Stourbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Stourbridge is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Suzanne Webb, a Conservative Party politician. The seat was previously held by Margot James, a Conservative who lost the whip during September and October 2019.[n 2][2]

Stourbridge
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Stourbridge in West Midlands
Location of West Midlands within England
County	West Midlands
Electorate	70,225 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Amblecote, Cradley, Lye, Quarry Bank, Stourbridge
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Suzanne Webb (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Halesowen & Stourbridge Dudley East Dudley West
1918–1950
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Oldbury and Halesowen and Dudley
Created from	North Worcestershire

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

Election	Member[3]	Party
1918	John William Wilson		Liberal
1922	Douglas Pielou		Unionist
1927 by-election	Wilfred Wellock		Labour
1931	Robert Morgan		Conservative
1945	Arthur Moyle		Labour
1950	constituency abolished

MPs since 1997

Election	Member[3]	Party
1997	Debra Shipley		Labour
2005	Lynda Waltho		Labour
2010	Margot James		Conservative
2019			Independent
2019	Suzanne Webb		Conservative

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.[4]

Boundaries

Stourbridge is one of four constituencies in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, covering the south-west of the borough.

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.

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.

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Stourbridge, the Urban Districts of Lye and Wollescote, and Oldbury, and the Rural District of Halesowen.

History

1918–1950

Stourbridge was one of just seventeen constituencies to have a woman candidate, Mary Macarthur, to contest the 1918 general election, the first occasion some women could vote and stand in Parliamentary elections. She stood as the Labour Party candidate. Macarthur was a trades union leader and well known in the area. However the returning officer insisted she should be listed under her married name, Mrs W. C. Anderson.[5]

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:

• Humane Slaughter of Horses
• Air Pollution
• Children of the divorced (custody etc.) as recommended by the Royal Commission

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.

1997–date

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 Eastern part of the predecessor forms part of Halesowen and Rowley Regis. To compensate from the loss of these areas, The Amblecote ward was brought in from the Dudley West constituency, while the Quarry Bank & Cradley ward was brought in from Dudley East.

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.

In 2015, Pete Lowe, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge had his own beer brewed. 'Born Bred Believes' was brewed by Kinver Brewery in support of his candidacy.[6]

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Stourbridge[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Suzanne Webb	27,534	60.3	5.7
	Labour	Pete Lowe	13,963	30.6	7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	2,523	5.5	3.2
	Green	Andi Mohr	1,048	2.3	1.2
	Independent	Aaron Hudson	621	1.4	1.4
Majority			13,571	29.7	13.7
Turnout			45,689	65.4	1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.7

General election 2017: Stourbridge[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Margot James	25,706	54.5	8.5
	Labour	Pete Lowe	18,052	38.3	6.8
	UKIP	Glen Wilson	1,801	3.8	13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	1,083	2.3	1.0
	Green	Andi Mohr	493	1.0	1.2
Majority			7,654	16.0	1.5
Turnout			47,855	67.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.9

General election 2015: Stourbridge[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Margot James	21,195	46.0	3.4
	Labour	Pete Lowe	14,501	31.5	0.2
	UKIP	James Carver	7,774	16.9	12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	1,538	3.3	13.0
	Green	Christian Kiever	1,021	2.2	1.4
Majority			6,694	14.5	3.6
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.8

General election 2010: Stourbridge[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Margot James	20,153	42.7	3.4
	Labour	Lynda Waltho	14,989	31.7	10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	7,733	16.4	0.4
	UKIP	Maddy Westrop	2,103	4.5	1.8
	BNP	Robert Weale	1,696	3.6	3.6
	Green	Will Duckworth	394	0.8	0.8
	Independent	Alun Nicholas	166	0.4	0.4
Majority			5,164	11.0	N/A
Turnout			47,234	67.8	3.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Stourbridge[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Lynda Waltho	17,089	41.0	6.1
	Conservative	Diana Coad	16,682	40.0	2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	6,850	16.4	4.3
	UKIP	Daniel Mau	1,087	2.6	0.7
Majority			407	1.0	8.5
Turnout			41,708	64.7	2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	4.3

