole Caesar | 104 | 0.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,455 | 11.4 | −14.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,726 | 65.6 | −7.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 72,751 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −11.5 | |

### Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result :
| Party | Party | Vote | % |
| | Conservative | 29,211 | 55.5 |
| | Others | 16,276 | 30.9 |
| | Labour | 5,211 | 9.9 |
| | Green | 1,935 | 3.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 52,633 | 72.8 |
| Electorate | Electorate | 72,315 |
General election 2019: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Joy Morrissey | 32,477 | 56.1 | −9.2 |
| | Independent | Dominic Grieve | 16,765 | 29.0 | N/A |
| | Labour | Alexa Collins | 5,756 | 9.9 | −11.5 |
| | Green | Zoe Hatch | 2,033 | 3.5 | +1.0 |
| | Independent | Adam Cleary | 837 | 1.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,712 | 27.1 | −16.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 57,868 | 74.5 | +2.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 77,720 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 2017: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Dominic Grieve | 36,559 | 65.3 | +2.1 |
| | Labour | James English | 12,016 | 21.4 | +10.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Chapman | 4,448 | 7.9 | +0.5 |
| | UKIP | John Conway | 1,609 | 2.9 | −10.9 |
| | Green | Russell Secker | 1,396 | 2.5 | −1.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 24,543 | 43.9 | −5.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,028 | 72.3 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −4.0 | |
General election 2015: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Dominic Grieve | 33,621 | 63.2 | +2.1 |
| | UKIP | Tim Scott | 7,310 | 13.8 | +8.9 |
| | Labour | Tony Clements | 6,074 | 11.4 | −0.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Chapman | 3,927 | 7.4 | −12.2 |
| | Green | Dave Hampton | 2,231 | 4.2 | +2.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 26,311 | 49.4 | +7.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,163 | 71.1 | +1.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −3.3 | |
General election 2010: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Dominic Grieve | 32,053 | 61.1 | +7.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Edwards | 10,271 | 19.6 | −2.4 |
| | Labour | Jeremy Miles | 6,135 | 11.7 | −7.8 |
| | UKIP | Delphine Gray-Fisk | 2,597 | 4.9 | +0.1 |
| | Green | Jem Bailey | 768 | 1.5 | New |
| | A Vote Against MP Expense Abuse | Andrew Cowen | 475 | 0.9 | New |
| | Independent | Quentin Baron | 191 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 21,782 | 41.5 | +6.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,490 | 70.0 | +6.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +4.7 | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Dominic Grieve | 24,126 | 55.4 | +2.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Chapman | 8,873 | 20.4 | −1.2 |
| | Labour | Alex Sobel | 8,422 | 19.4 | −2.4 |
| | UKIP | John Fagan | 2,102 | 4.8 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,253 | 35.0 | +4.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,523 | 63.9 | +3.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +1.9 | |
General election 2001: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Dominic Grieve | 22,233 | 52.8 | +3.6 |
| | Labour | Stephen Lathrope | 9,168 | 21.8 | +1.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Lloyd | 9,117 | 21.6 | +0.2 |
| | UKIP | Andrew Moffatt | 1,626 | 3.9 | +3.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,065 | 31.0 | +3.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,144 | 60.8 | −12.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +0.9 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Dominic Grieve | 24,709 | 49.2 | −14.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Mapp | 10,722 | 21.4 | +2.1 |
| | Labour | Alastair Hudson | 10,063 | 20.0 | +6.5 |
| | Referendum | Humphrey Lloyd | 2,197 | 4.4 | New |
| | Ind. Conservative | Christopher Story | 1,434 | 2.9 | New |
| | UKIP | Christopher Cooke | 451 | 0.9 | New |
| | ProLife Alliance | Gillian Duval | 286 | 0.6 | New |
| | Natural Law | Tom Dyball | 193 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| | Independent | Robert Matthews | 146 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,987 | 27.8 | −16.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,201 | 72.8 | −6.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −8.2 | |
General election 1992: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tim Smith | 33,817 | 64.0 | −2.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anne Purse | 10,220 | 19.3 | −4.4 |
| | Labour | Graham Smith | 7,163 | 13.5 | +3.2 |
| | Ind. Conservative | William Foulds | 1,317 | 2.5 | New |
| | Natural Law | Andrew Foss | 196 | 0.4 | New |
| | Independent | Joan Martin | 166 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 23,597 | 44.7 | +2.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,879 | 79.0 | +4.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +1.2 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tim Smith | 33,324 | 66.0 | +2.2 |
| | Liberal | David Ive | 11,985 | 23.7 | −1.9 |
| | Labour | Kenneth Harper | 5,203 | 10.3 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 21,339 | 42.3 | +4.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,512 | 74.6 | +2.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +2.0 | |
General election 1983: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Tim Smith | 30,552 | 63.8 |
| | Liberal | David Ive | 12,252 | 25.6 |
| | Labour | Sherwin Smith | 5,107 | 10.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,300 | 38.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,911 | 72.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
By-election 1982: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Tim Smith | 23,049 | 61.8 | +0.1 |
| | Liberal | Paul Tyler | 9,996 | 26.8 | +8.7 |
| | Labour | Tony Blair | 3,886 | 10.4 | −9.8 |
| | New Britain | Michael Byrne | 225 | 0.6 | New |
| | Democratic Monarchist | Bill Boaks | 99 | 0.3 | New |
| | Benn in Ten Unless Proportional Representation | Thomas Keen | 51 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,053 | 35.0 | −8.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,306 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ronald Bell | 31,938 | 61.7 | +13.4 |
| | Labour | Edwin Glasson | 10,443 | 20.2 | −5.3 |
| | Liberal | Percy Meyer | 8,853 | 17.1 | −9.1 |
| | National Front | John Noyes | 548 | 1.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 21,495 | 41.5 | +19.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,782 | 76.2 | +6.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ronald Bell | 23,234 | 48.3 | −1.3 |
| | Liberal | William Eastwell | 12,606 | 26.2 | −2.0 |
| | Labour | Marigold Johnson | 12,253 | 25.5 | +3.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,628 | 22.1 | +0.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,093 | 70.2 | −7.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +0.3 | |
General election February 1974: Beaconsfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ronald Bell | 26,040 | 49.6 | |
| | Liberal | William Eastwell | 14,792 | 28.2 | |
| | Labour | Peter Jones | 11,691 | 22.3 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,248 | 21.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,523 | 77.3 | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |