County West Midlands Electorate 72,190 (December 2010) Number of members One | Population 101,422 (2011 census) Created 1950 | |
 | ||
Member of parliament Richard Burden (Labour) | ||
Birmingham, Northfield is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1992 by Richard Burden of the Labour Party.
Contents
Constituency profile
Among the areas largest features are the closed MG Rover Group factory that long formed a major employer in the constituency and officially closed in the run up to the 2005 general election, a large hospital and the North Worcestershire Golf Course. The Labour MP Richard Burden was nonetheless returned, albeit with a majority reduced by 5.6%. He was re-elected, with a majority reduced by 14.1%, in 2010. Shortly after the 2010 election, Liberal Democrat candidate Mike Dixon was jailed for clubbing a family cat to death with a walking stick.
History
Since creation in 1950, Labour Party MPs have served the ward with the exception of the period from 1979 to 1992 while the Conservative Party were in government, with a one-year gap caused by a Labour win in a by-election, in 1982. From 1979 to 1982 the MP was a member of the influential and large Cadbury family, Jocelyn Cadbury.
Boundaries
1950-1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of King's Norton, Northfield, and Weoley.
1974-1983: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Longbridge, Northfield, and Weoley.
1983-1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Bartley Green, Longbridge, Northfield, and Weoley.
1997-2010: The City of Birmingham wards of Longbridge, Northfield, and Weoley.
2010–present: The City of Birmingham wards of King's Norton, Longbridge, Northfield, and Weoley.
Following the review of parliamentary representation in Birmingham and the West Midlands, the Boundary Commission for England created a modified Northfield seat which gained the ward of Kings Norton (previously in the Selly Oak constituency).
Elections in the 2010s
Going into the 2015 general election, this was the 121st most marginal constituency in Great Britain, the Conservatives requiring a swing from Labour of 3.3% to take the seat (based on the result of the 2010 general election).