Brentwood and Ongar (UK Parliament constituency)

Brentwood and Ongar is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Burghart, a Conservative, serving since October 2022 as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office.

History

The seat was created for the February 1974 general election, primarily from part of the abolished constituency of Billericay. It has always been a safe Conservative seat.

It was held by Eric Pickles between the General Election in 1992 and 2017 when he stood down. The Liberal Democrats amassed their largest share of the vote in 1992 (including results for their two predecessor parties). At the 2010 election their candidate was second-placed with 13.6% of the vote, ahead of the Labour Party's candidate, but this proved the peak of their support, as they declined to fourth place in 2015 and then behind Labour in 2017 and 2019.

In the 2001 election, Pickles was opposed by Martin Bell, who had represented the Tatton constituency in the last Parliament as an independent and had pledged not to seek re-election there. Bell failed to gain Brentwood and Ongar from the Conservatives, but cut the Conservative majority to just 6.5%, the lowest in the seat's history.

The pattern of elections in the seat was disrupted by the emergence of UKIP who jumped to second place in 2015. Following the retirement of Eric Pickles, in the 2017 and 2019 elections it was the Labour Party candidate who emerged as the main challengers to the Conservatives in the seat.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1974–1983

• The Urban District of Brentwood;
• The Rural District of Epping and Ongar parishes of Abbess Beauchamp and Berners Roding, Blackmore, Bobbingworth, Doddinghurst, Fyfield, High Laver, High Ongar, Kelvedon Hatch, Lambourne, Little Laver, Moreton, Navestock, Ongar, Stanford Rivers, Stapleford Abbotts, Stapleford Tawney, Stondon Massey, Theydon Mount, and Willingale.

The Urban District of Brentwood was previously part of the abolished constituency of Billericay, and the parishes in the Rural District of Epping and Ongar (which had previously constituted the Rural District of Ongar) had been part of the abolished constituency of Chigwell.

1983–2010

• The District of Brentwood;
• The District of Epping Forest wards of Chipping Ongar, Greensted and Marden Ash, High Ongar, Lambourne, Moreton and Matching, Passingford, Roothing Country, and Shelley.

Two parishes, formerly part of the Rural District of Chelmsford and included in the District of Brentwood under the Local Government Act 1972 transferred from Chelmsford. Other marginal changes.

2010–2024

• The Borough of Brentwood;
• The District of Epping Forest wards of Chipping Ongar, Greensted and Marden Ash, High Ongar, Willingale and The Rodings, Lambourne, Moreton and Fyfield, North Weald Bassett, Passingford, and Shelley.

North Weald Bassett ward transferred from Epping Forest. Other marginal changes due to redistribution of local authority wards.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the composition of the constituency from the 2024 general election was unchanged, except for a very minor adjustment due to a revision of ward boundaries.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Graphical representation

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes

References

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Brentwood and Ongar — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

1. Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)
2. Brentwood
3. Epping Forest (UK Parliament constituency)
4. Harlow (UK Parliament constituency)
5. Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)
6. Epping (UK Parliament constituency)
7. Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
8. List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies (2024–present) by region
9. Chigwell (UK Parliament constituency)
10. List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex
11. Trinity Church (Brentwood)
12. Brentwood, Essex
13. Alex Burghart
14. 2024 United Kingdom general election in the East of England
15. List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies (1983–1997)
16. South Essex (UK Parliament constituency)
17. List of MPs elected in the 2019 United Kingdom general election
18. 2017 United Kingdom general election
19. Gagan Mohindra
20. List of MPs elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election