Sir
Paul Beresford
MP
Member of Parliament
for Mole Valley
Assumed office
1 May 1997
Preceded byKenneth Baker
Majority12,041 (21.1%)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary
Department of Environment
In office
20 May 1994 – 2 May 1997
Member of Parliament
for Croydon Central
In office
9 April 1992 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byJohn Moore
Succeeded byGeraint Davies
Leader of Wandsworth Council
In office
1983–1992
Preceded byChristopher Chope
Succeeded byEdward Lister
Personal details
Born
Alexander Paul Beresford

(1946-04-06) 6 April 1946
Levin, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand
NationalityBritish
New Zealander
Political partyConservative
SpouseJulie Beresford (2nd wife)
Children4
EducationWaimea College
Alma materUniversity of Otago

Sir Alexander Paul Beresford (born 6 April 1946) is a British politician who has served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Mole Valley in Surrey since 1997.[1] He was first elected as the MP for Croydon Central in 1992.[2]

Early life

Beresford was born in 1946 in Levin in the Horowhenua District of Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand. He moved to Nelson at a young age, where he lived in Richmond; he attended primary school and Waimea College in Richmond before attending the University of Otago in Dunedin. He is a practising dentist. Beresford holds dual British and New Zealand citizenship.[3]

Career in local government

Beresford was elected as a Councillor to Wandsworth Borough Council in 1978,[4] and was its Leader between 1983 and 1992, through much of the Thatcher Government. He was knighted in the 1990 New Year Honours for political and public service.[5]

Parliamentary career

Beresford was selected to fight the safe Conservative seat of Croydon Central following the retirement of former Cabinet minister John Moore. Beresford was elected at the 1992 general election and made his maiden speech on 30 June 1992.[6] He entered the Major Government in 1994 as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment[4] and remained until the Government was defeated in 1997.

When the number of seats in Croydon was reduced from four to three before the 1997 general election, he failed to be selected for the newly drawn Croydon Central, and instead fought the safe Conservative Mole Valley seat in Surrey, where Kenneth Baker was retiring, and he was elected at the 1997 election. Croydon Central fell to Labour. Before the 2010 general election, Beresford was a member of the Communities & Local Government Select committee. In 2012, Beresford was named by the Conservative Home website as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.[7]

Beresford campaigned for a Remain vote during the 2016 referendum on EU membership.[8]

Since 1997 Beresford, while serving as a backbencher, has been successful in utilising Private Members Bills and carefully chosen amendments to government legislation to achieve over ten legal changes which the BBC's Mark D'Arcy described as collectively having '...a significant impact'.[9] These primarily but not exclusively focussed on child protection, an issue Beresford has campaigned on for decades.

In 2021 Beresford introduced a further Private Members Bill – the Local Government (Disqualification) Bill – intended to prevent individuals who have been given non custodial sentences for sexual offences from sitting as local councillors or mayors. This Bill received the backing of the government and completed successful passage through the Commons in January 2022. It subsequently passed through the House of Lords and received Royal Assent in April 2022.[10]

In July 2022, during the political crisis caused by the Pincher Scandal, Beresford announced that he had lost confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson and felt he should resign.[11] Beresford went on to back Rishi Sunak in both the first and second Conservative Party leadership contests of 2022.[12]

Beresford announced in early 2023 that he would step down at the next general election.[13]

Electoral history

General election results from 1983-2019

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Mole Valley[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford 31,656 55.4 ―6.5
Liberal Democrats Paul Kennedy 19,615 34.4 +15.1
Labour Brian Bostock 2,965 5.2 ―8.7
Green Lisa Scott-Conte 1,874 3.3 +0.7
Independent Robin Horsley 536 0.9 New
UKIP Geoffrey Cox 464 0.8 ―1.6
Majority 12,041 21.1 ―21.5
Turnout 57,110 76.5 +0.2
Conservative hold Swing ―10.7
General election 2017: Mole Valley[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford 35,092 61.9 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Paul Kennedy 10,955 19.3 +4.8
Labour Marc Green 7,864 13.9 +5.6
Green Jacquetta Fewster 1,463 2.6 ―2.8
UKIP Judy Moore 1,352 2.4 ―8.8
Majority 24,137 42.6 ―3.5
Turnout 56,866 76.3 +2.1
Conservative hold Swing ―1.8
General election 2015: Mole Valley[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford[17] 33,434 60.6 +3.1
Liberal Democrats Paul Kennedy 7,981 14.5 ―14.2
UKIP Paul Oakley[18] 6,181 11.2 +6.1
Labour Leonard Amos[19] 4,565 8.3 +1.3
Green Jacquetta Fewster[20] 2,979 5.4 +3.8
Majority 25,453 46.1 +17.3
Turnout 55,329 74.2 ―0.6
Conservative hold Swing +8.7
General election 2010: Mole Valley[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford 31,263 57.5 +2.7
Liberal Democrats Alice Humphreys 15,610 28.7 ―1.8
Labour James Dove 3,804 7.0 ―3.7
UKIP Leigh Jones 2,752 5.1 +2.1
Green Rob Sedgwick 895 1.6 New
Majority 15,653 28.8 +4.5
Turnout 54,324 74.8 +3.3
Conservative hold Swing +2.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Mole Valley[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford 27,060 54.8 +4.3
Liberal Democrats Nasser Butt 15,063 30.5 +1.5
Labour Farmida Bi 5,310 10.7 ―5.9
UKIP David Payne 1,475 3.0 +0.2
Veritas Roger Meekins 507 1.0 New
Majority 11,997 24.3 +2.8
Turnout 49,415 72.5 +3.6
Conservative hold Swing +1.4
General election 2001: Mole Valley[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford 23,790 50.5 +2.5
Liberal Democrats Celia Savage 13,637 29.0 ―0.3
Labour Dan Redford 7,837 16.6 +1.8
UKIP Ronald Walters 1,333 2.8 +2.0
ProLife Alliance William Newton 475 1.0 New
Majority 10,153 21.5 +2.8
Turnout 47,072 68.9 -9.5
Conservative hold Swing +1.4

