Electorate 75,985 (December 2010) | Population 121,678 (2011 census) Created 1983 Number of members One | |
 | ||
Birmingham, Hodge Hill is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2004 by Liam Byrne of the Labour Party.
Contents
History
The constituency was created in 1983, largely replacing the Birmingham Stechford constituency.
Hodge Hill is a traditionally Labour-governed area, normally seeing large majorities for the party. However, in 2004 the appointment of the sitting Member of Parliament (MP), Terry Davis, as secretary general of the Council of Europe resulted in a fiercely contested by-election. The seat saw a fierce challenge by the Liberal Democrats who hoped to build on their previous by-election gain at Brent East, as well as competition for the anti-war vote from RESPECT The Unity Coalition. On a low turnout, Labour's Liam Byrne held the seat by a margin of just 460 votes over the Liberal Democrats, with RESPECT taking over 1000 votes.
Boundaries
1983-2010: The City of Birmingham wards of Hodge Hill, Shard End, and Washwood Heath.
2010–present: The City of Birmingham wards of Bordesley Green, Hodge Hill, Shard End, and Washwood Heath.
The constituency covers a diverse area of east Birmingham, including the predominantly Asian inner-city area of Washwood Heath and the mostly white area of Shard End on the city's eastern boundary, as well as Hodge Hill itself. The constituency has a high percentage of residents on a low income bracket and a roughly equal three-way split of social housing, privately rented and privately owned homes leading to one of highest Indices of Multiple Deprivation in the West Midlands for its central area.
When the Hodge Hill area committee district of Birmingham was created in 2004 its boundaries were those of the constituency.
Members of Parliament
The current Member of Parliament is Liam Byrne of the Labour Party, who was elected in the 2004 by-election. He succeeded Terry Davis, who had held the seat since its creation in the 1983 general election. For the four years from the 1979 general election Davis held the largely predecessor constituency to the area, Birmingham Stechford.
Elections in the 2000s
Note: percentage changes are from the figures at the 2001 general election, not the 2004 by-election.