Maidenhead is a constituency 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.

Constituency profile

Maidenhead is a constituency in Berkshire. It covers the town of Maidenhead—which has a population of around 71,000— and the rural areas surrounding it, including the villages of Cookham, Binfield, Winkfield, North Ascot, Popeswood and Warfield and the Bracknell suburb of Temple Park. Maidenhead is a historic market town and river port on the Thames. The town is well-connected to nearby Slough, Heathrow Airport and London and is home to many middle-class commuters. The constituency is highly affluent with very low levels of deprivation, particularly so in the rural areas. The average house price is nearly double the national average.

In general, residents of Maidenhead are well-educated and likely to be married. They have high rates of homeownership, income and professional employment. the town forms part of the hi-tech M4 corridor. Rates of child poverty and unemployment are very low. White people made up 80% of the population at the 2021 census. Asians, primarily Indians and Pakistanis, were the largest ethnic minority group at 13%. At the local council level, the town of Maidenhead is represented by Liberal Democrats whilst the rural south of the constituency elected Conservatives and localists. An estimated 54% of voters in the constituency supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the nationwide figure of 48%.

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. 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.

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

  • 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.

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 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.<sup>1</sup>
  • 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.

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.

<sup>1</sup>Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, 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.

Members of Parliament

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Election!!Member

!Party

|-

|

|rowspan=2| 1997

|colspan="3"| constituency created from Windsor and Maidenhead & Wokingham

|-

| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Theresa May

| Conservative

|-

| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 2024

| Joshua Reynolds

| Liberal Democrats

|}

Elections

thumb|centre|750px|Election results 1997-2024

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! colspan="4" | 2019 notional result

|-

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %

|-

|

| Conservative ||align=right| 29,223 ||align=right| 57.4

|-

|

| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 12,122 ||align=right| 23.8

|-

|

| Labour ||align=right| 7,652 ||align=right| 15.0

|-

|

| Green ||align=right| 1,917 ||align=right| 3.8

|-

|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|

|-

|colspan="2"|Turnout

|align=right|50,914

|align=right|69.3

|-

|colspan="2"|Electorate

|align=right|73,463

|}

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Elections in the 2000s

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<section begin="General Election 2005"/>

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Elections in the 1990s

<!-- this section is transcluded on Electoral history of Theresa May -->:

<section begin="General Election 1997"/>

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See also

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

Notes

References

  • 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