Dudley West (UK Parliament constituency)

Dudley West was a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Dudley in the West Midlands. It existed from 1974 to 1997, returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system.

Dudley West
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyWest Midlands
February 1974–1997
Number of membersOne
Replaced byDudley North
Dudley South
Stourbridge
Created fromBrierley Hill
Dudley

History

The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election, from the old Dudley constituency (which was created following the Reform Act in 1832) along with the Brierley Hill constituency, and abolished for the 1997 general election. It was a 'bellwether' constituency where the winner of each general election throughout its existence matched the party which won the election.

Boundaries

1974–1983: The County Borough of Dudley wards of Brierley Hill, Brockmoor and Pensnett, Gornal, Kingswinford and Wall Heath, Quarry Bank, Sedgley, and Wordsley.

1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Brierley Hill, Brockmoor and Pensnett, Gornal, Kingswinford North and Wall Heath, Kingswinford South, Sedgley, and Wordsley.

Dudley West was one of three constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, encompassing the western half of the town of Dudley. The constituency included Brierley Hill, Kingswinford, and parts of Sedgley. At abolition in 1997, both Dudley West and Dudley East were replaced by two new constituencies: Dudley North and Dudley South, with some constituents being transferred to the re-formed Stourbridge constituency.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[1]PartyNotes
Feb 1974Colin PhippsLabour
1979John BlackburnConservativeDied in office 12 October 1994
1994 by-electionIan PearsonLabourElected in 15 December 1994 by-election
1997 constituency abolished: see Dudley South, Dudley North and Stourbridge

Elections

Elections in the 1970s
General election February 1974: Dudley West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Colin Phipps 29,143 48.9 N/A
Conservative Fergus Montgomery 24,474 41.1 N/A
Independent Liberal M Thirlby 5,971 10.0 N/A
Majority 4,669 7.84 N/A
Turnout 59,588 80.3 N/A
Labour win (new seat)
General election October 1974: Dudley West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Colin Phipps 28,740 51.13
Conservative LE Smith 20,215 35.96
Liberal A Martin 7,259 12.91
Majority 8,525 15.17
Turnout 75.21
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Dudley West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Blackburn 30,158 50.96
Labour MJ Hartley-Brewer 29,019 49.04
Majority 1,139 1.92
Turnout 76.45
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1983: Dudley West[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Blackburn 27,250 46.16
Labour W Price 18,527 31.39
Liberal GPT Lewis 13,251 22.45
Majority 8,723 14.78
Turnout 75.88
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: Dudley West[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Blackburn 32,224 49.82
Labour Gary Titley 21,980 33.98
Liberal Gerald P.T. Lewis 10,477 16.20
Majority 10,244 15.84
Turnout 79.08
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1992: Dudley West[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Blackburn 34,729 48.8 −1.0
Labour KJ Lomax 28,940 40.7 +6.7
Liberal Democrats GPT Lewis 7,446 10.5 −5.7
Majority 5,789 8.1 −7.7
Turnout 71,115 82.1 +3.0
Conservative hold Swing −3.8
1994 by-election: Dudley West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Ian Pearson 28,400 68.8 +28.0
Conservative Graham Postles 7,706 18.7 −30.2
Liberal Democrats Mike Hadley 3,154 7.6 −2.8
UKIP Malcolm Floyd 590 1.4 N/A
National Front Andy Carmichael 561 1.4 N/A
Liberal Mike Hyde 548 1.3 N/A
New Britain Mike Nattrass 146 0.3 N/A
FOREST - Freedom of Choice for Smokers Marjorie Nicholson 77 0.2 N/A
Natural Law John Oldbury 70 0.2 N/A
21st Century Conservatives Party Colin Palmer 55 0.1 N/A
Majority 20,694 50.1 +42.0
Turnout 41,307 47.0 -32.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +29.1

See also

Notes and references
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
  2. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  3. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  4. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.
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