1. History

2. Constituency profile

3. Boundaries and boundary changes

4. Changes proposed for 2022

5. Members of Parliament

6. Elections
     Elections in the 2010s    Elections in the 2000s    Elections in the 1990s  

7. See also

8. Notes and references

Maidenhead is a constituency{{#tag:ref|A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)|group= n}} in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It has been represented by Theresa May since it was created in 1997. May succeeded David Cameron as UK Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party on 13 July 2016. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, May served as Home Secretary from 2010–2016.

It is considered a safe seat for the Conservative Party, as it has never been held by any party other than the Conservatives; nor had any of its predecessor constituencies.

History

The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the abolished seat of Windsor and Maidenhead and the constituency of Wokingham. Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has held the seat since its creation. May won the seat in the 1997 election, where over 100 Conservatives lost their seats, and held its lowest share of seats in over 150 years. At the 2010 general election May achieved the 9th highest share of the vote of the 307 seats held by a Conservative.^[2]

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. Notably, the Labour candidate in said 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, as May retained her seat with almost double her 2001 majority. Since this election, she has held it by majorities of at least 30%.

Constituency profile

Housing is, in the Wokingham district part,{{clarify|date=July 2016}} at the northern end of a belt in which still more than 40% is detached and less than 10.8% is purpose-built flats or tenements (maisonettes) (2011 figures, by district)^[3] Reflecting a national trend in this period, the latter band{{clarify|date=July 2016}} was in 2001 a band of fewer than 8% of housing stock as flats. The other borough, namely Windsor and Maidenhead, is the most expensive house price district of the country outside of Greater London^[4] Homes are in{{clarify|date=July 2016}} the technology-rich M4 corridor including 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.^[5] Communities in the area will also benefit from the opening of Crossrail, with trains running direct from Maidenhead and Twyford to the City of London and Stratford. Fortunate geographical features{{clarify|date=July 2016}} are illustrated colourfully by the internationally leading restaurants, the Fat Duck at Bray and Waterside Inn; by the low hills in the north of the seat and by the Chiltern Hills to the north. Taking the constituent electoral ward results since the decline of the Liberal Party in the 1910s, the area has to date 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 which spans the multi-stream river in the town over which it has two fords. The agriculture in the area consists of some pasture, fields of wheat and fruit.

Boundaries and boundary changes

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. It includes the following wards:

Bray was transferred from Windsor.

Changes proposed for 2022

The Boundary Commission for England submitted their final proposals in respect of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies (the 2018 review) in September 2018. If these proposals are approved by Parliament they will reduce the total number of MPs from 650 to 600 and come into effect at the next UK general election which is due to take place in May 2022 under the terms of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.

The Commission proposed that the constituency be unchanged.^[9]

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

:

• Josephine Cochrane
• Josephine County
• Josephine County, OR
• Josephine County, Oregon
• Josephine De Beauharnais
• Josephine de Beauharnais
• Josephine Earp
• Josephine Goldmark
• Joseph in Egypt (film)
• Josephine Hopper
• Josephine Hull
• Josephine Humphreys
• Josephine Louise Newcomb
• Josephine May Swenson
• Josephine Miles
• Josephine M. Swenson
• Josephine Mutzenbacher
• Josephine Nivison
• Josephine of Leuchtenberg
• Josephine Owaissa Cottle
• Josephine Potter
• Josephine Pullein-Thompson
• Josephine Siao
• Josephine Sophia White Griffing
• Josephine St. Pierre