Smethwick (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Smethwick
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Smethwick (UK Parliament constituency)
Boundaries since 2024
West Midlands - Smethwick constituency.svg
Boundary of Smethwick in West Midlands region
County West Midlands
Electorate 71,195 (2023) [1]
Major settlements Smethwick, Brandhall, Langley Green, Blackheath
Current constituency
Created 2024
Member of Parliament Gurinder Josan (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created from Warley
1918–1974 (1974)
SeatsOne
Created from Handsworth
Replaced by Warley East

Smethwick is a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Smethwick in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, abolished for the February 1974 general election, and re-established for the 2024 general election, when it was formed from the abolished Warley constituency, with the addition of most of the Blackheath ward. [2] It is currently represented by Gurinder Josan of the Labour Party.

Contents

Boundaries

1918–1974

The County Borough of Smethwick.

2024–present

The re-established constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

It comprises the whole of the former Warley constituency, with the addition of the bulk of the Blackheath ward from the abolished constituency of Halesowen and Rowley Regis, thus bringing its electorate within the permitted range.

History

The constituency gained national interest during the 1918 general election when the Suffragette leader Christabel Pankhurst decided to stand as a Woman's Party candidate supporting the Coalition. She was one of 17 women candidates standing for Parliament at the first opportunity. This was her one and only parliamentary campaign which she lost to the Labour candidate. [4]

In 1945 the constituency held the first post-war by-election when the winning Labour candidate, Alfred Dobbs, was killed in a road traffic accident less than twenty four hours after the count. [5] The constituency was the subject of national media coverage during the 1964 general election when Peter Griffiths, the Conservative Party candidate, gained the seat against the national trend, unseating the Labour Party sitting member, Patrick Gordon Walker, a front bench opposition spokesman in the previous Parliament, in a campaign with racial overtones. [6]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1888-1999

ElectionMemberParty
1918 John Davison Labour
1926 Sir Oswald Mosley Labour
1931 New Party
1931 Roy Wise Conservative
1945 Alfred Dobbs Labour
1945 Patrick Gordon Walker Labour
1964 Peter Griffiths Conservative
1966 Andrew Faulds Labour
Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see Warley East

MPs since 2024

Warley prior to 2024

ElectionMemberParty
2024 Gurinder Josan Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Smethwick [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gurinder Josan 16,858 48.0 −9.0
Reform UK Pete Durnell5,67016.1+10.1
Conservative Kate Fairhurst4,54612.9−17.3
Green Rod MacRorie2,7417.8+5.5
Workers Party Nahim Rubani2,4497.0N/A
Independent Jay Anandou1,3223.8N/A
Liberal Democrats Oliver Patrick1,0182.9−1.6
Independent Christopher Graham3481.0N/A
TUSC Ravaldeep Bath1630.5N/A
Majority11,18831.9
Turnout 35,11548.2−9.3
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Smethwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Andrew Faulds 16,077 52.2 −2.2
Conservative Brian Rathbone13,96845.4+1.3
Liberal Mihir Gupta7472.4New
Majority2,1096.8−3.5
Turnout 30,79268.1−7.3
Labour hold Swing -1.7

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Smethwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Andrew Faulds 18,440 54.4 +11.8
Conservative Peter Griffiths 14,95044.1−3.5
British National R. Stanley5081.5New
Majority3,49010.3N/A
Turnout 33,89875.4+1.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing −7.6
General election 1964: Smethwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Peter Griffiths 16,690 47.6 +2.3
Labour Patrick Gordon Walker 14,91642.6−12.1
Liberal David Hugill3,1729.0New
Independent Dudley Trevor Davies2620.8New
Majority1,7745.0N/A
Turnout 35,04074.1−1.8
Conservative gain from Labour Swing −7.2

