Wolverhampton South West (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Wolverhampton South West
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
WolverhamptonSouthWest2007Constituency.svg
Boundary of Wolverhampton South West in West Midlands
EnglandWestMidlandsCounty.svg
Location of West Midlands within England
County West Midlands
Electorate 59,846 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements Wolverhampton
19502024
SeatsOne
Replaced by Wolverhampton West

Wolverhampton South West was a constituency in the West Midlands created in 1950 and was represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. [n 1]

Contents

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to moderate boundary changes, it was reformed as Wolverhampton West , to be first contested at the 2024 general election. [2]

History

Wolverhampton South West was represented by the Conservative Party for 47 years after its formation, with Labour winning it for the first time in its 1997 landslide victory. The Conservatives regained the seat in 2010, only for Labour to regain it at the next general election in 2015, before losing it again in 2019 to the Conservative Party.

The constituency was held by Enoch Powell from 1950 to 1974, a period covering his unsuccessful bid for the Conservative Party leadership in 1965 and his controversial 1968 Rivers of Blood speech, which criticised mass immigration, especially Commonwealth immigration to Britain.

Constituency profile

This, in the 21st century, repeatedly marginal seat contains a mix of different areas; St Peter's, Graiseley and Park are relatively deprived inner city wards, with significant ethnic minority populations, mainly of Asian origin and are Labour voting-areas. Penn and Merry Hill are more mixed and suburban with mostly Conservative voters in times of economic prosperity. Tettenhall Regis and Tettenhall Wightwick are affluent suburbs on the western fringe of the West Midlands conurbation and are the strongest Tory wards in the seat.

The seat includes Molineux stadium, home to Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Boundaries

Wolverhampton South West (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of boundaries 2010-2024

Wolverhampton South West is one of three constituencies covering the city of Wolverhampton, covering the city centre (including the University and Civic Centre) as well as western and south-western parts of the city. The boundaries run south from the city centre towards Penn and north-west towards Tettenhall.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Wolverhampton wards of Blakenhall and St John's, Graiseley, Penn, St George's, St Mark's and Merridale, St Matthew's, and St Philip's.

1955–1974: As above plus Park.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Wolverhampton wards of Graiseley, Merry Hill, Park, Penn, St Peter's, Tettenhall Regis, and Tettenhall Wightwick.

1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Wolverhampton wards as named above

2010–2024: The City of Wolverhampton wards as named above

History

Prominent frontbenchers

The unit is heavily associated with the controversial Conservative politician Enoch Powell who was MP for the seat from 1950 until 1974, when he departed to the Ulster Unionist Party. It was during this time that he served in Edward Heath's shadow cabinet, from which he was dismissed in 1968 after his controversial Rivers of Blood speech in which he predicted severe civil unrest if mass immigration from the Commonwealth continued. This speech was reportedly the result of Powell's meeting with a woman in the constituency who was the last white person living in her street. [3]

He was succeeded by fellow Conservative Nicholas Budgen, who held the seat until 1997. Budgen is best known as one of the Maastricht Rebels of the mid-1990s.

Summary of results

Wolverhampton South West returned Conservative until a Labour candidate gained it in their 1997 landslide. Budgen was defeated in the 1997 election by Labour's Jenny Jones, a landslide victory for the party. As the next general election loomed, she announced that she would not be seeking re-election. From the 2001 general election, the constituency was represented by Rob Marris of the Labour Party for nine years until he lost it in the 2010 general election to Paul Uppal of the Conservative Party, by a margin of 691 votes. Marris regained the seat from Uppal at the 2015 general election. The 2015 result gave the seat the 14th-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. [4] In 2017, despite Marris standing down after 11 (non-consecutive) years as an MP and Uppal standing for a third time, the new Labour candidate, Eleanor Smith, more than doubled the Labour majority. In 2019, riding the surge from Boris Johnson's Conservative Party, Stuart Anderson was elected as the new Conservative MP for the constituency.

Other parties' candidates

Of the four other candidates standing in 2015, the UKIP candidate kept his deposit by winning more than 5% of the vote, in the year before the 2016 EU referendum. He failed to do so in the 2017 election.

