West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency)

West Bromwich
West Bromwich
Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1885–February 1974
Seats	One
Created from	Wednesbury
Replaced by	West Bromwich East,; West Bromwich West

West Bromwich was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1974. It centred on West Bromwich, in the West Midlands. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be re-established for the next general election. It will comprise the majority of the (to be abolished) West Bromwich East seat, together with the Oldbury and Tividale wards from West Bromwich West and the Rowley ward from Halesowen and Rowley Regis (both also to be abolished).[1]

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was divided into West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West. Most of the original West Bromwich constituency formed the new West Bromwich East constituency, while the new West Bromwich West constituency consisted largely of Tipton and Wednesbury - both of which had been added to an expanded West Bromwich borough in 1966. In 1974, just after the February general election, the borough of West Bromwich ceased to exist when it merged with the short-lived County Borough of Warley (which was centred on Oldbury, Smethwick and Rowley Regis) to form Sandwell.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The municipal borough of West Bromwich.[2]

1918-1950: The County Borough of West Bromwich.[3]

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party	Notes
1885	John Horton Blades	Liberal
1886	Sir Ernest Spencer	Conservative
1906	Alfred Hazel	Liberal
Jan 1910	William Legge	Conservative
1918	Frederick Roberts	Labour
1931	Alexander Ramsay	Conservative
1935	Frederick Roberts	Labour	Resigned 1941
1941 by-election	John Dugdale	Labour	Died March 1963
1963 by-election	Maurice Foley	Labour	Resigned 1973
1973 by-election	Betty Boothroyd	Labour	Subsequently, MP for West Bromwich West; later Speaker of the House of Commons
Feb 1974	constituency abolished: see West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John Horton Blades	3,988	55.7
	Conservative	Ernest Spencer	3,171	44.3
Majority			817	11.4
Turnout			7,159	81.8
Registered electors			8,749
	Liberal win (new seat)

Ernest Spencer

General election 1886: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Spencer	3,660	54.2	+9.9
	Liberal	Thomas James Moore[5]	3,091	45.8	−9.9
Majority			569	8.4	N/A
Turnout			6,751	77.2	−4.6
Registered electors			8,749
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.9

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Spencer	4,474	56.6	+2.4
	Liberal	Thomas Lee Roberts[6]	3,429	43.4	−2.4
Majority			1,045	13.2	+4.8
Turnout			7,903	86.1	+8.9
Registered electors			9,174
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

General election 1895: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Spencer	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Spencer	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Alfred Hazel

General election 1906: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Hazel	5,475	56.2	*New*
	Conservative	William Legge	4,259	43.8	N/A
Majority			1,216	12.4	N/A
Turnout			9,734	90.8	N/A
Registered electors			10,726
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Legge	5,672	53.5	+9.7
	Liberal	Alfred Hazel	4,937	46.5	−9.7
Majority			735	7.0	N/A
Turnout			10,609	93.9	+3.1
Registered electors			11,299
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.7

General election December 1910: West Bromwich[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Legge	5,010	50.0	−3.5
	Liberal	Alfred Hazel	5,008	50.0	+3.5
Majority			2	0.0	−7.0
Turnout			10,018	88.7	−5.2
Registered electors			11,299
	Unionist hold		Swing	−3.5

A petition was lodged regarding this election but was later dismissed. The first count had Legge on 5,046 votes, while Hazel had 5,041 votes. A recount put Legge on 5,029 votes, while Hazel had 4,987 votes. Further scrutiny led to the above results.

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Unionist: William Legge
Liberal: Alfred Hazel[7]

General election 1918: West Bromwich[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	11,572	54.0	*New*
C	Unionist	William Legge	9,863	46.0	−4.0
Majority			1,709	8.0	N/A
Turnout			21,435	65.4	−23.3
Registered electors			32,777
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Liberal candidate Alfred Hazel withdrew at the last minute

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: West Bromwich[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	14,210	50.6	−3.4
	Unionist	Herbert Edgar Parkes	11,263	40.1	−4.9
	Liberal	Aneurin Edwards	2,622	9.3	New
Majority			2,947	10.5	+2.5
Turnout			28,095	85.7	+20.3
Registered electors			32,768
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.8

