Birmingham Edgbaston (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 52°27′N 1°54′W / 52.450°N 1.900°W

Birmingham Edgbaston
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Birmingham Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Location of Birmingham within England.
County	West Midlands
Population	96,568 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	69,039 (December 2010)[2]
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Gisela Stuart (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Birmingham
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Birmingham, Edgbaston is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Gisela Stuart MP of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Its best-known MP internationally was Neville Chamberlain (Prime Minister 1937-1940), and since 1953 it has been represented only by women MPs. Since 1992 it has been a marginal constituency between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Birmingham ward of Edgbaston, part of Rotton Park ward, the local government district of Harborne, and part of the local government district of Balsall Heath.

1918-1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Edgbaston, Harborne, and Market Hall.

1974-1983: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Deritend, Edgbaston, Harborne, and Quinton.

1983-1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Edgbaston, Harborne, and Quinton.

1997–present: The City of Birmingham wards of Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne, and Quinton.

Situated to the south west of Birmingham city centre, this is a neat and mostly middle-class constituency with limited social housing, with parks, Warwickshire's cricket ground and two grammar schools. It was a safe Conservative seat for decades, emphasised by solid Tory areas like Edgbaston itself and Bartley Green, but some areas, such as the more Labour-inclined Quinton and Harborne, have pockets of considerable deprivation and of low incomes, helping Labour hold the seat since 1997. It contains the University of Birmingham's main campus, and most of the student halls.

History

The seat was held by the Conservatives until the 1997 Election. At that election it was the ninth seat to declare and the first seat to be gained by Labour from the Conservatives^[3] on a 10% swing, presaging the Labour landslide of that year.

Edgbaston has returned a female MP since 1953, longer than any other constituency.^[4] The sitting MP is Gisela Stuart. It has been classified as a marginal seat.^[5]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[6]	Party	Notes
	1885	George Dixon	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1898 by-election	Francis Lowe	Conservative
	1929	Rt Hon Neville Chamberlain	Conservative	Prime Minister 1937-1940; died 1940
	1940 by-election	Peter Bennett	Conservative	Resigned 1953 on being raised to the peerage
	1953 by-election	Dame Edith Pitt	Conservative	Died January 1966; no by-election held due to imminent general election
	1966	Dame Jill Knight	Conservative
	1997	Gisela Stuart	Labour

