Edgbaston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edgbaston constituency shown within Birmingham

Edgbaston is an area and ward in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. Two train stations serve the area; University station is found in south Edgbaston and Five Ways station is just north of the ward. Both stations are on the Redditch to Birmingham New Street line.

Edgbaston has a reputation of being the most 'well to do' part of Birmingham. In the 19th century the town was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family who refused to allow factories or warehouses to be built in Edgbaston, thus making it attractive for the upper class. Edgbaston is also home to a significant Orthodox Jewish Community.

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is based in Edgbaston (Edgbaston historically being part of Warwickshire), at the Edgbaston Stadium. As well as hosting regular county matches the ground often plays host to the England cricket team during one day internationals and test matches. However, there are proposals to relocate to a new ground, elsewhere in the city. Edgbaston is also home to the main campus of the University of Birmingham and to King Edward's School and King Edward VI High School for Girls. Due to this there are several halls of residence in the area. It is also the home of Queen's College, an ecumenical theological college.

Birmingham Edgbaston is a constituency, and its Member of Parliament is Labour's Gisela Stuart. The Edgbaston ward of Birmingham City Council is presently considered safe for the Conservative Party, it having elected three Conservative councillors with comfortable majorities in 2004 and re-elected one of the three, Fergus Robinson, in 2006. Another Edgbaston councillor, Deirdre Alden, unsuccessfully challenged Gisela Stuart for the Edgbaston constituency in the 2005 general election and has been re-selected as Conservative PPC in the seat for the next election.

The other constituent wards of the Edgbaston constituency are also mainly Conservative: Harborne and Bartley Green are both represented by three Conservative councillors, while Quinton is represented by two Conservatives and one Labour councillor.