HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sir Alexander Paul Beresford (born 6 April 1946) is a British–New Zealander politician who served as the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Mole Valley Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking, and the district's other town is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...
in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
from
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
to
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
. He previously served as MP for
Croydon Central Croydon Central was a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Labour MP Sarah Jones. The seat bucked the trend in national result ...
from
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
to 1997.


Early life and career

Alexander Beresford was born on 6 April 1946 in Levin in the
Horowhenua District Horowhenua District is a Districts of New Zealand, territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kāpiti Coast District, Kāpiti, ...
of Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand. He moved to
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
as a child, where he lived in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, and attended
Waimea College Waimea College is a co-educational secondary school in Richmond, Tasman District, New Zealand. Opened in 1957, the college has over 1500 students, and is the largest school in the top of the South Island. History Waimea College was established ...
in Richmond before attending the
University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...
in
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
. Beresford holds dual British and New Zealand citizenship. Beresford was elected as a Councillor to
Wandsworth Borough Council Wandsworth London Borough Council, also known as Wandsworth Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour m ...
in 1978, and was its Leader between 1983 and 1992, through much of the Thatcher Government. He was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in the
1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...
for political and public service. In addition to his parliamentary career, Beresford is a practising dentist, operating his own private dental practice – The Beresford Clinic – in
Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...
, South West London. The practice received adverse publicity following a critical CQC inspection in 2021.


Parliamentary career

Beresford was selected to fight the safe Conservative seat of
Croydon Central Croydon Central was a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Labour MP Sarah Jones. The seat bucked the trend in national result ...
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. He made his
maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 30 June 1992. Beresford entered the Major Government in 1994 as the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. T ...
at the Department for the Environment 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 Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking, and the district's other town is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...
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. Beresford was re-elected at the 2001 general election with an increased vote share of 50.5% and a decreased majority of 10,153. 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. Before the 2010 general election, Beresford was a member of the Communities & Local Government Select committee. At the
2010 United Kingdom general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, to elect 650 Members of Parliament (or MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The first to be held after the minimum age for candidates was ...
, Beresford was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.5% and an increased majority of 15,653. 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. 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'. These primarily but not exclusively focused 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. He campaigned for a Remain vote during the 2016 referendum on EU membership. 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. 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. 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. In July 2022, during the
political crisis A cabinet crisis, government crisis or political crisis refers to a situation where an incumbent government is unable to form or function, is toppled through an uprising, or collapses. Political crises may correspond with, cause or be caused by an ...
caused by the Pincher Scandal, Beresford announced that he had lost confidence in Prime Minister
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
and felt he should resign. Beresford went on to back
Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...
in both the
first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
and
second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
Conservative Party leadership contests of 2022. Beresford announced in early 2023 that he would step down at the
2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...
.


Expenses

During the media coverage of the
United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expense claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and th ...
, 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.


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.


Notes


References


External links


Sir Paul Beresford
Conservative Party
Mole Valley Conservatives

Your representatives – Paul Beresford
BBC Democracy Live *


News items


MP fears 'truckloads of waste'
BBC News, 7 December 2006 – Concern over an incinerator in Surrey {{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, Paul Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 Politics of the London Borough of Croydon British dentists 1946 births Living people People from Levin, New Zealand Councillors in the London Borough of Wandsworth New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand knights University of Otago alumni People educated at Waimea College New Zealand emigrants to England New Zealand expatriates in England