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.

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.''

2024–present
In 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
Billericay and Chigwell prior to 1974