British?New Zealander politician
Sir Alexander Paul Beresford
(born 6 April 1946) is a British-New Zealander 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 and career
[
edit
]
Alexander Beresford was born on 6 April 1946 in
Levin
in the
Horowhenua District
of
Manawat?-Whanganui
, New Zealand. He moved to
Nelson
as a child, where he lived in
Richmond
, and attended
Waimea College
in Richmond before attending the
University of Otago
in
Dunedin
. Beresford holds dual British and New Zealand citizenship.
[3]
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]
In addition to his parliamentary career, Beresford is a practising dentist, operating his own private dental practice - The Beresford Clinic - in Putney, South West London. The practice received adverse publicity following a critical CQC inspection in 2021.
[6]
Parliamentary career
[
edit
]
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
with 55.4% of the vote and a majority of 9,650.
[7]
[8]
He made his
maiden speech
on 30 June 1992.
[9]
Beresford 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, Beresford 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. At the 1997 general election, Beresford was elected with 48% of the vote and a majority of 10,221.
[10]
Beresford was re-elected at the
2001 general election
with an increased vote share of 50.5% and a decreased majority of 10,153.
[11]
He was again re-elected at the
2005 general election
with an increased vote share of 54.8% and an increased majority of 11,997.
[12]
Before the
2010 general election
, Beresford was a member of the
Communities & Local Government
Select committee
. At the
2010 United Kingdom general election
, Beresford was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.5% and an increased majority of 15,653.
[13]
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.
[14]
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'.
[15]
These primarily but not exclusively focussed on child protection, an issue Beresford has campaigned on for decades.
At the
2015 general election
, Beresford was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 60.6% and an increased majority of 25,453.
[16]
He campaigned for a Remain vote during the 2016 referendum on EU membership.
[17]
At the snap
2017 general election
Beresford was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 61.9% and a decreased majority of 24,137.
[18]
He was again re-elected at the
2019 general election
with a decreased vote share of 55.4% and a decreased majority of 12,041.
[19]
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.
[20]
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.
[21]
Beresford went on to back
Rishi Sunak
in both the
first
and
second
Conservative Party leadership contests of 2022.
[22]
Beresford announced in early 2023 that he would step down at the
next general election
.
[23]
Expenses
[
edit
]
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]
[24]
Personal life
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
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
.
- ^
"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.)
- ^
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
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Meet the man who could be your next MP".
Dorking Advertiser
. No. 5489. 5 December 1995. p. 4.
- ^
"No. 51981"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 29 December 1989. p. 1.
- ^
"MP's dental practice receives enforcement action notice following CQC inspection"
.
The Dentist
. 8 April 2022
. Retrieved
10 May
2024
.
- ^
"Election Data 1992"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2011
. Retrieved
18 October
2015
.
- ^
"Politics Resources"
.
Election 1992
. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from
the original
on 24 July 2011
. Retrieved
6 December
2010
.
- ^
HC Deb, 30 June 1992 cc787?788
- ^
"Election Data 1997"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2011
. Retrieved
18 October
2015
.
- ^
"Election Data 2001"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2011
. Retrieved
18 October
2015
.
- ^
"Election Data 2005"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2011
. Retrieved
18 October
2015
.
- ^
"Election Data 2010"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 26 July 2013
. Retrieved
17 October
2015
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
D'Arcy, Mark (11 September 2012).
"Making a difference"
.
BBC News Online
. Retrieved
10 August
2022
.
- ^
"Election Data 2015"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 17 October 2015
. Retrieved
17 October
2015
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"Statement of Persons Nominated 2017"
(PDF)
.
Mole Valley
District Council
. Retrieved
17 October
2015
.
- ^
"Mole Valley Parliamentary constituency"
.
BBC News
. BBC
. Retrieved
26 November
2019
.
- ^
"Local Government, Disqualification Act 2022"
.
Legislation.gov.uk
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Atkinson, William (13 February 2022).
"Beresford announces he will retire from Mole Valley"
.
ConservativeHome
. Retrieved
13 February
2022
.
- ^
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
.
External links
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]
News items
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]