Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency)

Maidenhead
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Maidenhead in South East England
County	Berkshire
Electorate	73,463 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Maidenhead Bray Wargrave Sonning Twyford Binfield
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrats)
Seats	One
Created from	Windsor & Maidenhead Wokingham

Maidenhead is a constituency ^{[n 1]} 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. ^[2]

Constituency profile

Housing is, in the Wokingham district part,^{[ clarification needed ]} 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) ^[3] Reflecting a national trend in this period, the latter band^{[ clarification needed ]} 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. ^[4] 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^{[ clarification needed ]} 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. ^[5] 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", ^[6] these house a majority of its residents other than Twyford ^{[ clarification needed ]} 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. ^[7]

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. ^[8] 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. ^[9]

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

Map of 2010–2024 boundaries

• 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. ^[10]

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. ^[11]

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.

¹Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, ^{[12] [13]} 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. ^[14]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [15]	Party
	1997	constituency created from Windsor and Maidenhead & Wokingham
		Theresa May	Conservative
	2024	Joshua Reynolds	Liberal Democrats

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Maidenhead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Joshua Reynolds [16]	21,895	43.5	+19.7
	Conservative	Tania Mathias [17]	18,932	37.6	−19.8
	Labour	Jo Smith [18]	5,766	11.5	−3.5
	Green	Andrew Cooney [19]	1,996	4.0	+0.2
	Independent	George Wright	791	1.6	N/A
	SDP	Timothy Burt [20]	518	1.0	N/A
	Independent	Qazi Yasir Irshad	431	0.9	N/A
Majority			2,963	5.9	N/A
Turnout			50,329	66.5	–2.8
Registered electors			75,687
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+19.8

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result [21]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	29,223	57.4
	Liberal Democrats	12,122	23.8
	Labour	7,652	15.0
	Green	1,917	3.8
Turnout		50,914	69.3
Electorate		73,463

General election 2019: Maidenhead ^[22]

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			18,846	33.3	−12.2
Turnout			56,492	73.7	−2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.1

General election 2017: Maidenhead ^[23]

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			26,457	45.5	−8.6
Turnout			58,239	76.4	+3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.2

General election 2015: Maidenhead ^{[24] [25]}

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 [26]	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			29,059	53.9	+22.6
Turnout			53,855	72.6	−1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 2010: Maidenhead ^{[27] [28]}

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			16,769	31.3	+18.6
Turnout			53,720	73.7	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Maidenhead ^[29]

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			6,231	13.5	+5.9
Turnout			45,850	71.7	+9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.0

General election 2001: Maidenhead ^[30]

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			3,284	7.6	−15.9
Turnout			43,318	62.0	−13.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.0

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Maidenhead ^[31]

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			11,981	23.5	N/A
Turnout			50,889	75.6
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
2. "Maidenhead: Voters' views in one of England's safest seats". BBC News. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
3. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
4. "BBC News, UK House prices, South East". BBC News. 21 October 2013.
5. "National Rail Enquiries – Official source for UK train times and timetables". nationalrail.co.uk.
6. Constituency Profile The Guardian
7. "Electoral Commission – Previous UK general elections".
8. "Election Data 2001". 15 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
10. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
11. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
12. LGBCE. "Bracknell Forest | LGBCE". lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
13. "The Bracknell Forest (Electoral Changes) Order 2021".
14. "New Seat Details – Maidenhead". electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
15. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)
16. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack . Retrieved 6 February 2024.
17. Maidenhead Tories [@MCA_Tories] (7 February 2015). "We are thrilled to announce that the fantastic Dr Tania Mathias has been selected as our PPC for Maidenhead on 4th July. Tania has worked as a doctor in the NHS for over 25 years as well as working in Gaza as a UN conflict resolution worker. @Conservatives" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
18. Maidenhead Labour [@Maidenheadlab] (15 April 2024). "🌹 We're delighted to announce that Jo Smith is our Labour candidate in Maidenhead for the General Election! We look forward to campaigning for real change in Maidenhead, where only Labour can beat the Tories. Let's get our future back" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
19. "General election candidate for Maidenhead announced". East Berkshire Green Party. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
20. "GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES". SDP . Retrieved 6 February 2024.
21. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament . Retrieved 11 July 2024.
22. "Maidenhead Constituency List of Candidates" (PDF).
23. "Statement of persons nominated – Maidenhead". Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
24. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
25. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (30 April 2015). "General Election Results 2015: Maidenhead Constituency". Electoral Services – Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
26. "UK Polling Report".
27. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
28. "Election 2010 – Maidenhead". BBC. 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
29. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
30. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
31. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Maidenhead UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Maidenhead UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Maidenhead UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Witney	Constituency represented by the prime minister 2016–2019	Succeeded by Uxbridge and South Ruislip

51°29′N0°45′W / 51.48°N 0.75°W / 51.48; -0.75