Birmingham Edgbaston (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham Edgbaston
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Birmingham Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Location of Birmingham within England.
County West Midlands
Electorate 69,039 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament Gisela Stuart (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Birmingham
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency West Midlands

Birmingham, Edgbaston is a borough constituency located in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system of election.

Its best-known MP has been Neville Chamberlain (Prime Minister 1937-1940), and since 1953 it has been represented only by women MPs. It is currently a marginal constituency between the Labour Party and the Conservatives.

Contents

Boundaries

Situated to the south west of Birmingham city centre, this is a neat and mostly middle-class constituency, with parks, Warwickshire's cricket ground and two grammar schools. It was a safe Conservative seat for decades, but some areas have pockets of considerable deprivation, helping Labour hold the seat since 1997. It contains the University of Birmingham's main campus, and most of the student halls.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Birmingham and the West Midlands, the Boundary Commission for England have created a modified Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, with the following electoral wards of the City of Birmingham:

History

The seat was held by the Conservatives until the 1997 Election. At that election it was the ninth seat to declare and the first seat to be gained by Labour from the Conservatives[2] on a 10% swing, presaging the Labour landslide of that year.

Edgbaston has returned a female MP for over 50 years. The sitting MP is Gisela Stuart; the recent Conservative candidate was Edgbaston councillor Deirdre Alden, who was defeated in 2005 and 2010. It has been classified as a marginal seat.[1]

Members of Parliament

Election Member[3] Party
1885 George Dixon Liberal
1886 Liberal Unionist
1898 by-election Francis Lowe Conservative
1929 Rt Hon Neville Chamberlain Conservative
1940 by-election Peter Bennett Conservative
1953 by-election Dame Edith Pitt Conservative
1966 Dame Jill Knight Conservative
1997 Gisela Stuart Labour

Election Results

Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
General Election 2010
Electorate: 69,039
Turnout: 41,571 (60.6%) +3.3		 Labour hold
Majority: 1,274 (3.1%) -3.1
Swing: -1.3% from Lab to Con		 Gisela Stuart Labour 16,894 40.6 -2.5
Deirdre Alden Conservative 15,620 37.6 +0.1
Roger Harmer Liberal Democrat 6,387 15.4 +2.6
Trevor Lloyd BNP 1,196 2.9 +2.9
Stephen White UKIP 732 1.8 -0.4
Phil Simpson Green 469 1.1 -1.7
Harry Takhar Impact Party 146 0.4 N/A
Charith Fernando Christian 127 0.3 N/A
General Election 2005
Turnout: 37,631 (58.0%) +2.0		 Labour hold
Majority: 2,349 (6.2%) -6.2		 Gisela Stuart Labour 16,465 43.8 -5.3
Deirdre Alden Conservative 14,116 37.5 +0.9
Mike Dixon Liberal Democrat 5,185 13.8 +1.8
Peter Beck Green 1,116 3.0 N/A
Stephen White UKIP 749 2.0 N/A
General Election 2001
Turnout: 37,749 (56.0%) -13.0		 Labour hold
Majority: 4,698 (12.4%) +2.4		 Gisela Stuart Labour 18,517 49.1 +0.5
Nigel Hastilow Conservative 13,819 36.6 -2.0
Nicola Davies Liberal Democrat 4,528 12.0 +2.3
Collis Gretton Pro-Euro Conservative 454 1.2 N/A
Sam Brackenbury Socialist Labour 431 1.1 N/A
General Election 1997
Turnout: 48,465 (69.0%) -2.3		 Labour gain from Conservative
Majority: 4,842 (10.0%) N/A
Swing: 10.0% from Con to Lab		 Gisela Stuart Labour 23,554 48.6 +9.3
Andrew Marshall Conservative 18,712 38.6 -10.7
James Gallagher Liberal Democrat 4,691 9.7 -0.4
Jonathan Oakton Referendum Party 1,065 2.2 N/A
Derek Campbell BNP 443 0.9 N/A
General Election 1992
Turnout: 37,813 (71.3%) +2.7		 Conservative hold
Majority: 4,307 (11.4%) -11.6
Swing: -5.8% from Con to Lab		 Jill Knight Conservative 18,529 49.0 -0.8
John Wilton Labour 14,222 37.6 +10.8
Iain Robertson-Steel Liberal Democrat 4,419 11.7 -9.3
Phil Simpson Green 643 1.7 +0.2
General Election 1987
Turnout: 37,318 (68.6%) +2.4		 Conservative hold
Majority: 8,581 (22.9%) -8.4		 Jill Knight Conservative 18,595 49.8 -3.9
John Wilton Labour 10,014 26.9 +5.9
J Binns Social Democrat 7,843 21.0 -1.4
Phil Simpson Green 559 1.5 N/A
S Hardwick Independent Conservative 307 -0.0 N/A
General Election 1983
Turnout: 36,546 (66.2%) -1.6		 Conservative hold
Majority: 11,418 (31.3%) +10.7		 Jill Knight Conservative 19,585 53.7 -0.4
J Binns Social Democrat 8,167 22.4 N/A
P Bilson Labour 7,647 21.0 -12.5
J Hurdley Ecology 516 1.4 -0.4
S Hardwick Independent Conservative 293 0.8 N/A
P Davies Communist 169 0.4 N/A
D Howlett Independent 169 0.3 N/A
General Election 1979
Turnout: 46,564 (67.8%)		 Conservative hold
Majority: 9,587 (20.6%)		 Jill Knight Conservative 25,192 54.1
A Hudson Labour 15,605 33.5
J Dugued Liberal 4,377 9.4
J Tyler Ecology 852 1.8
D Howlett Independent 297 0.6
B Dore Independent 129 0.3
L Marshall Independent 112 0.2

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ order of declarations at 1997 election
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Colne Valley		 Constituency represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer
1931–1937		 Succeeded by
Spen Valley
Preceded by
Bewdley		 Constituency represented by the Prime Minister
1937–1940		 Succeeded by
Epping
Constituencies in the West Midlands (59)
Conservative (33)
Labour (24)
Liberal Democrats (2)