Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency)

Housing is, in the Wokingham district part,{{clarify|date=July 2016}} 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){{Cite web |title=2011 census interactive maps |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/2011-census-interactive-content/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129132219/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/2011-census-interactive-content/index.html |archive-date=29 January 2016}} 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 district with the most expensive house prices in the country outside of Greater London.{{cite news |date=21 October 2013 |title=BBC News, UK House prices, South East |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/regions/html/region9.stm}} 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{{clarify|date=January 2020}} 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.{{Cite web |title=National Rail Enquiries – Official source for UK train times and timetables |url=https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ |website=nationalrail.co.uk}} 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",[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/constituency/1105/maidenhead Constituency Profile] The Guardian these house a majority of its residents other than Twyford{{clarify|date=January 2020}} which spans the multi-stream river in the town. The agriculture in the area consists of some pasture, fields of wheat and fruit.

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/results/general_elections|title=Electoral Commission – Previous UK general elections}}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2001ob.txt|title=Election Data 2001|date=15 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054450/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2001ob.txt|archive-date=15 October 2011}} 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.

• 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/1626/made/data.htm|title=The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995|website=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=2019-02-03}}

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.

{{maplink|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency) 2010}}|frame=yes|frame-width=220|frame-height=220|text=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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/1681/made/data.htm|title=The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007|website=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=2019-02-03}}

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.

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.{{Cite web |title=The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/1230/schedules/made |at=Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region}}

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,{{Cite web |last=LGBCE |title=Bracknell Forest {{!}} LGBCE |url=https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/bracknell-forest |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=lgbce.org.uk}}{{Cite web |title=The Bracknell Forest (Electoral Changes) Order 2021 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/887/article/1/made}} 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.{{Cite web |title=New Seat Details – Maidenhead |url=https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/calcwork23.py?seat=Maidenhead |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=electoralcalculus.co.uk}}

{{Election box begin|title=General election 2024: Maidenhead}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|party=Liberal Democrats (UK)|candidate=Joshua Reynolds{{Cite web|url= https://www.markpack.org.uk/167842/liberal-democrat-prospective-parliamentary-candidates/ |title=Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates |access-date=6 February 2024 |publisher=Mark Pack}}|votes=21,895|percentage=43.5|change=+19.7}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Conservative Party (UK)|candidate=Tania Mathias{{Cite tweet |author=Maidenhead Tories |user=MCA_Tories |number=564068436633214977 |title=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}}|votes=18,932|percentage=37.6|change=−19.8}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Labour Party (UK)|candidate=Jo Smith{{Cite tweet |author=Maidenhead Labour |user=Maidenheadlab |number=1779961345355493576 |title= 🌹 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.}}|votes=5,766|percentage=11.5|change=−3.5}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Green Party of England and Wales|candidate=Andrew Cooney{{Cite web|url= https://eastberkshire.greenparty.org.uk/news/2023/12/14/general-election-candidate-for-maidenhead-announced/ |title=General election candidate for Maidenhead announced |access-date=6 February 2024 |publisher=East Berkshire Green Party}}|votes=1,996|percentage=4.0|change=+0.2}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent (politician)|candidate=George Wright|votes=791|percentage=1.6|change=N/A}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990–present)|candidate=Timothy Burt{{Cite web|url=https://sdp.org.uk/general-election-candidates/ |title=GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES |access-date=6 February 2024 |publisher=SDP}}|votes=518|percentage=1.0|change=N/A}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent (politician)|candidate=Qazi Yasir Irshad|votes=431|percentage=0.9|change=N/A}}

{{Election box majority|votes=2,963|percentage=5.9|change=|}}

{{Election box turnout|votes=50,329|percentage=66.5|change=−2.8|}}

{{Election box registered electors

|reg. electors = 75,687

}}

{{Election box gain with party link

|winner = Liberal Democrats (UK)

|loser = Conservative Party (UK)

|swing = +19.8

}}

{{Election box end}}

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

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• [https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/13213.html Maidenhead UK Parliament constituency] (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• [https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/65901.html Maidenhead UK Parliament constituency] (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• [https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/168703.html Maidenhead UK Parliament constituency] (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

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Category:Parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire

Category:Politics of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Category:Maidenhead

Category:Theresa May

Category:Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997