Beckenham
2010 Results:
Conservative: 27597 (57.87%)
Labour: 6893 (14.45%)
Liberal Democrat: 9813 (20.58%)
BNP: 1001 (2.1%)
UKIP: 1551 (3.25%)
Green: 608 (1.28%)
English Democrat: 223 (0.47%)
Majority: 17784 (37.29%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 22982 (54.4%)
Labour: 8737 (20.7%)
Liberal Democrat: 8490 (20.1%)
Other: 2016 (4.8%)
Majority: 14245 (33.7%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 22183 (45.3%)
Labour: 13782 (28.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 10862 (22.2%)
UKIP: 1301 (2.7%)
Other: 836 (1.7%)
Majority: 8401 (17.2%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 20618 (45.3%)
Labour: 15659 (34.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 7308 (16%)
UKIP: 782 (1.7%)
Green: 961 (2.1%)
Other: 234 (0.5%)
Majority: 4959 (10.9%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 23084 (42.5%)
Labour: 18131 (33.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 9858 (18.1%)
Referendum: 1663 (3.1%)
Other: 1614 (3%)
Majority: 4953 (9.1%)
Boundary changes: Major. Due to the new cross-borough seat with Lewisham there are major changes to the Beckenham seat, which loses Penge & Cator, Crystal Palace and Clock House to Lewisham West and Penge. At the same time it gains Bromley Common and Keston, most of Hayes and Coney Hall ward and part of Shortlands.
Profile: A south-east London suburban seat covering Hayes, West Wickham, Shortlands, Coney Hall, Keston, Bromley Common and Beckenham itself.Beckenham was already a safe Conservative seat before boundary changes, with the swathe of affluent, leafy, middle-class Bromley suburbia outweighing the more inner-city Penge and Crystal Palace part of the seat. With the removal of the northern part of the seat to form the new cross-brough Lewisham West and Penge seat, and the addition of strongly Conservative wards to the south the remainder of Beckenham becomes a Conservative stronghold – in fact on Rallings and Thrasher`s notional figures it is now the safest Conservative seat in the country.
The seat has always returned a Conservative MP, their majority even surviving the by-election following Piers Merchant`s resignation over a relationship with a teenage researcher in 1997. Jacqui Lait won the by-election with a majority a little over a thousand, but has built up a substantial majority since then. The boundary changes will make it unsurmountable.
Current MP: Bob Stewart (Conservative) Educated at Sandhurst. Retired Colonel. He commanded the Cheshire Regiment in Northern Ireland, and was the commanding officer of UN forces in Bosnia from 1992-1993.
Bob Stewart (Conservative) Educated at Sandhurst. Retired Colonel. He commanded the Cheshire Regiment in Northern Ireland, and was the commanding officer of UN forces in Bosnia from 1992-1993.
Damian Egan (Labour) born 1982. Educated at Hanham High School, Bristol and St Mary`s College, Twickenham. IT training consultant. Contested Weston-super-Mare 2005.
Stephen Jenkins (Liberal Democrat)
Ann Garrett (Green) born 1942. Educated at Central School of Speech and Drama. Teacher and lecturer. Contested Bexley and Bromley in London assembly elections 2004. Contested Bromley and Chislehurst 2005, 2006 by-election.Owen Brolly (UKIP)Roger Tonks (BNP)Dan Eastgate (English Democrat) 2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 81653
Male: 48%
Female: 52%
Under 18: 21.3%
Over 60: 23.1%
Born outside UK: 9.7%
White: 93.2%
Black: 1.7%
Asian: 2.5%
Mixed: 1.7%
Other: 1%
Christian: 73.9%
Hindu: 1.3%
Muslim: 1.4%
Full time students: 2.7%
Graduates 16-74: 25.1%
No Qualifications 16-74: 19.2%
Owner-Occupied: 81.3%
Social Housing: 8.7% (Council: 0.8%, Housing Ass.: 7.9%)
Privately Rented: 8.1%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 4.5%
Bob Dunn got elected to Dartford council in 1999 after losing his seat.
John Marshall became a councillor in the constituency after losing Finchley & Golders Green.
Reg Freeson was a councillor in Brent after being deselected in Brent East.
Nick Bennett is a councillor in Beckenham, having been MP for a constituency in Wales (Pembroke)
Nick Bennett was previously the leader of the Conservative opposition (then quite a lot larger than today) on Lewisham council.
The 3 wards of Penge & Cator, Crystal Palace and Clock House must have voted heavily for Labour in the 1997 by-election for it to have been as close as it was. The Tory majority was only about 1,300 IIRC.
The ward boundries were different then.
Penge & Cator is made up of about 70% Penge and 30% Cator. Penge would have voted as much as 70% for Labour, as would Crystal Palace. Cator would have been neck and neck, with the Conservatives very marginally ahead.
Labour would have been ahead in Clock House but not enormously.