West Bromwich
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–February 1974
SeatsOne
Created fromWednesbury
Replaced byWest Bromwich East,
West Bromwich West

West Bromwich was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1974. It centred on West Bromwich, in the West Midlands. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be re-established for the next general election.[1]

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was divided into West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West. Most of the original West Bromwich constituency formed the new West Bromwich East constituency, while the new West Bromwich West constituency consisted largely of Tipton and Wednesbury - both of which had been added to an expanded West Bromwich borough in 1966. In 1974, just after the February general election, the borough of West Bromwich ceased to exist when it merged with the short-lived County Borough of Warley (which was centred on Oldbury, Smethwick and Rowley Regis) to form Sandwell.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The municipal borough of West Bromwich.[2]

1918-1950: The County Borough of West Bromwich.[3]

Proposed

The re-established constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

It will comprise the majority of the (to be abolished) West Bromwich East seat, together with the Oldbury and Tividale wards from West Bromwich West and the Rowley ward from Halesowen and Rowley Regis (both also to be abolished).[5]

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party Notes
1885 John Horton Blades Liberal
1886 Sir Ernest Spencer Conservative
1906 Alfred Hazel Liberal
Jan 1910 William Legge Conservative
1918 Frederick Roberts Labour
1931 Alexander Ramsay Conservative
1935 Frederick Roberts Labour Resigned 1941
1941 by-election John Dugdale Labour Died March 1963
1963 by-election Maurice Foley Labour Resigned 1973
1973 by-election Betty Boothroyd Labour Subsequently, MP for West Bromwich West; later Speaker of the House of Commons
Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Horton Blades 3,988 55.7
Conservative Ernest Spencer 3,171 44.3
Majority 817 11.4
Turnout 7,159 81.8
Registered electors 8,749
Liberal win (new seat)
Ernest Spencer
General election 1886: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Spencer 3,660 54.2 +9.9
Liberal Thomas James Moore[7] 3,091 45.8 −9.9
Majority 569 8.4 N/A
Turnout 6,751 77.2 −4.6
Registered electors 8,749
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +9.9

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Spencer 4,474 56.6 +2.4
Liberal Thomas Lee Roberts[8] 3,429 43.4 −2.4
Majority 1,045 13.2 +4.8
Turnout 7,903 86.1 +8.9
Registered electors 9,174
Conservative hold Swing +2.4
General election 1895: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Spencer Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Spencer Unopposed
Conservative hold
Alfred Hazel
General election 1906: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Alfred Hazel 5,475 56.2 New
Conservative William Legge 4,259 43.8 N/A
Majority 1,216 12.4 N/A
Turnout 9,734 90.8 N/A
Registered electors 10,726
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Legge 5,672 53.5 +9.7
Liberal Alfred Hazel 4,937 46.5 −9.7
Majority 735 7.0 N/A
Turnout 10,609 93.9 +3.1
Registered electors 11,299
Conservative hold Swing +9.7
General election December 1910: West Bromwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Legge 5,010 50.0 −3.5
Liberal Alfred Hazel 5,008 50.0 +3.5
Majority 2 0.0 −7.0
Turnout 10,018 88.7 −5.2
Registered electors 11,299
Unionist hold Swing −3.5

A petition was lodged regarding this election but was later dismissed. The first count had Legge on 5,046 votes, while Hazel had 5,041 votes. A recount put Legge on 5,029 votes, while Hazel had 4,987 votes. Further scrutiny led to the above results.

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

General election 1918: West Bromwich[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick Roberts 11,572 54.0 New
C Unionist William Legge 9,863 46.0 −4.0
Majority 1,709 8.0 N/A
Turnout 21,435 65.4 −23.3
Registered electors 32,777
Labour gain from Unionist Swing N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Liberal candidate Alfred Hazel withdrew at the last minute

