Beckenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Beckenham
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Beckenham in Greater London.
County	Greater London
Population	87,011 (2011 census)^[1]
Electorate	66,470 (December 2010)^[2]
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of parliament	Bob Stewart (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Bromley
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	London

New wards and boundaries of the Beckenham Parliament constituency (red) within the London Borough of Bromley (yellow)

Beckenham /ˈbɛkəˌnəm/ is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Bob Stewart of the Conservative Party.^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

The northernmost third of the constituency is in part contiguous to Penge and Crystal Palace and has similar demographics to the borough to the northwest and to Norwood Junction in having significantly more social housing than the Greater London average.^[3] However, these wards in 2005 and 2010 voted strongly for the Liberal Democrats, with Labour also competitive.

The remaining half of wards, the three in the south, consist of a larger majority of private housing than the other wards^[3] which can be branded as leafy Bromley suburbia in the "BR2 postcode" — one widely known gazetteer summarises this in 2012:

"The properties on these streets typically include a range of styles, from modern to Mock Tudor. However many local residents are wealthy city commuters. Keston Common and Keston Ponds are both popular attractions for locals...The common theme is large, detached houses with substantial land and typically with asking prices of over £1 million. At the lower end of the market, a one bedroom period conversion flat on Turpington Lane near Bromley Common, or a one bedroom flat in a modern block on Homesdale Road, near the Bickley border, would demand an asking price of approximately £160,000."^[4]

Also in the southeast is the small town centre of Beckenham itself. These three wards to date have voted between 60-70% for Conservatives which means that, even with Labour leading the national polls, the whole seat has had to date Conservative safe seat status.

Opposition has featured since 1983 a close contest for second place between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Labour's share has kept much greater than in Orpington whereas Liberal Democrat share has kept much greater than in Croydon Central.^{[n 3]}

History

The constituency has only elected Conservatives as its MPs since 1950.

The closest the Conservatives have ever come to losing this seat was at a by-election in November 1997, at the height of Tony Blair's 'honeymoon period' as Prime Minister, following the resignation of the previous MP Piers Merchant in a sex scandal. Even then, the former MP for Hastings who lost her seat in the earlier 1997 general election, Jacqui Lait, managed to win the seat by just over 1,000 votes.

Between 1957 and 1992 the long-serving MP for Beckenham was Sir Philip Goodhart, who was soon after 1979 discovered by Margaret Thatcher to be a left-of-centre or 'wet conservative' and consequently his career as a junior minister came to a quick end. Goodhart is best known for his book on the workings of the Conservative MPs' 1922 Committee, and for his brother Charles, who was a famous economics professor at LSE and sat for some time on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee.

Before Sir Philip Goodhart, the former Conservative Chief Whip Patrick Buchan-Hepburn represented Beckenham in Parliament.

Boundaries

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Beckenham, and the Urban District of Penge.

1974-1983: The London Borough of Bromley wards of Anerley, Clock House, Copers Cope, Eden Park, Lawrie Park and Kent House, Manor House, Penge, and Shortlands.

1983-1997: The London Borough of Bromley wards of Anerley, Clock House, Copers Cope, Eden Park, Kelsey Park, Lawrie Park and Kent House, Penge, and Shortlands.

1997-2010: The London Borough of Bromley wards of Anerley, Clock House, Copers Cope, Eden Park, Kelsey Park, Lawrie Park and Kent House, Penge, Shortlands, West Wickham North, and West Wickham South.

2010-present: The London Borough of Bromley wards of Bromley Common and Keston, Copers Cope, Hayes and Coney Hall, Kelsey and Eden Park, Shortlands, and West Wickham.

Beckenham constituency covers the north-western part of the London Borough of Bromley. The local government ward boundaries were redrawn for the 2002 local elections, though this did not affect parliamentary constituency boundaries until the 2010 general election.

Latest boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South London, the Boundary Commission for England made revisions to the existing Beckenham constituency. Clock House ward, Crystal Palace ward, and Penge and Cator ward were transferred from Beckenham to help create the new constituency of Lewisham West and Penge. Parts of Bromley Common and Keston ward, Hayes and Coney Hall ward, and Shortlands ward were transferred to Beckenham from Bromley and Chislehurst. A small part of Bromley Common and Keston ward was transferred to Beckenham from Orpington and a tiny part of Bromley Town ward was transferred from Beckenham to Bromley and Chislehurst.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[5]	Party
1950	Patrick Buchan-Hepburn	Conservative
1957 by-election	Philip Goodhart	Conservative
1992	Piers Merchant	Conservative
1997 by-election	Jacqui Lait	Conservative
2010	Bob Stewart	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Beckenham^[6]^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Stewart ^[9]	27,955	57.3	-0.6
	Labour	Marina Ahmad	9,484	19.4	+5.0
	UKIP	Rob Bryant^[10]	6,108	12.5	+9.3
	Liberal Democrat	Anuja Prashar	3,378	6.9	-13.7
	Green	Ruth Fabricant^[11]	1,878	3.8	+2.6
Majority			18,471	37.8
Turnout			48,803	73.2	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Beckenham^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Stewart	27,597	57.9	−1.8
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Jenkins	9,813	20.6	+4.5
	Labour	Damien Egan^[13]	6,893	14.5	−4.9
	UKIP	Owen Brolly	1,551	3.3	+0.4
	BNP	Roger Tonks^[14]	1,001	2.1	+2.1
	Green	Ann Garrett	608	1.3	+1.3
	English Democrats	Dan Eastgate	223	0.5	+0.5
Majority			17,784	37.3
Turnout			47,686	72	+6.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacqui Lait	22,183	45.3	0.0
	Labour	Liam K. Curran	13,782	28.1	−6.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jef W. Foulger	10,862	22.2	+6.2
	UKIP	James D.C. Cartwright	1,301	2.7	+1.0
	Independent	Roderick A. Reed	836	1.7	+1.7
Majority			8,401	17.2
Turnout			48,964	65.5	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

