Birmingham West (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham West
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Birmingham Aston and Birmingham Ladywood
Created from	Birmingham

Birmingham West was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

It was created upon the abolition of the 3-seat Birmingham constituency in 1885 and abolished in 1950.

Boundaries

Before 1885 the city of Birmingham had been a three-member constituency (see Birmingham (UK Parliament constituency) for further details). Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the parliamentary borough of Birmingham was split into seven single-member divisions, one of which was Birmingham West.

In the 1918 redistribution of parliamentary seats, the Representation of the People Act 1918 provided for twelve Birmingham divisions - one of which was designated as the West Birmingham constituency. In 1945 one of the other Birmingham seats was split in two, as it had over 100,000 electors, but that change did not affect the other divisions.

The constituency included, in 1918, the then Birmingham City Council ward of St. Paul's and parts of the wards of All Saints' and Lozells.

In the redistribution which took effect in the United Kingdom general election, 1950, the Representation of the People Act 1948 redivided Birmingham into thirteen constituencies. The West division was abolished. St. Paul's and Lozells wards became part of Birmingham Aston. All Saints' ward was made part of Birmingham Ladywood.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Joseph Chamberlain	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1912		Conservative
	1914 by-election	Sir Austen Chamberlain	Conservative
	1918		Coalition Conservative
	1922		Conservative
	1937 by-election	Walter Frank Higgs	Conservative
	1945	Charles James Simmons	Labour
	1950	Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections 1931-45

General Election 1945: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles James Simmons	12,639	63.54
	Conservative	Walter Frank Higgs	7,253	36.46
Majority			5,386	27.08
Turnout				66.94
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

By Election 1937: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Frank Higgs	12,552
	Labour	Richard Howard Stafford Crossman	9,632
Majority			2,920
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1935: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Austen Chamberlain	16,530	64.35
	Labour	O.G. Willey	9,159	35.65
Majority			7,371	28.69
Turnout				63.59
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Austen Chamberlain	22,448	68.12
	Labour	O.G. Willey	10,507	31.88
Majority			11,941	36.23
Turnout				75.86
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Austen Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout			35,836	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing

Birmingham, West: by-election, 25 April 1918
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Austen Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Birmingham, West: by-election, 14 July 1914
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Austen Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

General Election January 1910: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906: Birmingham, West Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	7,173	77.4
	Liberal	Robert Leonard Outhwaite	2,094	22.6
Majority			5,079	54.8
Turnout			12,483	74.2
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1900: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout			13,035	N/A
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1895: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	5,537	81.5
	Liberal	B. O'Connor	1,259	18.5
Majority			4,278	63.0
Turnout			11,647	58.3
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

Birmingham, West: by-election, 1 July 1895
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1892: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	6,297	76.7
	Liberal	J. Corrie Grant	1,879	22.9
	Independent	J.W. Mahony	31	0.4
Majority			4,418	53.8
Turnout			11,554	71.0
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1886: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout			10,329	N/A
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Birmingham, West: by-election, 9 February 1886
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Chamberlain	unopposed
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1885: Birmingham, West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Chamberlain	5,419	67.1
	Conservative	John Dumphreys	2,655	32.9
Majority			2,764	34.2
Turnout			10,329	78.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

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See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies

Birmingham Constituencies Current Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Northfield Birmingham Selly Oak Birmingham Yardley Sutton Coldfield Historic Birmingham (1832–1885) Aston Manor (1885-1918) Birmingham Bordesley (1885–1918) Birmingham Central (1885–1918) Birmingham East (1885-1918) Birmingham North (1885-1918) Birmingham South (1885-1918) Birmingham West (1885-1950) Hansworth (1885-1918) Birmingham Deritend (1918-1950) Birmingham Duddeston (1918-1950) Birmingham Moseley (1918-1950) Birmingham King's Norton (1918-1955) Birmingham Aston (1918-1974) Birmingham Handsworth (1918-1983) Birmingham Sparkbrook (1918-1997) Birmingham Acock's Green (1945-1950) Birmingham Stechford (1950-1983) Birmingham Small Heath (1950-1997) Birmingham All Saints (1955-1974) Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath (1997-2010)

References

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-27-2. 
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 90. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.