Birmingham Ladywood (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham Ladywood
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Birmingham Ladywood in Birmingham
Location of Birmingham within England
County	West Midlands
Population	126,693 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	74,008 (December 2010) [2]
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	Shabana Mahmood (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Birmingham West and Birmingham North

Birmingham Ladywood is a constituency ^{[n 1]} of part of the city of Birmingham, represented in the House of Commons since 2010 by Shabana Mahmood of the Labour Party. ^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

Birmingham Ladywood includes Birmingham City Centre along with the areas of Aston, Ladywood, Nechells and Soho. The area is one of the most multicultural in Birmingham and the whole of the United Kingdom; in the 1991 census, 55.6% of the constituency population were ethnic minorities, the highest in England at the time. ^[3] In the recession of 2008–09, it was the first place in the UK where the unemployment claimant count rate exceeded 10%, breaching that level in January 2009. In July 2008, Ladywood had the highest unemployment rate in the whole of the West Midlands (by the international standardised measure, which is usually higher than the claimant count) at just over 18%, compared with neighbouring Birmingham seats Perry Barr (8.1%), Sparkbrook and Small Heath (13.9%), and Yardley (7%). ^{[4] [5]} For the year ending September 2014, the unemployment rate was 12.4%, ^[6] although the employment rate had increased only slightly, from 46.1% to 46.6% (compared with 69.7% for the West Midlands as a whole). ^[7]

The average house price in Ladywood is just under £155,000; making it much lower than the national average of just over £288,000. ^[8]

Boundaries

Map of present boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Ladywood and Rotton Park.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of All Saints', Ladywood, and Rotton Park.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Duddeston, Ladywood, and St Paul's. ^[9]

1974–1983: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of All Saints', Ladywood, Rotton Park, and Soho.

1983–1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Ladywood, Sandwell, and Soho.

1997–2010: The City of Birmingham wards of Aston, Ladywood, Nechells, and Soho.

2010–present: As 1997 but with redrawn boundaries.

The constituency includes the entirety of Birmingham City Centre (Ladywood ward), as well as Aston, Nechells and Soho which (based on the indices of Multiple Deprivation) are the city wards of highest deprivation. Aston University is within the seat, as are Birmingham's two league football clubs, Aston Villa and Birmingham City.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The City of Birmingham wards of: Alum Rock; Balsall Heath West; Bordesley & Highgate; Bordesley Green; Ladywood; Nechells; Newtown; Soho & Jewellery Quarter. ^[10]

Significant changes. After adjusting the boundaries to take into account the revised ward structure in the City of Birmingham with effect from May 2018 ^[11] , the Aston ward will be transferred to Birmingham Perry Barr and the North Edgbaston ward to Birmingham Edgbaston, offset by the gain of the Balsall Heath West ward from Birmingham Hall Green and the Alum Rock ward from Birmingham Hodge Hill.

History

Summary of results

The constituency has undergone several boundary changes since its creation in 1918 but has remained a safe Labour seat since the Second World War, with the exception of a by-election in 1969 when Wallace Lawler won the seat for the Liberal Party and the immediately surrounding period when its majority was marginal. The seat was regained for Labour by Doris Fisher at the 1970 general election. The 2015 general election result made the seat the sixth-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. ^[12]

Notable representatives

The constituency's first MP was the future Conservative Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who transferred to the Edgbaston seat in 1929. The current MP is Shabana Mahmood, one of the UK's first three female Muslim MPs. ^[13]

The first campaign for this constituency in 1918 was notable because the Liberal Party candidate was Mrs Margery Corbett Ashby, one of only seventeen women candidates to contest a parliamentary election at the first opportunity. Chamberlain reacted to this intervention by being one of the few male candidates to specifically target women voters; deploying his wife, issuing a special leaflet headed "A word to the Ladies" and holding two meetings in the afternoon. ^[14]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [15]	Party
	1918	Neville Chamberlain	Conservative/Unionist
	1929	Wilfrid Whiteley	Labour
	1931	Geoffrey Lloyd	Conservative/Unionist
	1945	Victor Yates	Labour
	1969 by-election	Wallace Lawler	Liberal
	1970	Doris Fisher	Labour
	Feb 1974	Brian Walden	Labour
	1977 by-election	John Sever	Labour
	1983	Clare Short	Labour
	2006		Independent
	2010	Shabana Mahmood	Labour