General Election 2001: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacqui Lait	20,618	45.3	+2.8
	Labour	Richard F. Watts	15,659	34.4	+1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Alexander D. Feakes	7,308	16.0	−2.1
	Green	Miss Karen A. Moran	961	2.1
	UKIP	Christopher N. Pratt	782	1.7	+0.8
	Liberal	Rif Winfield	234	0.5	−0.8
Majority			4,959	10.9
Turnout			45,562	62.6	−11.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

Elections in the 1990s

Beckenham by-election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacqui Lait	13,162	41.3	−1.2
	Labour	Robert N. Hughes	11,935	37.4	+4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Miss Rosemary E. Vetterlein	5,864	18.4	+0.2
	Liberal	Phil H. Rimmer	330	1.0	–0.3
	National Front	John C. McAuley	267	0.8	+0.09
	Referendum	Leonard F. Mead	237	0.8	−2.4
	Independent	John Campion	69	0.2	N/A
	Natural Law	John D. Small	44	0.1	N/A
Majority			1,227	3.8
Turnout			31,908	43.1	−31.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.6

General Election 1997: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Piers Merchant	23,084	42.5	−14.4
	Labour	Robert N. Hughes	18,131	33.4	+9.6
	Liberal Democrat	Miss Rosemary E. Vetterlein	9,858	18.1	+0.7
	Referendum	Leonard F. Mead	1,663	3.1	N/A
	Liberal	Phil H. Rimmer	720	1.3	−0.1
	UKIP	Christopher N. Pratt	506	0.9	N/A
	National Front	John C. McAuley	388	0.71	N/A
Majority			4,953
Turnout			54,350	74.3	−3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Beckenham^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Piers Merchant	26,323	56.9	+0.6
	Labour	Kenneth G.H. Ritchie	11,038	23.8	+6.0
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs Mary C. Williams	8,038	17.4	−8.5
	Liberal	Gerry Williams	643	1.4	−24.5
	Natural Law	Patrick J. Shaw	243	0.5	+0.5
Majority			15,285	33.0	+2.6
Turnout			46,285	77.8	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	24,903	56.3	−1.1
	Liberal	Colin Gordon Darracot	11,038	23.8	−2.8
	Labour	Kenneth George Ritchie	8,038	17.4	+1.9
Majority			13,464	30.4
Turnout				73.6	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	23,606	57.4
	Liberal	C. Forrest	10,936	26.6
	Labour	Jim Dowd	6,386	15.5
	BNP	R. Younger	203	0.5
Majority			12,670	30.8
Turnout				70.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	24,607	56.85
	Labour	J.W. Mordecai	10,856	25.08
	Liberal	C. Forrest	6,450	14.90
	Ecology	W. Vernon	762	1.76
	National Front	N. Dickson	606	1.40
Majority			13,751	31.77
Turnout				74.70
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	19,798	47.69
	Labour	N.J. Sharp	11,140	26.83
	Liberal	G.D. Mitchell	10,578	25.48
Majority			8,658	20.85
Turnout				69.76
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	22,976	49.08
	Liberal	G. Mitchell	12,821	27.39
	Labour	N.J. Sharp	11,018	23.54
Majority			10,155	21.69
Turnout				79.39
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	30,763	57.83
	Labour	I.G. Bing	13,031	24.50
	Liberal	P.A. Golding	9,404	17.68
Majority			17,732	33.33
Turnout				68.68
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	28,837	51.53
	Labour	John Douglas Grant	14,972	26.75
	Liberal	P.A. Golding	12,155	21.72
Majority			13,865	24.77
Turnout				77.78
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Goodhart	30,070	53.48
	Labour	A.H. Macdonald	13,338	23.72
	Liberal	H.H. Monroe	12,821	22.80
Majority			16,732	29.76
Turnout				77.35
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Carter Goodhart	36,528	61.61
	Labour	H Ferguson	13,395	22.59
	Liberal	Herbert H Monroe	9,365	15.80
Majority			23,133	39.02
Turnout				80.75
	Conservative hold		Swing

