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Wolverhampton South West (UK Parliament constituency)

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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]

Wolverhampton South West
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Wolverhampton South West in West Midlands
Outline map
Location of West Midlands within England
CountyWest Midlands
Electorate59,846 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsWolverhampton
1950–2024
SeatsOne
Replaced byWolverhampton West

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Election Member[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

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Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2019: Wolverhampton South West[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stuart Anderson 19,864 48.3   4.1
Labour Eleanor Smith 18,203 44.3   5.1
Liberal Democrats Bart Ricketts 2,041 5.0   3.1
Brexit Party Leo Grandison 1,028 2.5 New
Majority 1,661 4.0   1.2
Turnout 41,136 67.5   3.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing   4.6
General election 2017: Wolverhampton South West[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Eleanor Smith 20,899 49.4   6.2
Conservative Paul Uppal 18,714 44.2   3.0
UKIP Rob Jones 1,012 2.4   8.3
Liberal Democrats Sarah Quarmby 784 1.9   0.2
Green Andrea Cantrill 579 1.4   1.2
Independent Jagmeet Singh 358 0.8 New
Majority 2,185 5.2   3.2
Turnout 42,461 70.6   4.0
Labour hold Swing   1.5
General election 2015: Wolverhampton South West[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rob Marris 17,374 43.2   4.2
Conservative Paul Uppal 16,573 41.2   0.5
UKIP Dave Everett 4,310 10.7   7.0
Green Andrea Cantrill 1,058 2.6 New
Liberal Democrats Neale Upstone 845 2.1   13.9
Independent Brian Booth 49 0.1 New
Majority 801 2.0 N/A
Turnout 40,209 66.6   1.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing   1.9
General election 2010: Wolverhampton South West[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Uppal 16,344 40.7   2.6
Labour Rob Marris 15,653 39.0   4.5
Liberal Democrats Robin Lawrence 6,430 16.0   2.5
UKIP Amanda Mobberley 1,487 3.7   1.2
Equal Parenting Alliance Raymond Barry 246 0.6 New
Majority 691 1.7 N/A
Turnout 40,160 67.9   4.8
Conservative gain from Labour Swing   3.5

Elections in the 2000s

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General election 2005: Wolverhampton South West[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rob Marris 18,489 44.4   3.9
Conservative Sandip Verma 15,610 37.5   2.2
Liberal Democrats Colin Ross 5,568 13.4   5.0
UKIP Douglas Hope 1,029 2.5   0.8
BNP Edward Mullins 983 2.4 New
Majority 2,879 6.9   1.7
Turnout 41,679 62.1   0.0
Labour hold Swing   0.8
General election 2001: Wolverhampton South West[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rob Marris 19,735 48.3   2.1
Conservative David Chambers 16,248 39.7   0.2
Liberal Democrats Mike Dixon 3,425 8.4   0.2
Green Wendy Walker 805 2.0 New
UKIP Doug Hope 684 1.7 New
Majority 3,487 8.6   1.9
Turnout 40,897 62.1   10.3
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1997: Wolverhampton South West[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jenny Jones 24,657 50.4  10.5
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 19,539 39.9  9.4
Liberal Democrats Matthew Green 4,012 8.2  0.3
Liberal Mike Hyde 713 1.5  0.8
Majority 5,118 10.5 N/A
Turnout 48,921 72.4  5.8
Labour gain from Conservative Swing   9.9
General election 1992: Wolverhampton South West[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 25,969 49.3   1.4
Labour Simon Murphy 21,003 39.9   9.2
Liberal Democrats Mark Wiggin 4,470 8.5   10.1
Liberal Colin Hallmark 1,237 2.3 New
Majority 4,966 9.4   10.6
Turnout 52,679 78.2   2.7
Conservative hold Swing   5.3

Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1987: Wolverhampton South West[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 26,235 50.7   0.1
Labour Roger Lawrence 15,917 30.7   3.2
Alliance (SDP) Beris Lamb 9,616 18.6   2.9
Majority 10,318 20.0   3.1
Turnout 51,768 75.5   3.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Wolverhampton South West[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 25,214 50.6   1.1
Labour Bob Jones 13,694 27.5   4.7
Alliance (SDP) Edgar Harwood 10,724 21.5   8.0
Anti-Common Market John Deary 201 0.4 New
Majority 11,520 23.1   3.6
Turnout 49,833 72.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1979: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 26,587 52.4   8.3
Labour Ivan Geffen 15,827 31.2   1.8
Liberal Joseph Wernick 6,939 13.7   5.8
National Front June Lees 912 1.8   1.5
Anti-Common Market John Deary 401 0.8 New
Majority 10,760 21.3   10.1
Turnout 50,666 76.6   2.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 20,854 44.2   1.5
Labour Ivan Ernest Geffen 15,554 33.0   0.9
Liberal Joseph Abraham Wernick 9,215 19.5   0.3
National Front Garth Anthony Cooper 1,573 3.3   0.3
Majority 5,300 11.2   2.4
Turnout 47,196 73.7   5.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 23,123 45.7   24.4
Labour Helene Middleweek 16,222 32.1  8.8
Liberal Joseph Abraham Wernick 9,691 19.2 New
National Front Garth Anthony Cooper 1,523 3.0 New
Majority 6,901 13.6   23.2
Turnout 50,559 79.6
Conservative win (new boundaries)
General election 1970: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 26,220 64.3   5.2
Labour Joshua Andrew Nicholas Bamfield 11,753 28.8   12.1
Liberal Eric Robinson 2,459 6.0 New
Communist Pete Carter 189 0.5 New
Independent Gavin Menzies[18] 77 0.2 New
Independent Dharam Dass 52 0.1 New
Majority 14,467 35.5   17.3
Turnout 40,750 76.0   2.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

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General election 1966: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 21,466 59.1   1.7
Labour Alexander Collier 14,881 40.9   9.5
Majority 6,585 18.2   11.8
Turnout 36,347 73.6   1.7
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1964: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 21,736 57.4   6.5
Labour Antony Gardner 11,880 31.4   4.7
Liberal Nick Lloyd 4,233 11.2 New
Majority 9,856 26.0   1.8
Turnout 37,849 75.3   3.1
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1959: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 25,696 63.9   3.9
Labour Eric Thorne 14,529 36.1   3.9
Majority 11,167 27.8   7.8
Turnout 40,225 78.4   0.7
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Wolverhampton South West[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 25,318 60.0   6.4
Labour Co-op Lewis Burgess 16,898 40.0   6.4
Majority 8,420 20.0   12.8
Turnout 42,216 77.7   8.6
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1951: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 23,660 53.6   7.6
Labour Annie Llewelyn-Davies 20,464 46.4   2.0
Majority 3,196 7.2   5.6
Turnout 44,124 86.3   0.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1950: Wolverhampton South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Enoch Powell 20,239 46.0
Labour Billy Hughes 19,548 44.4
Liberal William Frederick Hubert Rollason 4,229 9.6
Majority 691 1.6 N/A
Turnout 44,016 87.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

See also

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Notes

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

References

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  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.
  3. ^ "Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood Speech". Archived from the original on 7 February 2007.
  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)
  6. ^ "Wolverhampton South West Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Wolverhampton South West results". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Wolverhampton South West". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  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.
  15. ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  16. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  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.
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52°35′N 2°10′W / 52.59°N 2.17°W / 52.59; -2.17

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