Election results 1931-2015

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
General Election 2015 [7] Electorate: 65,544 Turnout: 41,293 (63.0%) +2.3		Labour hold Majority: 2,706 (6.6%) +3.5 Swing: 1.8% from Con to Lab		Gisela Stuart	Labour	18,518	44.8	+4.2
				Luke Evans[8]	Conservative	15,812	38.3	+0.7
				Graham Short[9]	UKIP	4,154	10.1	+8.3
				Philip McDonald Simpson	Green	1,371	3.3	+2.2
				Lee Dargue[8]	Liberal Democrat	1,184	2.9	−12.5
				Gabriel Ukandu	Christian	163	0.4	+0.1
				Henna Rai	Independent	91	0.2	N/A
General Election 2010 [10] Electorate: 69,039 Turnout: 41,571 (60.6%) +3.3		Labour hold Majority: 1,274 (3.1%) −3.1 Swing: 1.3% from Lab to Con		Gisela Stuart	Labour	16,894	40.6	−2.5
				Deirdre Alden	Conservative	15,620	37.6	+0.1
				Roger Harmer	Liberal Democrat	6,387	15.4	+2.6
				Trevor Lloyd	BNP	1,196	2.9	N/A
				Stephen White	UKIP	732	1.8	−0.4
				Philip McDonald Simpson	Green	469	1.1	−1.7
				Harry Takhar	Impact Party	146	0.4	N/A
				Charith Fernando	Christian	127	0.3	N/A
General Election 2005 [11] Turnout: 37,631 (58.0%) +2.0		Labour hold Majority: 2,349 (6.2%) −6.2 Swing: 1.3% from Lab to Con		Gisela Stuart	Labour	16,465	43.8	−5.3
				Deirdre Alden	Conservative	14,116	37.5	+0.9
				Mike D. Dixon	Liberal Democrat	5,185	13.8	+1.8
				Peter C. Beck	Green	1,116	3.0	N/A
				Stephen White	UKIP	749	2.0	N/A
General Election 2001 [12] Turnout: 37,749 (56.0%) −13.0		Labour hold Majority: 4,698 (12.4%) +2.4 Swing: 0.8% from Lab to Con		Gisela Stuart	Labour	18,517	49.1	+0.5
				Nigel Hastilow	Conservative	13,819	36.6	−2.0
				Nicola Davies	Liberal Democrat	4,528	12.0	+2.3
				Collis Gretton	Pro-Euro Conservative	454	1.2	N/A
				Sam Brackenbury	Socialist Labour	431	1.1	N/A
General Election 1997 [13] Turnout: 48,465 (69.0%) −2.3		Labour gain from Conservative Majority: 4,842 (10.0%) N/A Swing: 10.0% from Con to Lab		Gisela Stuart	Labour	23,554	48.6	+9.3
				Andrew Marshall	Conservative	18,712	38.6	−10.7
				James Young Gallagher	Liberal Democrat	4,691	9.7	−0.4
				Jonathan Paul Oakton	Referendum	1,065	2.2	N/A
				Derek Lawrence Campbell	British Democratic Party	443	0.9	N/A
General Election 1992 [14] Turnout: 37,813 (71.3%) +2.7		Conservative hold Majority: 4,307 (11.4%) −11.6 Swing: 5.8% from Con to Lab		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	18,529	49.0	−0.8
				John Federick Wilton	Labour	14,222	37.6	+10.8
				Dr. Iain R.S. Robertson-Steel	Liberal Democrat	4,419	11.7	−9.3
				Philip McDonald Simpson	Green	643	1.7	+0.2
General Election 1987 [15] Turnout: 37,318 (68.6%) +2.4		Conservative hold Majority: 8,581 (22.9%) −8.4		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	18,595	49.8	−3.9
				John Federick Wilton	Labour	10,014	26.9	+5.9
				Joseph Christopher Binns	Social Democratic	7,843	21.0	−1.4
				Philip McDonald Simpson	Green	559	1.5	N/A
				Stephen Thomas Hardwick	Independent Conservative	307	0.8	−0.0
General Election 1983 [16] Turnout: 36,546 (66.2%) −1.6		Conservative hold Majority: 11,418 (31.3%) +10.7		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	19,585	53.7	−0.4
				Joseph Christopher Binns	Social Democratic	8,167	22.4	N/A
				Peter Alan Bilson	Labour	7,647	21.0	−12.5
				Dr. John Hurdley	Ecology	516	1.4	−0.4
				Stephen Thomas Hardwick	Independent Conservative	293	0.8	N/A
				Patricia Ann Davies	Communist	169	0.4	N/A
				Daphne Constance Howlett	Independent	97	0.3	N/A
General Election 1979 Turnout: 46,564 (67.8%)		Conservative hold Majority: 9,587 (20.6%)		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	25,192	54.1
				Andrew Hudson	Labour	15,605	33.5
				James Dugued	Liberal	4,377	9.4
				Jonathan Tyler	Ecology	852	1.8
				Daphne Howlett	Independent	297	0.6
				Brian Dore	Independent	129	0.3
				Leonard Marshall	Independent	112	0.2
General Election October 1974 Turnout: 63.25%		Conservative hold Majority: 2,410 (5.44%)		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	19,483	43.95
				John Hannah	Labour	17,073	38.52
				Peter Davis	Liberal	7,770	17.53
General Election February 1974 Turnout: 69.36%		Conservative hold Majority: 5,920 (12.26%)		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	25,914	53.65
				John Hannah	Labour	19,994	41.40
				Leonard Marshall	Independent	2,391	4.95
General Election 1970 Turnout: 63.64%		Conservative hold Majority: 10,643 (28.41%)		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	23,690	63.24
				John Sever	Labour	13,047	34.83
				Daphne Howlett	Independent	725	1.94
General Election 1966 Turnout: 67.82%		Conservative hold Majority: 7,534 (21.51%)		Dame Jill Knight	Conservative	18,869	53.86
				EO Smith	Labour	11,335	32.36
				DJ Badger	Liberal	4,829	13.78
General Election 1964 Turnout: 66.47%		Conservative hold Majority: 11,759 (34.71%)		Dame Edith Pitt	Conservative	22,818	67.36
				AJ Kazantzis	Labour	11,059	32,64
General Election 1959 Turnout: 67.97%		Conservative hold Majority: 14,928 (39.41%)		Dame Edith Pitt	Conservative	26,401	69.71
				NF Hinks	Labour	11,473	30.29
General Election 1955 Turnout: 68.22%		Conservative hold Majority: 14,094 (35.33%)		Dame Edith Pitt	Conservative	26,991	67.67
				KV Russell	Labour	12,897	32.33
By-election, 2 July 1953		Conservative hold Majority: 10,507		Dame Edith Pitt	Conservative	20,142
				FB Watson	Labour	9,635
General Election 1951 Turnout: 76.06%		Conservative hold Majority: 13,104 (28.58%)		Peter Bennett	Conservative	29,477	64.29
				WJS Pringle	Labour	16,373	35.71
General Election 1950 Turnout: 78.76%		Conservative hold Majority: 11,892 (25.35%)		Peter Bennett	Conservative	29,404	62.67
				JA Hobson	Labour	17,512	37.33
General Election 1945 Turnout: 69.18%		Conservative hold Majority: 8,618 (21.43%)		Peter Bennett	Conservative	21,497	53.46
				GC Barrow	Labour	12,879	32.03
				Arthur Asher Shenfield	Liberal	5,832	14.50
By-election, 9 December 1940		Conservative hold		Peter Bennett	Conservative	unopposed
General Election 1935 Turnout: 62.41%		Conservative hold Majority: 21,862 (63.14%)		Rt Hon Neville Chamberlain	Conservative	28,243	81.57
				J Adshead	Labour	6,381	18.43
General Election 1931 Turnout: 70.88%		Conservative hold Majority: 27,928 (73.03%)		Rt Hon Neville Chamberlain	Conservative	33,085	86.51
				WW Blaylock	Labour	5,157	13.49