Beckenham by-election, 1957
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Carter Goodhart	29,621
	Labour	Neville D Sandelson	17,445
Majority			12,176
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Buchan-Hepburn	38,614	68.96
	Labour	CFA Culling	17,377	31.04
Majority			21,237	37.93
Turnout				76.51
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Buchan-Hepburn	41,282	67.38
	Labour	AP Magonet	19,982	32.62
Majority			21,300	34.77
Turnout				82.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Beckenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Buchan-Hepburn	38,102	59.85
	Labour	WA Bain	18,723	29.41
	Liberal	Herbert H Monroe	6,834	10.74
Majority			19,379	30.44
Turnout				86.49
	Conservative hold		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
↑ Both Orpington and Croydon Central are conservative neighbouring seats.

References

↑ "Beckenham: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
1 2 2001 Census
↑ Mouseprice area guide - BR2
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
↑ election result http://www.bromley.gov.uk/downloads/file/2228/beckenham_constituency_result_of_poll_may_2015
↑ total electorate 66,630 email from Bromley Council 3Aug15
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/beckenham/
↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/beckenham-2015.html
↑ https://www.facebook.com/UkipBromley/posts/403692969790646
↑ http://bromley.greenparty.org.uk/news/sponsored-walk-a-success.html
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/beckenham
↑ "PPC for Beckenham". Labour. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
↑ http://www.londonpatriot.org/londonppcs/
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.

Constituencies in London (73)

Labour (45)	Barking Bermondsey and Old Southwark Bethnal Green and Bow Brent Central Brentford and Isleworth Brent North Camberwell and Peckham Croydon North Dagenham and Rainham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing Central and Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hampstead and Kilburn Holborn and St. Pancras Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West and Penge Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden Poplar and Limehouse Streatham Tooting Tottenham Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Westminster North

Conservative (27)	Battersea Beckenham Bexleyheath and Crayford Bromley and Chislehurst Chelsea and Fulham Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon South Enfield Southgate Finchley and Golders Green Harrow East Hendon Hornchurch and Upminster Kensington Kingston and Surbiton Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Putney Richmond Park Romford Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Sutton and Cheam Twickenham Uxbridge and South Ruislip Wimbledon

Liberal Democrats (1)	Carshalton and Wallington

London European constituency: Labour (4) Conservative (2) Green (1) UKIP (1)

Historic constituencies in London

1974	Acton Barking Battersea North Battersea South Beckenham Bermondsey Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing North Edmonton Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith North Hampstead Harrow Central Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras South Hornchurch Hornsey Ilford North Ilford South Islington Central Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lambeth Central Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Orpington Paddington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond Romford Ruislip-Northwood St Marylebone St Pancras North Sidcup Southall Stepney and Poplar Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Wimbledon Wood Green Woolwich East Woolwich West

1983	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Stepney Bexleyheath Bow and Poplar Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Carshalton and Wallington Chelsea Chingford Chipping Barnet Chislehurst City of London and Westminster South Croydon Central Croydon North East Croydon North West Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich Ealing Acton Ealing North Ealing Southall Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Crayford Feltham and Heston Finchley Fulham Greenwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon North Hendon South Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton Mitcham and Morden Newham North East Newham North West Newham South Norwood Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Peckham Putney Ravensbourne Richmond and Barnes Romford Ruislip-Northwood Southwark and Bermondsey Streatham Surbiton Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow Wanstead and Woodford Westminster North Wimbledon Woolwich

1997	Barking Battersea Beckenham Bethnal Green and Bow Bexleyheath and Crayford Brent East Brent North Brent South Brentford and Isleworth Bromley and Chislehurst Camberwell and Peckham Carshalton and Wallington Chingford and Woodford Green Chipping Barnet Cities of London and Westminster Croydon Central Croydon North Croydon South Dagenham Dulwich and West Norwood Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush Ealing North Ealing Southall East Ham Edmonton Eltham Enfield North Enfield Southgate Erith and Thamesmead Feltham and Heston Finchley and Golders Green Greenwich and Woolwich Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney South and Shoreditch Hammersmith and Fulham Hampstead and Highgate Harrow East Harrow West Hayes and Harlington Hendon Holborn and St Pancras Hornchurch Hornsey and Wood Green Ilford North Ilford South Islington North Islington South and Finsbury Kensington and Chelsea Kingston and Surbiton Lewisham Deptford Lewisham East Lewisham West Leyton and Wanstead Mitcham and Morden North Southwark and Bermondsey Old Bexley and Sidcup Orpington Poplar and Canning Town Putney Regent's Park and Kensington North Richmond Park Romford Ruislip-Northwood Streatham Sutton and Cheam Tooting Tottenham Twickenham Upminster Uxbridge Vauxhall Walthamstow West Ham Wimbledon

Coordinates: 51°23′20″N 0°01′12″W / 51.389°N 0.02°W / 51.389; -0.02

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