Birmingham Sparkbrook

Birmingham Sparkbrook
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Midlands
1918–1997
Seats	One
Created from	Birmingham East
Replaced by	Birmingham Sparkbrook & Small Heath

Birmingham, Sparkbrook was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election, when it was partly replaced by the new Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency.

History

In 1971, 18.9% were non-White. ^[1] In 1981, 36% of the constiuency were non-White. ^[2] The constiuency had the highest concentration of people born in Pakistan (8.3% of the population) in 1981. ^[3]

It was a safe seat for the Conservative Party and affiliated candidates from its creation in 1918 until 1945, when Labour gained the seat for the first time in their landslide victory under Clement Attlee. Aside from a single Conservative victory in 1959, Labour held the seat with increasingly safe majorities until boundary changes merged Sparkbrook with nearby Small Heath in 1997.

Boundaries

1918–1950: Parts of the County Borough of Birmingham wards of Balsall Heath, Moseley and King's Heath, and Sparkbrook.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Balsall Heath, St Martin's and Deritend, and Sparkbrook.

1955–1983: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Fox Hollies, Sparkbrook, and Sparkhill.

1983–1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Fox Hollies, Sparkbrook, and Sparkhill.

Members of Parliament

The constituency's most high-profile MP was Roy Hattersley, who represented it for over 30 years and was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock from 1983 to 1992. He retired in 1997 when the seat was abolished, its replacement being won by Roger Godsiff.

Election		Member	Party [4]
	1918	Leo Amery	Coalition Conservative
	1922		Conservative
	1945	Percy Shurmer	Labour
	1959	Leslie Seymour	Conservative
	1964	Roy Hattersley	Labour
	1997	constituency abolished: see Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath

Elections

Election in the 1910s

General election 1918: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Leo Amery	15,225	78.1
	Co-operative Party	Frank Spires	3,014	15.5
	Liberal	John Gibbard Hurst	1,251	6.4
Majority			12,211	62.6
Turnout			19,490	52.5
Registered electors			37,123
	Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leo Amery	13,326	49.5	−28.6
	Liberal	Thomas Foster Duggan	7,283	27.1	+20.7
	Labour Co-op	Ernest Walter Hampton	6,310	23.4	New
Majority			6,043	22.4	−40.2
Turnout			26,919	71.0	+18.5
Registered electors			37,918
	Unionist hold		Swing	−24.7

General election 1923: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leo Amery	13,523	56.0	+6.5
	Labour	Ernest Walter Hampton	5,948	24.6	+1.2
	Liberal	Donald Finnemore	4,676	19.4	−7.7
Majority			7,575	31.4	+9.0
Turnout			24,147	63.7	−7.3
Registered electors			37,890
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.7

General election 1924: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leo Amery	15,718	58.1	+2.1
	Labour	S.B.M. Potter	9,759	36.1	+11.5
	Liberal	Ernest Percy Ray	1,580	5.8	−13.6
Majority			5,959	22.0	−9.4
Turnout			27,057	71.1	+7.4
Registered electors			38,058
	Unionist hold		Swing	−4.7

General election 1929: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leo Amery	15,867	46.2	−11.9
	Labour	A. Young	12,875	37.4	+1.3
	Liberal	Thomas Foater Duggan	5,645	16.4	+10.6
Majority			2,992	8.8	−13.2
Turnout			34,387	73.1	+2.0
Registered electors			47,041
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[5] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leo Amery	23,517	73.36	+27.16
	Labour	George Archibald	8,538	26.64	−10.76
Majority			14,979	46.72	+37.92
Turnout			32,055	69.57
Registered electors			46,073
	Conservative hold		Swing	+18.96

General election 1935: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[5] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leo Amery	17,509	68.47	−4.89
	Labour	Henry Whittaker	8,063	31.53	+4.89
Majority			9,446	36.94	−9.78
Turnout			25,572	57.28	−12.29
Registered electors			44,647
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.89

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[5] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Shurmer	14,065	57.76	+26.23
	Conservative	Leo Amery	8,431	34.63	−23.84
	Communist	R. Palme Dutt	1,853	7.61	New
Majority			5,634	23.13	N/A
Turnout			24,349	66.68	+9.40
Registered electors			36,517
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+25.04

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Shurmer	24,942	61.49	+3.73
	Conservative	Sir Piers Kenrick Debenham, 2nd Baronet	15,267	37.64	+3.01
	Communist	James Crump	355	0.88	−6.73
Majority			9,675	23.85	+0.72
Turnout			40,564	77.58	+10.90
Registered electors			52,287
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.36

