County West Midlands Created 1997 | Electorate 70,225 (December 2010) Number of members One | |
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Major settlements Amblecote, Cradley, Lye, Quarry Bank, Stourbridge Member of parliament Margot James (Conservative) | ||
Stourbridge is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Margot James, a Conservative.
Contents
Boundaries
1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Stourbridge, the Urban Districts of Lye and Wollescote, and Oldbury, and the Rural District of Halesowen.
1997-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Lye and Wollescote, Norton, Pedmore and Stourbridge East, Quarry Bank and Cradley, and Wollaston and Stourbridge West.
2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Cradley and Foxcote, Lye and Wollescote, Norton, Pedmore and Stourbridge East, Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood, and Wollaston and Stourbridge Town.
Stourbridge is one of four constituencies in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, covering the south-west of the borough.
History
During this period no ministerial roles happened to have been awarded to any of the members. Prominent members in social history include: Wilfred Wellock, who wrote 13 publications, and was an early Gandhian as well as a promoter of increased localism. At the end of this period, Lord Moyle (as he became) went on to serve Oldbury and Halesowen until 1964 and in the ballot for Private member's bills achieved three to legislate in respect of:
The constituency was abolished in 1950, with the Stourbridge West and Stourbridge East wards being incorporated into the Dudley constituency. An Eastern section of the old constituency was included in the new Oldbury and Halesowen seat.
Before recreation, in 1997, the seat's forerunner, Halesowen and Stourbridge, created in 1974, was held by a Conservative and both of its replacements, including this seat, were taken by Labour in 1997. The smaller remainder of the predecessor forms part of Halesowen and Rowley Regis.
Labour retained the seat by just above a marginal majority at the general election in 2001, and retained it again in 2005, with a new candidate, Lynda Waltho, with a marginal majority of 1% of the vote.
The Tories regained the seat at the 2010 election, via their candidate winning, Margot James.
Constituency profile
Much of the town consists of suburban streets, interspersed with green spaces, with the other settlements being contiguous. Stourbridge borders on green belt land, and is close to unspoiled countryside with rural Shropshire close by to the west. The Clent Hills, Kinver Edge and large areas of farmland lie to the south and west.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 4.8% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.
Elections in the 1940s
General Election 1939/40: Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;