Walsall North (UK Parliament constituency)

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Walsall North
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Walsall North in West Midlands.
Outline map
Location of West Midlands within England.
County West Midlands
Electorate 65,468 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Willenhall, Bloxwich and Walsall (part)
Current constituency
Created 1955
Member of parliament David Winnick (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Walsall
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency West Midlands

Walsall North is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1979 by David Winnick, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Boundaries

1955-1974: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Hatherton, and Leamore, and the Urban District of Brownhills.

1974-1983: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Bentley, Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Leamore, Willenhall North, and Willenhall South.

1983-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills Leamore, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Short Heath, Willenhall North, and Willenhall South.

Walsall North is one of three constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall.[n 3]

History

The Walsall North constituency was first established in 1955 from Walsall constituency. Its first Member of Parliament was W.T. Wells of the Labour Party, who had previously been MP for Walsall. In 1974 he was succeeded by the controversial John Stonehouse (also Labour), the former Postmaster General who became infamous for faking his own death and was later jailed for fraud. After resigning from the Labour Party in April 1976, he was invited to join the English National Party, becoming their first (and only) MP, before being forced to resign as an MP in August 1976. The ensuing by-election was won by Robin Hodgson, a Conservative.

Labour regained the seat in 1979; their candidate was the former Croydon South MP David Winnick, who has represented the constituency since then.

Political history

Together with the arguably marginal majority in 1983 of 5.8%, all the other substantial wins until 2010 indicated a safe seat for Labour, who gained 58.1% of the votes at their peak in 2001. However in 2010 Walsall North seems to have become a marginal seat whereby Labour only narrowly managed to fend off a challenge from the Conservatives, with a majority of 2.7% of the vote.[2] Going into the 2015 General Election, Walsall North was 13th on the list of target seats for the Conservatives.[3] Despite this, Labour held on to the seat, increasing their majority to 1,937.[4]

Other parties

The Liberal Democrats managed to produce their best result since the 1955 creation (or their predecessor parties) in 1983, when Liberal, A. Bentley polled 20.7% of the vote.

Unusually, since the 2005 general election (inclusive) the BNP have managed to retain a general election deposit by polling more than 5% of the vote. The last time this percentage was reached by a candidate in other than the top three parties was in 1976.

Just below the 5% threshold, in 2010 UKIP managed to achieve their best result to date, at 4.8% of the vote.

Constituency profile

The constituency is in the heart of an area traditionally focussed on manufacturing, see Walsall, which retains many mechanical and engineering jobs in its economy.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 8.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, not the highest in the region which was Birmingham Ladywood at 11.1% but also significantly higher than the average for the region, 4.7%.[5]

Members of Parliament

Election Member[6] Party
1955 William Wells Labour
Feb 1974 John Stonehouse Labour Co-operative
1976 English Nationalist
1976 by-election Robin Hodgson Conservative
1979 David Winnick Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Walsall North[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 14,392 39.0 +2.0
Conservative Douglas Hansen-Luke[8] 12,455 33.8 -0.5
UKIP Elizabeth Hazell[9] 8,122 22.0 +17.2
Liberal Democrat Nigel Jones 840 2.3 -10.8
TUSC Peter Smith 545 1.5 −0.8
Green Mike Harrison[10] 529 1.4 N/A
Majority 1,937 5.2 +2.5
Turnout 36,883 55.0 -0.5
Labour hold Swing +1.3
General Election 2010: Walsall North[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 13,385 37.0 -11.2
Conservative Helyn Clack 12,395 34.3 +6.8
Liberal Democrat Nadia Fazal 4,754 13.1 +0.8
BNP Christopher Woodall 2,930 8.1 +2.1
UKIP Elizabeth Hazell 1,737 4.8 +1.1
Democratic Labour Peter Smith 842 2.3 ±
Christian Babar Shakir 144 0.4 N/A
Majority 990 2.7
Turnout 36,187 55.5 +3.3
Labour hold Swing −9.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Walsall North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 15,990 47.8 −10.3
Conservative Ian Lucas 9,350 28.0 −1.1
Liberal Democrat Douglas Taylor 4,144 12.4 +3.4
BNP William Locke 1,992 6.0 N/A
UKIP Anthony Lenton 1,182 3.5 +1.0
Democratic Labour Peter Smith 770 2.3 N/A
Majority 6,640 19.9
Turnout 33,428 52.8 +3.8
Labour hold Swing −4.6
General Election 2001: Walsall North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 18,779 58.1 +1.5
Conservative Melvin Pitt 9,388 29.1 +1.5
Liberal Democrat Michael Heap 2,923 9.0 -0.3
UKIP Jenny Mayo 812 2.5 N/A
Socialist Alliance David Church 410 1.3 N/A
Majority 9,391 29.0
Turnout 32,312 49.0 -15.1
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Walsall North.[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 24,517 56.62
Conservative M Bird 11,929 27.55
Liberal Democrat T O'Brien 4,050 9.35
Referendum D Bennett 1,430 3.3
Independent M Pitt 911 2.10
National Front Alan Humphries 465 1.07
Majority 12,588 29.07
Turnout 43,302 64.07
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1992: Walsall North[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 24,387 46.7 +4.2
Conservative Robert Syms 20,563 39.4 +0.4
Liberal Democrat AR Powis 6,629 12.7 −5.7
National Front KA Reynolds 614 1.2 N/A
Majority 3,824 7.3 +3.8
Turnout 52,193 75.0 +1.2
Labour hold Swing +1.9