Elections in the 1990s

This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus change in share of vote is based on a notional calculation.

General election 1997: Mole Valley[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford 26,178 48.0 ―13.3
Liberal Democrats Stephen Cooksey 15,957 29.3 +0.6
Labour Christopher Payne 8,057 14.8 +5.4
Referendum Nick Taber 2,424 4.4 New
Ind. Conservative Richard Burley 1,276 2.3 New
UKIP Ian Cameron 435 0.8 New
Natural Law Judith Thomas 197 0.4 ―0.4
Majority 10,221 18.7 -10.3
Turnout 54,524 78.4 −3.6
Conservative hold Swing ―6.9
General election 1992: Croydon Central[25][26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Beresford 22,168 55.4 −1.2
Labour Geraint Davies 12,518 31.3 +7.0
Liberal Democrats Deborah Richardson 5,342 13.3 −5.7
Majority 9,650 24.1 −8.1
Turnout 40,028 71.5 +1.0
Registered electors 55,798
Conservative hold Swing −4.1

Expenses

During the media coverage of the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, it was revealed that Beresford, who is a practising dentist, designated his west London property (which includes his dental surgery) as his second home, allowing him to claim allowances of three-quarters of the running costs of the property from the taxpayer.[1][27]

Personal life

Beresford has a son from his previous marriage who lives in New Zealand. He and his present wife Julie have two sons and one daughter.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Prince, Rosa; Simpson, Aislinn (21 May 2009). "MPs' expenses: Sir Paul Beresford doubled as dentist and used waiting area as 'sitting room'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  2. ↑ "Beresford, Sir (Alexander) Paul". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U7305. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ↑ Beresford, Paul (24 March 2016). "I'm proud that Kiwis still fly a flag for the old country". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Meet the man who could be your next MP". Dorking Advertiser. No. 5489. 5 December 1995. p. 4.
  5. ↑ "No. 51981". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1989. p. 1.
  6. ↑ HC Deb, 30 June 1992 cc787–788
  7. ↑ Barrett, Matthew (14 September 2012). "The 24 Conservative MPs who are still on the backbenches and have never rebelled". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "EU referendum: How have Surrey's MPs reacted to the decision to leave the EU?". SurreyLive. 30 June 2016 [29 June 2016]. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  9. ↑ D'Arcy, Mark (11 September 2012). "Making a difference". BBC News Online. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Local Government, Disqualification Act 2022". Legislation.gov.uk.
  11. ↑ Beresford, Paul (6 July 2022). "Many constituents have contacted me requesting an update on the Prime Minister and my thoughts on the trajectory of the current Government..." Facebook. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  12. ↑ Beresford, Paul (24 October 2022). "Huge congratulations to Rishi Sunak who is the new Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister..." Facebook. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  13. ↑ Atkinson, William (13 February 2022). "Beresford announces he will retire from Mole Valley". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Mole Valley Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated 2017" (PDF). Mole Valley District Council. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "UK ELECTION RESULTS: Mole Valley 2015". Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  18. ↑ "UK Polling Report". Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  19. ↑ "Leonard Amos PPC page". Labour Party (UK). Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  20. ↑ "Surrey Green Party | Mole Valley Green Party". Archived from the original on 12 January 2015.
  21. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  22. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  27. ↑ Younger, Rebecca (26 May 2009). "Mole Valley MP 'pilloried' over surgery costs deal". Surrey Advertiser. Guildford. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.

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