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
Map of current boundaries
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.[3]
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.[4][5]
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.[6]
^"Electorate Figures". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from
the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.