Election results 1918-1929

General Election 1929: Birmingham Edgbaston ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Arthur Neville Chamberlain	23,350	63.7
	Labour	William Henry Dashwood Caple	8,590	23.4
	Liberal	Percy Reginald Coombs Young	4,720	12.9	n/a
Majority			14,760	40.3
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Birmingham Edgbaston ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir Francis William Lowe	15,459	72.2
	Liberal	Alfred William Bowkett	5,962	27.8	n/a
Majority			9,497	44.4
Turnout				56.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

Election results 1885-1910

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
December 1910 General Election Electorate: 13,383		Conservative hold		Sir Francis William Lowe	Conservative	unopposed
January 1910 General Election Electorate: 13,383 Turnout: 80.7% (+2.3)		Conservative hold Majority: 5,101 (47.2%) +7.0 Swing: +3.5% from Lib to Con		Sir Francis William Lowe	Conservative	7,951	73.6	+3.5
				Prof. John Hartman Morgan	Liberal	2,850	26.4	-3.5
1906 General Election Electorate: 13,230 Turnout: 78.4%		Conservative hold Majority: 4,160 (40.2%)		Sir Francis William Lowe	Conservative	7,263	70.1
				Hon. Lionel Raleigh Holland	Liberal	3,103	29.9
1900 General Election		Conservative hold		Francis William Lowe	Conservative	unopposed
By-election, 15 February 1898		Conservative hold		Francis William Lowe	Conservative	unopposed
1895 General Election		Liberal Unionist hold		George Dixon	Liberal Unionist	unopposed
1892 General Election		Liberal Unionist hold		George Dixon	Liberal Unionist	unopposed
1886 General Election		Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		George Dixon	Liberal Unionist	unopposed
1885 General Election Electorate: 8,693 Turnout: 80.6%		Liberal gain from new seat Majority: 1,191 (17.0%)		George Dixon	Liberal	4,098	58.5
				Sir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot, Bt.	Conservative	2,907	41.5

See also

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

Notes and references

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, Edgbaston: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 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. "Order of Declaration in the 1997 Election". demon.co.uk.
4. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 10 Apr 2013 (pt 0002)". parliament.uk.
5. "Voter Power Index results for Birmingham Edgbaston". voterpower.org.uk.
6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)
7. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
9. "Parliamentary Candidates". ukipbirmingham.org.
10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. 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.
15. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Debrett’s Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
• Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901
• Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918

External links

• Birmingham city council constituency page