The constituency can be described as leafy Bromley suburbia in the "BR3 postcode" — one widely known gazetteer summarised this in 2012: Also in the north-west is the small town centre of Beckenham itself. All wards have voted between 60-70% Conservative since the seat's inception. In times when Labour has led in the national polls the seat has remained Conservative. The smallest majority in a general election was 9.3%, in 1997; in all other elections except 2001 there have been majorities of more than 15%. The seat has become even safer due to the boundary changes in 2010, which removed the three most Labour inclined wards in Bromley borough, centered on the town of Penge, replacing them with more rural - and Conservative - areas surrounding Hayes, Bromley Common and Keston. Since 1983 there has been a close contest for second place between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Labour's share has remained much greater than in Orpington whereas the Liberal Democrat share has remained much greater than in Croydon Central.
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 WhipPatrick 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.