Turnout

Turnout has ranged from 87.2% in 1950 to 62.1% in 2001 and in 2005.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [5] Party
1950 Enoch Powell Conservative
Feb 1974 Nicholas Budgen
1997 Jenny Jones Labour
2001 Rob Marris
2010 Paul Uppal Conservative
2015 Rob Marris Labour
2017 Eleanor Smith
2019 Stuart Anderson Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Wolverhampton South West [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Stuart Anderson 19,864 48.3 Increase2.svg 4.1
Labour Eleanor Smith 18,20344.3Decrease2.svg 5.1
Liberal Democrats Bart Ricketts2,0415.0Increase2.svg 3.1
Brexit Party Leo Grandison1,0282.5New
Majority1,6614.0Decrease2.svg 1.2
Turnout 41,13667.5Decrease2.svg 3.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing Increase2.svg 4.6
General election 2017: Wolverhampton South West [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Eleanor Smith 20,899 49.4 Increase2.svg 6.2
Conservative Paul Uppal 18,71444.2Increase2.svg 3.0
UKIP Rob Jones1,0122.4Decrease2.svg 8.3
Liberal Democrats Sarah Quarmby7841.9Decrease2.svg 0.2
Green Andrea Cantrill5791.4Decrease2.svg 1.2
Independent Jagmeet Singh3580.8New
Majority2,1855.2Increase2.svg 3.2
Turnout 42,46170.6Increase2.svg 4.0
Labour hold Swing Increase2.svg 1.5
General election 2015: Wolverhampton South West [8] [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Rob Marris 17,374 43.2 Increase2.svg 4.2
Conservative Paul Uppal 16,57341.2Increase2.svg 0.5
UKIP Dave Everett4,31010.7Increase2.svg 7.0
Green Andrea Cantrill1,0582.6New
Liberal Democrats Neale Upstone8452.1Decrease2.svg 13.9
Independent Brian Booth490.1New
Majority8012.0N/A
Turnout 40,20966.6Decrease2.svg 1.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing Increase2.svg 1.9
General election 2010: Wolverhampton South West [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Paul Uppal 16,344 40.7 Increase2.svg 2.6
Labour Rob Marris 15,65339.0Decrease2.svg 4.5
Liberal Democrats Robin Lawrence6,43016.0Increase2.svg 2.5
UKIP Amanda Mobberley1,4873.7Increase2.svg 1.2
Equal Parenting Alliance Raymond Barry2460.6New
Majority6911.7N/A
Turnout 40,16067.9Increase2.svg 4.8
Conservative gain from Labour Swing Increase2.svg 3.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wolverhampton South West [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Rob Marris 18,489 44.4 Decrease2.svg 3.9
Conservative Sandip Verma 15,61037.5Decrease2.svg 2.2
Liberal Democrats Colin Ross5,56813.4Increase2.svg 5.0
UKIP Douglas Hope1,0292.5Increase2.svg 0.8
BNP Edward Mullins9832.4New
Majority2,8796.9Decrease2.svg 1.7
Turnout 41,67962.1Steady2.svg 0.0
Labour hold Swing Decrease2.svg 0.8
General election 2001: Wolverhampton South West [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Rob Marris 19,735 48.3 Decrease2.svg 2.1
Conservative David Chambers16,24839.7Decrease2.svg 0.2
Liberal Democrats Mike Dixon3,4258.4Increase2.svg 0.2
Green Wendy Walker8052.0New
UKIP Doug Hope6841.7New
Majority3,4878.6Decrease2.svg 1.9
Turnout 40,89762.1Decrease2.svg 10.3
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wolverhampton South West [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jenny Jones 24,657 50.4 Increase2.svg10.5
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 19,53939.9Decrease2.svg9.4
Liberal Democrats Matthew Green 4,0128.2Decrease2.svg0.3
Liberal Mike Hyde7131.5Decrease2.svg0.8
Majority5,11810.5N/A
Turnout 48,92172.4Decrease2.svg5.8
Labour gain from Conservative Swing Increase2.svg 9.9
General election 1992: Wolverhampton South West [14] [15]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 25,969 49.3 Decrease2.svg 1.4
Labour Simon Murphy 21,00339.9Increase2.svg 9.2
Liberal Democrats Mark Wiggin4,4708.5Decrease2.svg 10.1
Liberal Colin Hallmark1,2372.3New
Majority4,9669.4Decrease2.svg 10.6
Turnout 52,67978.2Increase2.svg 2.7
Conservative hold Swing Increase2.svg 5.3