Clare Short, elected as a Labour MP from the 1983 general election onwards, resigned the Labour whip on 20 October 2006 and wished it to be known that she would continue to sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Dargue [16]
	Reform UK	Irene Yoong-Henery [17]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Birmingham Ladywood ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shabana Mahmood	33,355	79.2	–3.5
	Conservative	Mary Noone	4,773	11.3	–1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Dargue	2,228	5.3	+2.5
	Green	Alex Nettle	931	2.2	+0.9
	Brexit Party	Andrew Garcarz	831	1.9	New
Majority			28,582	67.9	–1.6
Turnout			42,118	56.2	–2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	–0.8

General election 2017: Birmingham Ladywood ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shabana Mahmood	34,166	82.7	+9.1
	Conservative	Andrew Browning	5,452	13.2	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Dargue	1,156	2.8	–1.0
	Green	Kefentse Dennis	533	1.3	–2.9
Majority			28,714	69.5	+8.6
Turnout			41,307	59.0	+6.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

General election 2015: Birmingham Ladywood ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shabana Mahmood	26,444	73.6	+17.9
	Conservative	Isabel Sigmac	4,576	12.7	+0.8
	UKIP	Clair Braund	1,805	5.0	+2.5
	Green	Margaret Okole	1,501	4.2	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Shazad Iqbal	1,374	3.8	–23.7
	Liberty GB	Tim Burton	216	0.6	New
Majority			21,868	60.9	+32.7
Turnout			35,916	52.7	+4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

General election 2010: Birmingham Ladywood ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shabana Mahmood	19,950	55.7	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ayoub Khan	9,845	27.5	–1.9
	Conservative	Nusrat M. Ghani	4,277	11.9	+3.5
	UKIP	Christopher Booth	902	2.5	–3.0
	Green	Peter C. Beck	859	2.4	+2.1
Majority			10,105	28.2	+5.9
Turnout			35,833	48.7	+3.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Birmingham Ladywood ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clare Short	17,262	51.9	–17.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ayoub Khan	10,461	31.5	+23.3
	Conservative	Philippa Stroud	3,515	10.6	–0.7
	UKIP	Lyn Nazemi-Afshar	2,008	6.0	+5.1
Majority			6,801	20.4	–37.2
Turnout			33,246	46.8	+2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	–20.1

General election 2001: Birmingham Ladywood ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clare Short	21,694	68.9	–5.2
	Conservative	Benjamin H. Prentice	3,551	11.3	–2.0
	Liberal Democrats	S. Mahmood Chaudhry	2,586	8.2	+0.2
	People's Justice	Allah Ditta	2,112	6.7	New
	Socialist Labour	Surinder P. Virdee	443	1.4	New
	Muslim Party	Mahmood Hussain	432	1.4	New
	ProLife Alliance	James Caffery	392	1.2	New
	UKIP	Anneliese Nattrass	283	0.9	New
Majority			18,143	57.6	–2.8
Turnout			31,493	44.3	–9.9
	Labour hold		Swing	–1.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Birmingham Ladywood ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clare Short	28,134	74.1	+2.7
	Conservative	Shailesh Vara	5,052	13.3	–7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Sardul Singh Marwa	3,020	8.0	–0.2
	Referendum	Ruth A. Gurney	1,086	2.9	New
	National Democrats	Andrew Carmichael	685	1.8	New
Majority			23,082	60.8	+9.8
Turnout			37,977	54.2	–11.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.9