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Smethwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Patrick Gordon Walker 20,670 54.7 −3.5
Conservative Peter Griffiths 17,12645.3+3.5
Majority3,5449.4−7.0
Turnout 37,79675.9+0.4
Labour hold Swing -3.5
General election 1955: Smethwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Patrick Gordon Walker 23,151 58.2 −2.4
Conservative John Wells 16,65641.8+2.4
Majority6,49516.4−4.8
Turnout 39,80775.5−8.5
Labour hold Swing -2.5
General election 1951: Smethwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Patrick Gordon Walker 27,739 60.6 −1.5
Conservative A. Norman Giles18,01239.4+1.5
Majority9,72721.2−3.0
Turnout 45,75183.5−3.4
Labour hold Swing -1.5
General election 1950: Smethwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Patrick Gordon Walker 28,750 62.1 −6.7
Conservative J. Fallon17,55337.9+6.7
Majority11,19724.2−13.4
Turnout 46,30386.9+21.5
Labour hold Swing -6.7

Elections in the 1940s

1945 Smethwick by-election [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Patrick Gordon Walker 19,364 68.8 +2.9
Conservative Gilbert Harold Samuel Edgar8,76231.2−2.9
Majority10,60237.6+5.8
Turnout 43,02065.4−7.0
Labour hold Swing −2.9
General election 1945: Smethwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alfred Dobbs 20,522 65.9 +18.4
Conservative Gilbert Harold Samuel Edgar10,63734.1−18.4
Majority9,88531.8N/A
Turnout 31,15972.4+1.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing −18.4

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Smethwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Roy Wise 16,575 52.5 −7.6
Labour Charles Wortham Brook 15,02347.5+7.6
Majority1,5525.0−17.2
Turnout 31,59870.7−4.0
Conservative hold Swing −7.7
General election 1931: Smethwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Roy Wise 20,945 60.1 +25.9
Labour W. Ernest Lawrence13,92739.9−14.9
Majority7,01820.2N/A
Turnout 34,87274.7−4.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +20.3

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Smethwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Oswald Mosley 19,550 54.8 −2.3
Unionist Roy Wise 12,21034.2+0.5
Liberal Maude Egerton Marshall3,90911.0+1.8
Majority7,34020.6−2.8
Turnout 35,66978.9+0.3
Labour hold Swing -1.4
1926 Smethwick by-election [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Oswald Mosley 16,077 57.1 +4.8
Unionist Marshall James Pike9,49533.7−14.0
Liberal Edwin Bayliss 2,6009.2New
Majority6,58223.4+18.8
Turnout 35,86278.6+0.4
Labour hold Swing −9.4
General election 1924: Smethwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Davison 14,491 52.3 −2.4
Unionist Marshall James Pike13,23847.7+2.4
Majority1,2534.6−4.8
Turnout 27,72978.2+6.5
Labour hold Swing -2.4
General election 1923: Smethwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Davison 13,550 54.7 +4.0
Unionist Edmund Brocklebank 11,21745.3−4.0
Majority2,3339.4+8.0
Turnout 24,76771.7−4.2
Labour hold Swing −4.0
General election 1922: Smethwick [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Davison 13,141 50.7 −1.5
Unionist Arthur Henry Addenbrooke Simcox12,75949.3+1.5
Majority3821.4−3.0
Turnout 25,90075.9+21.2
Labour hold Swing -1.5

Elections in the 1910s

Pankhurst Christabel Pankhurst.jpg
Pankhurst
General election 1918: Smethwick [8] [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Davison 9,389 52.2
Women's Party Christabel Pankhurst 8,61447.8
Majority7754.4
Turnout 18,00354.7
Labour win (new seat)

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – West Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
  4. ↑ Hallam, David J.A. Taking on the Men: the first women parliamentary candidates 1918, Studley 2018, chapter two "Pankhurst in Smethwick".
  5. ↑ Ibid page 24, footnote.
  6. ↑ Jeffries, Stuart (15 October 2014). "Britain's most racist election: the story of Smethwick, 50 years on". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Smethwick
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig (1983). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
  9. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench

52°29′N2°0′W / 52.483°N 2.000°W / 52.483; -2.000

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