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: West Bromwich[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick Roberts 14,210 50.6 −3.4
Unionist Herbert Edgar Parkes 11,263 40.1 −4.9
Liberal Aneurin Edwards 2,622 9.3 New
Majority 2,947 10.5 +2.5
Turnout 28,095 85.7 +20.3
Registered electors 32,768
Labour hold Swing +0.8
General election 1923: West Bromwich [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick Roberts 12,910 44.8 −5.8
Unionist Herbert Edgar Parkes 11,146 38.7 −1.4
Liberal Aneurin Edwards 4,749 16.5 +7.2
Majority 1,764 6.1 −4.4
Turnout 28,805 85.0 −0.7
Registered electors 33,898
Labour hold Swing −2.2
General election 1924: West Bromwich[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick Roberts 15,384 51.6 +6.8
Unionist Henry Archibald Roger Graham 14,413 48.4 +9.7
Majority 971 3.2 −2.9
Turnout 29,797 86.5 +1.5
Registered electors 34,503
Labour hold Swing −1.5
General election 1929: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick Roberts 19,621 52.1 +0.5
Unionist J I Chesshire 10,943 29.0 −19.4
Liberal William Ramage 7,119 18.9 New
Majority 8,678 23.1 +19.9
Turnout 37,683 83.1 −3.4
Registered electors 45,371
Labour hold Swing +10.0

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alexander Ramsay 17,729 45.71
Labour Frederick Roberts 17,204 44.36
Liberal William Ramage 3,851 9.93
Majority 525 1.35 N/A
Turnout 38,784 81.66
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick Roberts 19,113 51.26
Conservative Robert Ashton 18,175 48.74
Majority 938 2.52 N/A
Turnout 37,288 74.80
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1941 West Bromwich by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Dugdale Unopposed N/A N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
General election 1945: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Dugdale 27,979 69.9 +18.6
Conservative Gerald Nabarro 12,028 30.1 −18.6
Majority 15,951 39.8 +37.3
Turnout 40,007 72.5 −2.3
Labour hold Swing +18.6

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Dugdale 31,564 65.40
Conservative William Ward 16,697 34.60
Majority 14,867 30.80
Turnout 48,261 82.84
Labour hold Swing
General election 1951: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Dugdale 30,845 64.22
Conservative Gordon D Johnstone 17,186 35.78
Majority 13,659 28.44
Turnout 48,031 80.51
Labour hold Swing
General election 1955: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Dugdale 26,242 61.80
Conservative Francis John Vernon Hereward Dashwood, 11th Baronet 16,222 38.20
Majority 10,020 23.60
Turnout 42,464 70.21
Labour hold Swing
General election 1959: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Dugdale 26,702 57.4 −4.4
Conservative Anthony Hubert Windrum 19,809 42.6 +4.4
Majority 6,893 14.8 −8.8
Turnout 46,511 72.6 +2.4
Labour hold Swing −4.2

Elections in the 1960s

1963 West Bromwich by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maurice Foley 20,510 58.7 +1.3
Conservative George Hawkins 8,246 26.5 −16.1
Liberal N. R. W. Mawle 6,161 17.6 New
Majority 12,264 35.2 +20.4
Turnout 34,917
Labour hold Swing
General election 1964: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maurice Foley 22,942 55.1 -2.3
Conservative George Hawkins 18,664 44.9 +2.3
Majority 4,278 10.2 -4.6
Turnout 41,606 64.7 -7.9
Labour hold Swing
General election 1966: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maurice Foley 25,287 57.9 +2.8
Conservative George Hawkins 18,413 42.1 −2.8
Majority 6,874 15.8 +5.6
Turnout 43,700 68.8 +4.1
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maurice Foley 23,412 55.2 −2.7
Conservative George Hawkins 18,976 44.8 +2.7
Majority 4,436 10.4 -5.4
Turnout 42,388 62.07 -6.7
Labour hold Swing
By-election 1973: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Betty Boothroyd 15,907 53.21 −2.0
Conservative David Bell 7,582 25.36 −19.4
National Front Martin Webster 4,789 16.02 New
Independent Joshua Churchman 1,616 5.41 New
Majority 8,325 27.85
Turnout 29,894
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: West Bromwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sarah Coombes[11]
Conservative Will Goodhand[12]
Reform UK Ray Nock[13]
Majority
Turnout

References

  1. ^ "West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
  3. ^ Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the People Act, 1918: with explanatory notes. London: Sweet and Maxwell.
  4. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
  5. ^ "New Seat Details - West Bromwich". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 205. ISBN 9781349022984.
  7. ^ "The Parliamentary Election". Birmingham Daily Post. 2 July 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 14 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Mr T. Lee Roberts". Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette. 26 December 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  9. ^ Evening Despatch 16 Feb 1914
  10. ^ a b c d British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  11. ^ "Sarah Coombes selected as Labour candidate in key West Bromwich seat". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  12. ^ Will Goodhand [@WillGoodhand4MP] (9 April 2024). "Thrilled to be selected as Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for West Bromwich" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "West Bromwich". Reform UK. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
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