Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Borough constituency | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath shown within Birmingham, and Birmingham shown within England | |
| Created: | 1997 |
| MP: | Roger Godsiff |
| Party: | Labour |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | West Midlands |
| EP constituency: | West Midlands |
Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency is notable for having the largest percentage of Muslim voters of any UK constituency at 48.8% (based on 2001 census figures).
The seat is to be abolished following a review of parliamentary boundaries by the Boundary Commission for England.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
This is an inner-city residential seat in the south-east of Birmingham which is noted for its large immigrant population.
In the first half of the last century, it was home to many Irish families. In more recent times it has attracted people of Asian origin, who now account for some 50% of residents - the highest proportion of any seat in the country.
Unemployment is high - well over 10%. There are hardly any white collar workers in the seat and it has the third highest proportion of only partly-skilled workers in the country.
However, it is a major site for urban regeneration and some £35m is to be invested in local redevelopment initiatives over the next five years.
The constituency has historically been safely held by Labour, but in 2005 their incumbent MP Roger Godsiff saw his majority slashed to just over 3,000 following a strong challenge from RESPECT. Labour have also lost many local council seats in the constituency, primarily to the Liberal Democrats but also to the now-defunct People's Justice Party and, most recently, to RESPECT's Salma Yaqoob in the Sparkbrook ward.
[edit] Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Birmingham and the West Midlands, the Boundary Commission for England have abolished the Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency.
The Sparkbrook electoral ward will form one part of a revised Birmingham Hall Green constituency. The incumbent MP Roger Godsiff has applied for selection for the new Hall Green seat.
[edit] Members of Parliament
- 1997 – present: Roger Godsiff, Labour
[edit] Election results
| General Election 2005: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Roger Godsiff | 13,787 | 36.1 | -21.4 | |
| Respect | Salma Yaqoob | 10,498 | 27.5 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Talib Hussain | 7,727 | 20.2 | +7.0 | |
| Conservative | Sameer Mirza | 3,480 | 9.1 | -1.7 | |
| UK Independence | Jennifer Brookes | 1,342 | 3.5 | +1.8 | |
| Green | Ian Jamieson | 855 | 2.2 | N/A | |
| Independent | Abdul Chaudhary | 503 | 1.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 3,289 | 8.6 | |||
| Turnout | 38,192 | 51.8 | +2.5 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -24.4% | |||
| General Election 2001: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Roger Godsiff | 21,087 | 57.5 | -6.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Qassim Afzal | 4,841 | 13.2 | +3.9 | |
| People's Justice | Shafaq Hussain | 4,770 | 13.0 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Iftkhar Hussain | 3,948 | 10.8 | -6.7 | |
| Independent | Gul Mahammed | 662 | 1.8 | +0.5 | |
| UK Independence | Wayne Vincent | 634 | 1.7 | N/A | |
| Muslim Party | Abdul Aziz | 401 | 1.1 | N/A | |
| Socialist Alliance | Salman Mirza | 304 | 0.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 16,246 | 44.3 | |||
| Turnout | 36,647 | 49.3 | -7.8 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1997: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Roger Godsiff | 26,841 | 67.3 | ||
| Conservative | Kenneth Hardeman | 7,315 | 17.5 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | Roger Harmer | 3,889 | 9.3 | ||
| Green | Alan Clawley | 959 | 2.3 | ||
| Referendum Party | Riaz Dooley | 737 | 1.8 | ||
| Independent | Pankaj Patel | 538 | 1.3 | ||
| Independent | Rashid Syed | 513 | 1.2 | ||
| Independent | Sajada Bi | 490 | 1.2 | ||
| Socialist Labour | Colin Wren | 483 | 1.2 | ||
| Majority | 19,526 | 46.8 | |||
| Turnout | 41,765 | 57.0 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