General election 1992: Birmingham Ladywood ^{[28] [29]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clare Short	24,887	66.3	+8.6
	Conservative	Barbara S. Ashford	9,604	25.6	–5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Brian L. Worth	3,068	8.2	–1.1
Majority			15,283	40.7	+14.4
Turnout			37,559	65.9	+1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Birmingham Ladywood ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clare Short	21,971	57.7	+6.7
	Conservative	Simon Lee	11,943	31.3	+4.2
	SDP	Gurdial Singh Sangha	3,532	9.3	–11.2
	Green	Joyce Millington	650	1.7	New
Majority			10,028	26.4	+2.5
Turnout			38,096	64.8	+2.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1983: Birmingham Ladywood ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clare Short	19,278	51.0	–3.1
	Conservative	Pramilia Le Hunte	10,248	27.1	–10.6
	Liberal	Kenneth Hardeman	7,758	20.5	+12.5
	Stop Deportation of Black People	Baba Bakhtaura	355	0.9	New
	Workers Revolutionary	Rodney Atkinson	198	0.5	New
Majority			9,030	23.9	–7.5
Turnout			37,837	62.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Sever	13,450	63.5	–1.0
	Conservative	A. Newhouse	5,691	26.9	+4.8
	Liberal	Kenneth George Hardeman	2,030	9.6	–3.8
Majority			7,759	36.6	–5.8
Turnout			21,071	62.3	+5.4
	Labour hold		Swing	–2.9

1977 Birmingham Ladywood by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Sever	8,227	53.1	–11.4
	Conservative	Quentin Davies	4,402	28.4	+6.3
	National Front	Anthony Reed Herbert	888	5.7	New
	Liberal	Kenneth George Hardeman	765	4.9	–8.5
	Socialist Unity	Raghib Ahsan	534	3.5	New
	Independent	James Hunte	336	2.2	New
	Independent Conservative	George Matthews	71	0.5	New
	Reform Party	Peter Courtney	63	0.4	New
	Air Road Public Safety	Bill Boaks	46	0.3	New
Majority			3,825	24.7	–17.7
Turnout			15,484
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Walden	14,818	64.5	+5.9
	Conservative	Richard Lawn	5,079	22.1	–1.8
	Liberal	Kenneth George Hardeman	3,086	13.4	–1.2
Majority			9,739	42.4	+7.7
Turnout			22,983	56.9	–7.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Walden	15,126	58.6	+15.2
	Conservative	Richard Lawn	6,164	23.9	+2.3
	Liberal	Kenneth George Hardeman	3,753	14.6	–20.4
	National Front	John Alexander Alfred Davis	751	2.9	New
Majority			8,962	34.7	+26.3
Turnout			25,794	64.2	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1970: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Doris Fisher	5,067	43.4	–15.5
	Liberal	Wallace Lawler	4,087	35.0	+11.3
	Conservative	Charles Lawrence Wade	2,523	21.6	+4.2
Majority			980	8.4	–26.8
Turnout			11,677	62.2	+2.5
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1969 Birmingham Ladywood by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Wallace Lawler	5,104	54.4	+30.7
	Labour	Doris Fisher	2,391	25.5	–33.6
	Conservative	Louis Glass	1,580	16.8	–0.6
	British Movement	Colin Jordan	282	3.0	New
	Fellowship	James Haigh	34	0.4	New
Majority			2,713	28.9	N/A
Turnout			9,391
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1966: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Victor Yates	8,895	58.9	–4.3
	Liberal	Wallace Lawler	3,580	23.7	New
	Conservative	Thomas G. John	2,621	17.4	–19.4
Majority			5,315	35.2	+10.8
Turnout			15,096	59.7	+6.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Victor Yates	10,098	63.2	–0.5
	Conservative	Thomas G. John	5,879	36.8	+0.5
Majority			4,219	26.4	–1.0
Turnout			15,977	53.7	–5.4
	Labour hold		Swing	–0.5

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Victor Yates	14,717	63.7	–2.0
	Conservative	Thomas G. John	8,393	36.3	+2.0
Majority			6,324	27.4	–4.0
Turnout			23,110	59.1	–0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	–2.0

General election 1955: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Victor Yates	18,476	65.7	+6.1
	Conservative	Peter W Hodgens	9,665	34.3	–6.1
Majority			8,811	31.4	+12.2
Turnout			28,141	60.0	–17.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.1