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wolverhampton South West [16]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 26,235 50.7 Increase2.svg 0.1
Labour Roger Lawrence15,91730.7Increase2.svg 3.2
Alliance (SDP)Beris Lamb9,61618.6Decrease2.svg 2.9
Majority10,31820.0Decrease2.svg 3.1
Turnout 51,76875.5Increase2.svg 3.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Wolverhampton South West [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 25,214 50.6 Decrease2.svg 1.1
Labour Bob Jones 13,69427.5Decrease2.svg 4.7
Alliance (SDP)Edgar Harwood10,72421.5Increase2.svg 8.0
Anti-Common Market John Deary2010.4New
Majority11,52023.1Decrease2.svg 3.6
Turnout 49,83372.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 26,587 52.4 Increase2.svg 8.3
Labour Ivan Geffen15,82731.2Decrease2.svg 1.8
Liberal Joseph Wernick6,93913.7Decrease2.svg 5.8
National Front June Lees9121.8Decrease2.svg 1.5
Anti-Common Market John Deary4010.8New
Majority10,76021.3Increase2.svg 10.1
Turnout 50,66676.6Increase2.svg 2.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 20,854 44.2 Decrease2.svg 1.5
Labour Ivan Ernest Geffen15,55433.0Increase2.svg 0.9
Liberal Joseph Abraham Wernick9,21519.5Increase2.svg 0.3
National Front Garth Anthony Cooper1,5733.3Increase2.svg 0.3
Majority5,30011.2Decrease2.svg 2.4
Turnout 47,19673.7Decrease2.svg 5.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 23,123 45.7 Decrease2.svg 24.4
Labour Helene Middleweek 16,22232.1Increase2.svg8.8
Liberal Joseph Abraham Wernick9,69119.2New
National Front Garth Anthony Cooper1,5233.0New
Majority6,90113.6Decrease2.svg 23.2
Turnout 50,55979.6
Conservative win (new boundaries)
General election 1970: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 26,220 64.3 Increase2.svg 5.2
Labour Joshua Andrew Nicholas Bamfield11,75328.8Decrease2.svg 12.1
Liberal Eric Robinson2,4596.0New
Communist Pete Carter 1890.5New
Independent Gavin Menzies [18] 770.2New
Independent Dharam Dass520.1New
Majority14,46735.5Increase2.svg 17.3
Turnout 40,75076.0Increase2.svg 2.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 21,466 59.1 Increase2.svg 1.7
Labour Alexander Collier14,88140.9Increase2.svg 9.5
Majority6,58518.2Decrease2.svg 11.8
Turnout 36,34773.6Decrease2.svg 1.7
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1964: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 21,736 57.4 Decrease2.svg 6.5
Labour Antony Gardner 11,88031.4Decrease2.svg 4.7
Liberal Nick Lloyd4,23311.2New
Majority9,85626.0Decrease2.svg 1.8
Turnout 37,84975.3Decrease2.svg 3.1
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 25,696 63.9 Increase2.svg 3.9
Labour Eric Thorne14,52936.1Decrease2.svg 3.9
Majority11,16727.8Increase2.svg 7.8
Turnout 40,22578.4Increase2.svg 0.7
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Wolverhampton South West [19]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 25,318 60.0 Increase2.svg 6.4
Labour Co-op Lewis Burgess16,89840.0Decrease2.svg 6.4
Majority8,42020.0Increase2.svg 12.8
Turnout 42,21677.7Decrease2.svg 8.6
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1951: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 23,660 53.6 Increase2.svg 7.6
Labour Annie Llewelyn-Davies 20,46446.4Increase2.svg 2.0
Majority3,1967.2Increase2.svg 5.6
Turnout 44,12486.3Decrease2.svg 0.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1950: Wolverhampton South West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 20,239 46.0
Labour Billy Hughes 19,54844.4
Liberal William Frederick Hubert Rollason4,2299.6
Majority6911.6N/A
Turnout 44,01687.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

See also

Notes

  1. As with all current parliamentary constituencies it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

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References

  1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
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  4. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
  5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
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  8. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
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  10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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  17. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. Peter Evans (5 June 1970). "Immigrant girl will vote in despair—Powellism". News. The Times. No. 57888. London. col C, p. 9.
  19. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.

52°35′N2°10′W / 52.59°N 2.17°W / 52.59; -2.17