General election 2001: Stourbridge[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Debra Shipley	18,823	47.1	0.1
	Conservative	Stephen Eyre	15,011	37.6	1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	4,833	12.1	2.2
	UKIP	John Knotts	763	1.9	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Mick Atherton	494	1.2	N/A
Majority			3,812	9.5	1.9
Turnout			39,924	61.8	14.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Stourbridge[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Debra Shipley	23,452	47.2	8.9
	Conservative	Warren Hawksley	17,807	35.8	13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	7,123	14.3	2.5
	Referendum	Peter Quick	1,319	2.7	N/A
Majority			5,645	11.4	N/A
Turnout			49,701	76.5	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Stourbridge[15] Electorate 97,095

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Arthur Moyle	34,912	48.5	14.2
	Conservative	Robert Morgan	18,979	26.3	17.2
	Liberal	Ralph Brown	18,159	25.2	3.0
Majority			15,933	22.1
Turnout				74.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

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;

• Conservative: Robert Morgan
• Liberal: Ralph Brown[16]
• Labour: Wilfred Wellock[17]

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Stourbridge[15] Electorate 80,598

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Morgan	24,898	43.5	4.2
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	19,597	34.3	1.5
	Liberal	Donald Finnemore	12,864	22.2	5.8
Majority			5,301	9.2	2.7
Turnout			57,179	70.9	11.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Stourbridge[15] Electorate 70,324

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Morgan	22,652	39.3	7.5
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	18,910	32.8	5.6
	Liberal	Donald Finnemore	16,121	28.0	1.8
Majority			3,742	6.5	N/A
Turnout			57,683	82.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.5

Elections in the 1920s

General election, 30 May 1929: Stourbridge[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	21,343	38.4	3.5
	Unionist	Stanley Reed	17,675	31.8	2.2
	Liberal	Donald Finnemore	16,537	29.8	5.7
Majority			3,668	6.6
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

1927 Stourbridge by-election[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	16,561	41.9	7.1
	Unionist	Henry Hogbin	13,462	34.0	5.5
	Liberal	Aneurin Edwards	9,535	24.1	1.6
Majority			3,099	7.9
Turnout
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

General election, 29 October 1924: Stourbridge[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Douglas Pielou	16,023	39.5
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	14,113	34.8
	Liberal	Geoffrey Mander	10,418	25.7
Majority			1,910	4.7
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1923: Stourbridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Douglas Pielou	14,764	39.8
	Liberal	Harry Palfrey	13,269	35.8
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	9,050	24.4	n/a
Majority			1,495	4.0
Turnout			37,083
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1922 : Stourbridge[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Douglas Pielou	18,200	51.8	n/a
	Liberal	John William Wilson	16,949	48.2	9.7
Majority			1,251	3.6
Turnout			35,149
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918 Stourbridge[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Wilson	8,920	38.5	n/a
	Labour	Mary Macarthur	7,587	32.7	n/a
C	National Democratic	Victor Fisher	6,690	28.8	n/a
Majority			1,333	5.8	n/a
Turnout			23,197	55.0	n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

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

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. [https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2019/11/03/stourbridge-mp-margot-james-announces-she-will-not-stand-at-general-election/ resignation letter to the Prime Minister, printed in Express and Star
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
4. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
5. Hallam, David J. A. Taking on the Men: the first women parliamentary candidates 1918, Studley 2018, chapter 3 "Mary Macarthur in Stourbridge".
6. "Meet the only candidate in the election with his own election song AND his very own beer". The Independent. 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
7. "Stourbridge Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
8. Bev Holder (10 May 2017). "UKIP confirms General Election candidates for Stourbridge and Dudley South". Stourbridge News. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
9. "Stourbridge results". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
16. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
17. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
18. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949, Craig, F.W.S.

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 503. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.