General election 1951: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Victor Yates	24,088	59.6	–1.8
	Conservative	Leslie Seymour	16,331	40.4	+1.8
Majority			7,757	19.2	–3.6
Turnout			40,419	77.4	–3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	–1.8

General election 1950: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Victor Yates	25,603	61.4	+5.5
	Conservative	Frederic Bennett	16,071	38.6	–5.5
Majority			9,532	22.8	+11.0
Turnout			41,674	80.4	+10.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.5

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Victor Yates	13,503	55.9	+27.6
	Conservative	Geoffrey Lloyd	10,657	44.1	–27.7
Majority			2,846	11.8	N/A
Turnout			24,160	70.1	+4.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+27.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Lloyd	18,565	71.8
	Labour	Hubert Humphreys	7,311	28.3	+0.1
Majority			11,254	43.5	–0.1
Turnout			25,876	66.0	–12.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Lloyd	23,057	71.8	+21.8
	Labour	Wilfrid Whiteley	9,057	28.2	–21.8
Majority			14,000	43.6	N/A
Turnout			32,114	78.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Birmingham Ladywood ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wilfrid Whiteley	16,447	50.0	+1.1
	Unionist	Geoffrey William Lloyd	16,436	50.0	+0.9
Majority			11	0.0	N/A
Turnout			32,883
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

General election 1924: Birmingham Ladywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Neville Chamberlain	13,374	49.1	–4.1
	Labour	Oswald Mosley	13,297	48.9	+2.1
	Liberal	Alfred William Bowkett	539	2.0	New
Majority			77	0.2	–3.8
Turnout			27,200	80.5	+8.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	–2.0

General election 1923: Birmingham Ladywood ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Neville Chamberlain	12,884	53.2	–2.0
	Labour	Robert Dunstan	11,330	46.8	+2.0
Majority			1,554	6.4	–4.0
Turnout			24,214	72.0	+1.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	–2.0

General election 1922: Birmingham Ladywood ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Neville Chamberlain	13,032	55.2	–14.3
	Labour	Robert Dunstan	10,589	44.8	+25.8
Majority			2,443	10.4	–40.1
Turnout			23,621	70.5	+29.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	–20.0

Elections in the 1910s

M. Corbett Ashby

General election 1918: Birmingham Ladywood ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Neville Chamberlain	9,405	69.5
	Labour	John William Kneeshaw	2,572	19.0
	Liberal	Margery Corbett Ashby	1,552	11.5
Majority			6,833	50.5
Turnout			13,529	40.6
	Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Birmingham, Ladywood: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
2. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
4. Residence-based unemployment rates by parliamentary constituency United Kingdom, June 2008 House of Commons research paper
5. "Unemployment in graphics". BBC News. Recession tracker. 18 March 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
6. "Constituency Profile". nomis official labour market statistics. Source: Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
7. "Economically Active - Time Series: In employment". nomis official labour market statistics. Source: Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
8. "Zoopla > Search Property to Buy, Rent, House Prices, Estate Agents". www.zoopla.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Birmingham and North Warwickshire) Order 1955. SI 1955/177". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2099–2102.
10. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
11. LGBCE. "Birmingham | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
12. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
13. Adetunji, Jo; Tran, Mark (7 May 2010). "General election 2010: first female Muslim MPs elected". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
14. Hallam, David J.A. Taking on the Men: the first women parliamentary candidates 1918 Archived 29 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine , Studley, 2018 chapter 4, 'Corbett Ashby in Ladywood'.
15. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
16. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack . Retrieved 6 March 2024.
17. "Birmingham Ladywood Constituency". Reform UK . Retrieved 6 March 2024.
18. "Statement of Persons Nominated and notice of poll". Birmingham Mail. 12 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
19. "Statement of Persons Nominated and notice of poll". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
20. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
22. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll 2010" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
23. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Birmingham Ladywood". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
24. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "UK General Election results May 1997". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 1 May 1992. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
28. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
30. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
31. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
32. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

External links

• Birmingham city council constituency page

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bewdley	Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer 1923–1924	Succeeded by Colne Valley

52°29′N1°52′W / 52.49°N 1.87°W / 52.49; -1.87