General election 1923: West Bromwich [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	12,910	44.8	−5.8
	Unionist	Herbert Edgar Parkes	11,146	38.7	−1.4
	Liberal	Aneurin Edwards	4,749	16.5	+7.2
Majority			1,764	6.1	−4.4
Turnout			28,805	85.0	−0.7
Registered electors			33,898
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.2

General election 1924: West Bromwich[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	15,384	51.6	+6.8
	Unionist	Henry Archibald Roger Graham	14,413	48.4	+9.7
Majority			971	3.2	−2.9
Turnout			29,797	86.5	+1.5
Registered electors			34,503
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.5

General election 1929: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	19,621	52.1	+0.5
	Unionist	J I Chesshire	10,943	29.0	−19.4
	Liberal	William Ramage	7,119	18.9	New
Majority			8,678	23.1	+19.9
Turnout			37,683	83.1	−3.4
Registered electors			45,371
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.0

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Ramsay	17,729	45.71
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	17,204	44.36
	Liberal	William Ramage	3,851	9.93
Majority			525	1.35	N/A
Turnout			38,784	81.66
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Roberts	19,113	51.26
	Conservative	Robert Ashton	18,175	48.74
Majority			938	2.52	N/A
Turnout			37,288	74.80
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1941 West Bromwich by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Dugdale	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1945: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Dugdale	27,979	69.9	+18.6
	Conservative	Gerald Nabarro	12,028	30.1	−18.6
Majority			15,951	39.8	+37.3
Turnout			40,007	72.5	−2.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+18.6

Changes are calculated against the results of the 1935 general election, rather than the uncontested 1941 by-election

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Dugdale	31,564	65.40
	Conservative	William Ward	16,697	34.60
Majority			14,867	30.80
Turnout			48,261	82.84
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Dugdale	30,845	64.22
	Conservative	Gordon D Johnstone	17,186	35.78
Majority			13,659	28.44
Turnout			48,031	80.51
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Dugdale	26,242	61.80
	Conservative	Francis John Vernon Hereward Dashwood, 11th Baronet	16,222	38.20
Majority			10,020	23.60
Turnout			42,464	70.21
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Dugdale	26,702	57.4	−4.4
	Conservative	Anthony Hubert Windrum	19,809	42.6	+4.4
Majority			6,893	14.8	−8.8
Turnout			46,511	72.6	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.2

Elections in the 1960s

1963 West Bromwich by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maurice Foley	20,510	58.7	+1.3
	Conservative	George Hawkins	8,246	26.5	−16.1
	Liberal	N. R. W. Mawle	6,161	17.6	New
Majority			12,264	35.2	+20.4
Turnout			34,917
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maurice Foley	22,942	55.1	-2.3
	Conservative	George Hawkins	18,664	44.9	+2.3
Majority			4,278	10.2	-4.6
Turnout			41,606	64.7	-7.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maurice Foley	25,287	57.9	+2.8
	Conservative	George Hawkins	18,413	42.1	−2.8
Majority			6,874	15.8	+5.6
Turnout			43,700	68.8	+4.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maurice Foley	23,412	55.2	−2.7
	Conservative	George Hawkins	18,976	44.8	+2.7
Majority			4,436	10.4	-5.4
Turnout			42,388	62.07	-6.7
	Labour hold		Swing

By-election 1973: West Bromwich
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Betty Boothroyd	15,907	53.21	−2.0
	Conservative	David Bell	7,582	25.36	−19.4
	National Front	Martin Webster	4,789	16.02	New
	Independent	Joshua Churchman	1,616	5.41	New
Majority			8,325	27.85
Turnout			29,894
	Labour hold		Swing

References

"West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
"Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the People Act, 1918: with explanatory notes. London: Sweet and Maxwell.
Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 205. ISBN 9781349022984.
"The Parliamentary Election". Birmingham Daily Post. 2 July 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 14 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
"Mr T. Lee Roberts". Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette. 26 December 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
Evening Despatch 16 Feb 1914
British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)

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[1] "West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[2] "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.

[3] Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the People Act, 1918: with explanatory notes. London: Sweet and Maxwell.

[craig1885-4] Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 205. ISBN 9781349022984.

[5] "The Parliamentary Election". Birmingham Daily Post. 2 July 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 14 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] "Mr T. Lee Roberts". Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette. 26 December 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2017.

[7] Evening Despatch 16 Feb 1914

[ReferenceA-8] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig