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Warley (UK Parliament constituency)

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Warley
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
2010–2024 boundary of Warley in West Midlands
Outline map
Location of West Midlands within England
CountyWest Midlands
Electorate63,024 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsSmethwick, Brandhall, Langley Green
1997–2024
SeatsOne
Created fromWarley East, Warley West
Replaced bySmethwick

Warley was a constituency[n 1] in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency was represented since its creation in 1997 and until its abolition in 2024 by John Spellar, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

As a result of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to moderate boundary changes, including expansion to include most of the Blackheath ward, it was reformed as Smethwick, first contested at the 2024 general election.[2]

Constituency profile

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The constituency had a wide range of housing on the gently hilly West Midlands terrain, with fast transport links to Birmingham, Dudley and Wolverhampton. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 7.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian however female unemployment, reflecting a central West Midlands pattern, perhaps with more women homemakers, unusually exceeded male unemployment at 10.1%.[3]

Boundaries

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Map
Map of boundaries 1997-2024

Warley was one of four constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, covering the south and south-east of the borough. It covered much of the former County Borough of Warley, including the town of Smethwick as well as Brandhall and Langley Green.

It consisted of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell wards of Abbey, Bristnall, Langley, Old Warley, St Paul's, Smethwick, and Soho and Victoria.

History

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Creation and forerunners

The constituency was formed in 1997, and was for the most part the former Warley East constituency. John Spellar of the Labour Party represented Warley since 1997, having previously represented Warley West. Warley East and Warley West had been held by Labour since their creation in 1974. Minor parts of the seat around Oldbury had been in the quite marginal Labour-Conservative seat of Oldbury and Halesowen before 1974.

Results of winning party

The 2015 result made the seat the 34th-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[4] The elections have to date resulted in the Labour incumbent, Spellar, gaining more than 50% of votes cast.

Opposition parties

The candidates fielded by the Conservative Party have taken the runner-up position since the seat's creation. Third place has varied between two parties to date in the seat's history.

Turnout

Turnout has ranged from 54.1% in 2001 to 65.1% in 1997.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[5] Party
1997 John Spellar Labour
2024 Constituency abolished

Election results 1997-2024

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Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1997: Warley[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Spellar 24,813 63.8
Conservative Christopher Pincher 9,362 24.1
Liberal Democrats Jeremy Pursehouse 3,777 9.7
Referendum Krishna Gamre 941 2.4
Majority 15,451 39.7
Turnout 38,893 65.0
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 2000s

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General election 2001: Warley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Spellar 19,007 60.5 –3.3
Conservative Mark Pritchard 7,157 22.8 –1.3
Liberal Democrats Ron Cockings 3,315 10.6 +0.9
Socialist Labour Harbhajan Dardi 1,936 6.2 New
Majority 11,850 37.7 –2.0
Turnout 31,415 54.1 –10.9
Labour hold Swing
General election 2005: Warley[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Spellar 17,462 54.4 –6.1
Conservative Karen Bissell 7,315 22.8 0.0
Liberal Democrats Tony Ferguson 4,277 13.3 +2.7
BNP Simon Smith 1,761 5.5 New
Socialist Labour Malcolm Connigale 637 2.0 –4.2
UKIP David Matthews 635 2.0 New
Majority 10,147 31.6 –6.1
Turnout 32,087 57.1 +3.0
Labour hold Swing –3.0

Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2010: Warley[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Spellar 20,240 52.9 –2.0
Conservative Jas Parmar 9,484 24.8 +1.9
Liberal Democrats Edward Keating[10] 5,929 15.5 +2.3
UKIP Nigel Harvey 2,617 6.8 +4.7
Majority 10,756 28.1 –4.9
Turnout 38,270 60.6 +3.4
Labour hold Swing –1.9
General election 2015: Warley[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Spellar 22,012 58.2 +5.3
Conservative Tom Williams 7,310 19.3 –5.5
UKIP Pete Durnell 6,237 16.5 +9.7
Green Robert Buckman 1,465 3.9 New
Liberal Democrats Catherine Smith 805 2.1 –13.4
Majority 14,702 38.9 +10.8
Turnout 37,829 59.3 –1.3
Labour hold Swing +5.4
General election 2017: Warley[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Spellar 27,004 67.2 +9.0
Conservative Anthony Mangnall 10,521 26.2 +6.9
UKIP Darryl Magher 1,349 3.4 –13.1
Liberal Democrats Bryan Manley-Green 777 1.9 –0.2
Green Mark Redding 555 1.4 –2.5
Majority 16,483 41.0 +2.1
Turnout 40,206 63.1 +3.8
Labour hold Swing +9.0
General election 2019: Warley[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Spellar 21,901 58.8 –8.4
Conservative Chandra Kanneganti 10,390 27.9 +1.7
Brexit Party Michael Cooper 2,469 6.6 New
Liberal Democrats Bryan Manley-Green 1,588 4.3 +2.4
Green Kathryn Downs 891 2.4 +1.0
Majority 11,511 30.9 –10.1
Turnout 37,239 59.7 –3.4
Labour hold Swing –5.1

See also

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Notes

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  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

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  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  3. ^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  4. ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
  5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
  6. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^ [1] Warley (UK Parliament constituency)
  11. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Statement of persons nominated - Warley". Sandwell Council. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  13. ^ "Warley results". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Statement of persons nominated - Warley" (PDF). Sandwell Council. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Warley parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
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