West Bromwich West (UK Parliament constituency)

West Bromwich West
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of West Bromwich West in West Midlands.
Location of West Midlands within England.
County	West Midlands
Electorate	65,249 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Adrian Bailey (Labour Co-op)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

West Bromwich West is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

West Bromwich West is one of four constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, covering the west and north-west of the borough. It includes the towns of Tipton and Wednesbury, as well as the villages of Great Bridge, Princes End and Tividale.

There are presently seven wards in the constituency: Great Bridge, Oldbury, Princes End, Tipton Green, Tividale, Wednesbury North and Wednesbury South.

From 1983 to 1997, the constituency consisted of six wards of the Borough of Sandwell: Great Bridge, Greets Green and Lyng, Princes End, Tipton Green, Wednesbury North and Wednesbury South. In boundary changes in 1997, Tividale ward was added from the now-abolished constituency of Warley West.

History

The constituency was created in 1974 and took its present boundaries in 1997. From 1974 to 2000 it was the constituency of Betty Boothroyd, who was first elected for the former West Bromwich constituency in a by-election in 1973 and became the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons in 1992. She retired as Speaker in 2000 and was elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell. The ensuing by-election was won by Labour Co-operative candidate Adrian Bailey, he has held the seat to date.

At local level, Labour safely hold most of the wards of the constituency, but they are followed by the controversial British National Party, who now have four councillors, ahead of the Conservatives who have just three, hence their fairly strong showing in the 2005 General Election, receiving nearly 10% of the vote.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	Feb 1974	Betty Boothroyd	Labour
	1992		Speaker
	2000 by-election	Adrian Bailey	Labour Co-op

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: West Bromwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Adrian Bailey	16,263	45.0	-8.7
	Conservative	Andrew Hardie	10,612	29.3	+6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Sadie Smith	4,336	12.0	+1.8
	BNP	Russ Green	3,394	9.4	-0.5
	UKIP	Malcolm Ford	1,566	4.3	+1.8
Majority			5,651	15.6
Turnout			36,171	55.6	+4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−7.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: West Bromwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Adrian Bailey	18,951	54.3	−6.5
	Conservative	Mimi Harker	8,057	23.1	−2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Martyn Smith	3,583	10.3	+3.5
	BNP	James Lloyd	3,456	9.9	+5.4
	UKIP	Kevin Walker	870	2.5	+0.9
Majority			10,894	31.2
Turnout			34,917	52.3	+4.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.3

General Election 2001: West Bromwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Adrian Bailey	19,352	60.8	N/A
	Conservative	Karen Bissell	7,997	25.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Sadie Smith	2,168	6.8	N/A
	BNP	John Salvage	1,428	4.5	N/A
	UKIP	Kevin Walker	499	1.6	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Baghwant Singh	396	1.2	N/A
Majority			11,355	35.7
Turnout			31,840	47.7	-6.7
	Labour hold		Swing

West Bromwich West by-election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Adrian Bailey	9,460	50.6	N/A
	Conservative	Karen Bissell	6,408	34.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Sadie Smith	1,791	9.6	N/A
	BNP	Nick Griffin	794	4.2	N/A
	UKIP	Jonathan Oakton	246	1.3	N/A
Majority
Turnout				27.3
	Labour gain from Speaker		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: West Bromwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	Betty Boothroyd	23,969	65.3	N/A
	Independent Labour	Richard Silvester	8,546	23.3	N/A
	National Democrats	Steven Edwards	4,181	11.4	N/A
Majority			15,423	40.0
Turnout			36,696	54.4
	Speaker gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1992: West Bromwich West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Betty Boothroyd	22,251	54.8	+4.3
	Conservative	Desmond Swayne	14,421	35.5	−1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Sarah Broadbent	3,925	9.7	−2.7
Majority			7,830	19.3	+6.0
Turnout			40,597	70.4	+3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.0

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands

Notes and references

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Croydon North East	Constituency represented by the Speaker 1992–2000	Succeeded by Glasgow Springburn