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Walsall North[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 21,458 42.6
Conservative L Hertz 19,668 39.0
Liberal I Shires 9,285 18.4
Majority 1,790 3.6
Turnout 73.8
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1983: Walsall North[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 20,782 42.5
Conservative N. Stephens 17,958 36.7
Liberal A. Bentley 10,141 20.7
Majority 2,824 5.8
Turnout 71.0
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

United Kingdom general election, 1979: Walsall North[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Winnick 26,913 50.9
Conservative Robin Hodgson 21,047 39.8
Liberal A Bentley 3,778 7.1
National Front C Parker 1,098 2.1
Majority 5,866 11.1
Turnout 72.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
Walsall North by-election, 1976
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robin Hodgson 16,212 43.35 +17.2
Labour David Winnick 11,833 31.64 -27.85
Independent Sidney Wright 4,374 11.70 N/A
National Front Joseph Parker 2,724 7.28 N/A
Liberal Frances Oborski 1,212 3.24 -13.1
Socialist Workers James McCallum 574 1.53 N/A
National Party Marian Powell 258 0.69 N/A
Ecology Jonathan Tyler 181 0.48 N/A
Air, Road, Public Safety, White Resident Bill Boaks 30 0.08 N/A
Majority 4,379
Turnout 37,398
Conservative gain from English National Swing
United Kingdom general election, October 1974: Walsall North[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Stonehouse 28,340 59.5
Conservative Robin Hodgson 12,455 26.1
Liberal W Gill 6,337 13.4
Communist J Richards 465 1.0
Majority 15,885 33.4
Turnout 66.6
Labour hold Swing
United Kingdom general election, February 1974: Walsall North[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Stonehouse 32,458 63.6
Conservative Robin Hodgson 17,754 34.8
Communist J Richards 819 1.6
Majority 14,704 28.8
Turnout 72.1
Labour hold Swing
United Kingdom general election, 1970: Walsall North[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour William Wells 27,543 57.1
Conservative AJL Barnes 20,128 41.7
Communist D Brayford 597 1.2
Majority 7,415 15.4
Turnout 66.8
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

United Kingdom general election, 1966: Walsall North[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour William Wells 29,710 65.1
Conservative AJL Barnes 15,953 34.9
Majority 13,757 30.1
Turnout 70.9
Labour hold Swing
United Kingdom general election, 1964: Walsall North[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour William Wells 27,842 61.4
Conservative AJL Barnes 17,518 38.6
Majority 10,324 22.8
Turnout 71.9
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

United Kingdom general election, 1959: Walsall North[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour William Wells 27,693 61.0
Conservative JG Ackers 17,741 39.0
Majority 9,952 21.9
Turnout 76.7
Labour hold Swing
United Kingdom general election, 1955: Walsall North[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour William Wells 26,665 62.5
National Liberal FM Roberts 15,970 37.5
Majority 10,695 25.1
Turnout 77.0
Labour hold Swing

See also

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.
  3. ↑ The others being: Walsall South and Aldridge-Brownhills
References
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  6. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)[self-published source][better source needed]
  7. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/walsallnorth/
  8. ↑ http://www.hansenluke.org.uk/
  9. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/UKIPWalsall
  10. ↑ https://my.greenparty.org.uk/candidates/106265
  11. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/walsallnorth
  12. ↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/246.htm
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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