Solihull (UK Parliament constituency)

Solihull
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Solihull in West Midlands.
Location of West Midlands within England.
County	West Midlands
Electorate	77,354 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Solihull
Current constituency
Created	1945
Member of parliament	Julian Knight (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Tamworth
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Solihull is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Julian Knight, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Members of Parliament

Constituency profile

The Solihull area is home to some of the West Midlands's more affluent residents and includes a high proportion of Birmingham workers and the managerial classes in manufacturing, retail, industry and the public sector. There are smaller villages and undeveloped green belt areas in its peripheral countryside, though the seat is primarily suburban and middle-class, with low levels of deprivation throughout. Workless claimants stood at only 2% of the population in November 2012, below every regional average in the UK. In the study of that date, only three of the 59 West Midlands seats had a lower proportion of registered jobseekers.^[3]

Following boundary changes, the northernmost tip of the seat now contains the point in England furthest from the coast in any direction.

Boundaries

The constituency is one of two covering the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. It covers the town of Solihull itself, as well as Shirley and Olton. It is a largely well-off, residential area, in the south-east of the West Midlands conurbation.

1945-1974: The Urban District of Solihull.

1974-1983: The County Borough of Solihull.

1983-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull wards of Elmdon, Lyndon, Olton, St Alphege, Shirley East, Shirley South, Shirley West, and Silhill.

History

Conservative candidates won the seat from its outset in 1945 until a loss in 2005, the seat meanwhile seeing boundary changes covered above. In the 2005 general election Solihull was won by the Liberal Democrats, with Lorely Burt beating the incumbent John Taylor by a majority of 279 votes. Burt won the seat again at the 2010 general election, this time by just 175 votes following two recounts. Since 2015 the seat has been represented by Julian Knight, who holds the seat with a majority of 12,902 beating incumbent Lorely Burt.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Results of UK House of Commons seat Solihull, created in 1945, since 2005.

General Election 2017: Solihull^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Julian Knight	32,985	58.1	8.9
	Labour	Nigel Knowles	12,414	21.9	11.5
	Liberal Democrat	Ade Adeyemo[5]	8,901	15.7	10.0
	UKIP	Andrew Garcarz	1,291	2.3	9.3
	Green	Max McLoughlin	1,157	2.0	0.9
Majority			20,571	36.2	12.6
Turnout			56,748	73.4	2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.3

General Election 2015: Solihull^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Julian Knight	26,956	49.2	6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Lorely Burt	14,054	25.7	17.2
	UKIP	Phil Henrick[8]	6,361	11.6	9.4
	Labour	Nigel Knowles	5,693	10.4	1.5
	Green	Howard Allen	1,632	3.0	N/A
	An Independence from Europe	Mike Nattrass	50	0.1	N/A
	Democratic	Matthew J. Ward	33	0.1	N/A
Majority			12,902	23.6
Turnout			54,779	70.9	1.36
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	11.9

General Election 2010: Solihull^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Lorely Burt	23,635	42.9	3.5
	Conservative	Maggie Throup	23,460	42.6	2.9
	Labour	Sarah Merrill	4,891	8.9	6.7
	BNP	Andrew Terry	1,624	2.9	0.5
	UKIP	John Ison	1,200	2.2	0.3
	Solihull and Meriden Residents' Association	Neill Watts	319	0.6	N/A
Majority			175	0.3
Turnout			55,129	71.9	4.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	0.3

• Due to Boundary Changes this seat was notionally Conservative, even though it was previously held by the Liberal Democrats, making it a Liberal Democrat gain.

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Solihull^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Lorely Burt	20,896	39.9	13.9
	Conservative	John Taylor	20,617	39.4	6.0
	Labour	Rory Vaughan	8,058	15.4	10.2
	BNP	Diane Carr	1,752	3.3	N/A
	UKIP	Andrew Moore	990	1.9	0.3
Majority			279	0.5
Turnout			52,313	63.1	4.7
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	10.0

General Election 2001: Solihull^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Taylor	21,935	45.4	0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Jo Byron	12,528	26.0	0.7
	Labour	Brendan O’Brien	12,373	25.6	1.3
	UKIP	Andy Moore	1,061	2.2	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Mary Pyne	374	0.8	0.3
Majority			9,407	19.4
Turnout			48,271	63.3	11.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Solihull

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Taylor	26,299	44.7	16.1
	Liberal Democrat	Michael J. Southcombe	14,902	25.3	4.3
	Labour	Rachel N. Harris	14,334	24.3	7.6
	Referendum	Mike Nattrass	2,748	4.7	N/a
	ProLife Alliance	Jim Caffery	623	1.1	N/a
Majority			11,397	19.35	20.55
Turnout			58,906	74.6	7.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.3

General Election 1992: Solihull^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Taylor	38,385	60.8	0.2
	Liberal Democrat	Michael J. Southcombe	13,239	21.0	3.0
	Labour	Nicola Kutapan	10,544	16.7	1.7
	Green	Clifford G. Hards	925	1.5	N/A
Majority			25,146	39.9	2.7
Turnout			63,093	81.6	6.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.4

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)

Notes

References

Coordinates: 52°25′N 1°47′W / 52.41°N 1.78°W / 52.41; -1.78