Dudley West (UK Parliament constituency)

Dudley West
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County	West Midlands
February 1974 (February 1974)–1997 (1997)
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Dudley South, Dudley North and Stourbridge
Created from	Dudley and Brierley Hill

Dudley West was a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Dudley in the West Midlands. It existed from 1974 to 1997, returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election, from the old Dudley constituency (which was created following the Reform Act in 1832) along with the Brierley Hill constituency, and abolished for the 1997 general election. It was a 'bellwether' constituency where the winner of each general election throughout its existence matched the party which won the election.

Boundaries

Dudley West, as can be inferred from the name, contained the eastern areas of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. As well as parts of the town of Dudley, the constituency included Brierley Hill and parts of Sedgley. At abolition in 1997, both Dudley West and Dudley East were replaced by two new constituencies: Dudley North and Dudley South, with some constituents being transferred to Stourbridge. .

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	Feb 1974	Colin Phipps	Labour
	1979	John Blackburn	Conservative
	1994 by-election	Ian Pearson	Labour
	1997	constituency abolished: see Dudley South, Dudley North and Stourbridge

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

1994 by-election: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Pearson	28,400	68.8	+28.0
	Conservative	Graham Postles	7,706	18.7	-30.2
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Hadley	3,154	7.6	-2.8
	UKIP	Malcolm Floyd	590	1.4	N/A
	National Front	Andy Carmichael	561	1.4	N/A
	Liberal	Mike Hyde	548	1.3	N/A
	New Britain	Mike Nattrass	146	0.3	N/A
	FOREST - Freedom of Choice for Smokers	Marjorie Nicholson	77	0.2	N/A
	Natural Law	John Oldbury	70	0.2	N/A
	21st Century Conservatives Party	Colin Palmer	55	0.1	N/A
Majority			20,694	50.1	+42.0
Turnout				47.0	-32.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+29.1

General Election 1992: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Blackburn	34,729	48.8	-1.0
	Labour	KJ Lomax	28,940	40.7	+6.7
	Liberal Democrat	GPT Lewis	7,446	10.5	-5.7
Majority			5,789	8.1	-7.7
Turnout			71,115	82.1	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.8

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dudley