General election 1951: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Shurmer	24,184	61.33	−0.16
	Conservative	Richard Lonsdale	15,248	38.67	+1.03
Majority			8,936	22.66	−1.19
Turnout			39,423	76.41	−1.17
Registered electors			51,607
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.60

General election 1955: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Shurmer	20,032	54.36	−8.97
	Conservative	Philip G Hartley	16,821	45.64	+8.97
Majority			3,211	8.72	−13.94
Turnout			36,853	72.18	−4.23
Registered electors			51,057
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.97

General election 1959: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Seymour	17,751	51.28	+5.64
	Labour	John T Webster	16,865	48.72	−5.64
Majority			886	2.56	N/A
Turnout			34,616	72.52	+0.34
Registered electors			47,731
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.64

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	16,287	52.00	+3.28
	Conservative	Leslie Seymour	15,033	48.00	−3.28
Majority			1,254	4.00	N/A
Turnout			31,320	68.27	−4.25
Registered electors			45,877
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.28

General election 1966: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	18,266	60.62	+8.62
	Conservative	Leslie Seymour	11,868	39.38	−8.62
Majority			6,398	21.24	+17.24
Turnout			30,134	66.74	−1.53
Registered electors			45,148
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.62

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	14,773	52.74	−7.88
	Conservative	Anthony EJ Mitton	11,427	40.79	+1.41
	Liberal	John Crofton	1,813	6.47	New
Majority			3,346	11.95	−9.29
Turnout			28,013	64.89	−1.85
Registered electors			43,168
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.65

General election February 1974: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	19,939	61.40	+8.66
	Conservative	David Jack Savage	12,534	38.60	−2.19
Majority			7,405	22.80	+10.85
Turnout			32,473	65.79	+0.9
Registered electors			49,344
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.43

General election October 1974: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	17,476	58.45	−2.95
	Conservative	David Jack Savage	8,955	29.95	−8.65
	Liberal	Cecil Edward Williams	2,920	9.77	New
	Irish Civil Rights	Joseph Molloy	548	1.83	New
Majority			8,521	28.50	+5.70
Turnout			29,899	60.19	−5.60
Registered electors			49,683
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.85

General election 1979: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[18] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	18,717	62.75	+4.30
	Conservative	Nicholas John David Webb	10,398	34.86	+4.91
	Communist	Roger Murray	715	2.40	New
Majority			8,319	27.89	−0.61
Turnout			29,830	64.97	+4.78
Registered electors			45,910
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.31

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[21] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	19,757	59.9	−4.8
	Conservative	Peter Douglas-Osborn	9,209	27.9	−5.0
	SDP	Omkar Singh Parmar	3,416	10.4	New
	Revolutionary Communist	Fran Eden	305	0.9	New
	Independent	Carl Chinn	281	0.9	New
Majority			10,548	32.0	+0.2
Turnout			32,968	61.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.1

General election 1987: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[23] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	20,513	60.8	+0.9
	Conservative	Nazir Khan	8,654	25.7	−2.2
	SDP	Robin Dimmick	3,803	11.3	+0.9
	Green	Rex Ambler	526	1.56	New
	Red Front	Pervaiz Khan	229	0.7	New
Majority			11,859	35.2	+3.17
Turnout			33,725	63.52	+2.03
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Birmingham Sparkbrook ^{[24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Hattersley	22,116	64.1	+3.3
	Conservative	Mohammed Khamisa	8,544	24.8	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Parry	3,028	8.8	−2.5
	Green	Charles Alldrick	833	2.4	+0.8
Majority			13,572	39.3	+4.1
Turnout			34,521	66.8	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.1

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 4)

1. Layton-Henry, Z. (1978). "RACE, ELECTORAL STRATEGY AND THE MAJOR PARTIES" . Parliamentary Affairs. XXXI (3): 268–281. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a054265. ISSN   1460-2482.
2. Studlar, Donley T. (1 September 1983). "The ethnic vote, 1983: Problems of analysis and interpretation" . Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. doi:10.1080/1369183x.1983.9975820. ISSN   1369-183X.
3. McAllister, Ian; Studlar, Donfey T. (1 August 1984). "The electoral geography of immigrant groups in Britain" . Electoral Studies. 3 (2): 139–150. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(84)90031-3. ISSN   0261-3794.
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 89. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922
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8. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1935". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
9. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1945". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
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14. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
15. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
16. "UK General Election results 1970". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
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