Walsall North was a
constituency
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
in the
West Midlands represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
of the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...
, created in 1955.
The local electorate returned a
Labour MP in the constituency's first seventeen general elections; in the following election Eddie Hughes became its second Conservative MP, following an earlier by-election win by his party in 1976. The constituency consisted of green-buffered urban areas across one half of the formerly metalworking- and manufacturing-centred town of
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
, and the main other settlement within its boundaries,
Bloxwich
Bloxwich is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills.
The most famous resident is John Singh Sangha, the Bengali tiger, the ...
.
Further to the completion of the
2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...
, the seat was abolished. Subject to major boundary changes, it was reformed as
Walsall and Bloxwich, first contested at the
2024 general election
This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
* 2024 United Nations Security Council election
* 2024 national electoral calendar
* 2024 local electo ...
.
Constituency profile
The constituency was in the heart of an area traditionally focused on manufacturing which retained many mechanical and engineering jobs in its economy.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 8.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', not the highest in the region (which was Birmingham Ladywood at 11.1%) but also significantly higher than the average for the region, 4.7%.
Boundaries
Walsall North was one of three constituencies covering the
Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Darlaston, Pelsal ...
. The others were
Walsall South and
Aldridge-Brownhills.
1955–1964: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich, Hatherton, and Leamore, and the Urban District of Brownhills.
1964–1974: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Hatherton, and Leamore, and the Urban District of Brownhills.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Bentley, Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Leamore, Willenhall North and Willenhall South.
1983–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills Leamore, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Short Heath, Willenhall North, and Willenhall South.
History
;Results between 1955 and 1979
The seat was created in 1955 from part of
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
. Its first
Member of Parliament was W.T. Wells of the
Labour Party, who had been the MP for Walsall. In 1974, he was succeeded by controversial Labour MP
John Stonehouse
John Thomson Stonehouse (28 July 192514 April 1988) was a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician, businessman and minister who was a member of the Cabinet under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He is remembered for his unsuccessful atte ...
, who was appointed
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters.
History
The practice of having a government official ...
and became infamous for faking his own death, being later jailed for
fraud
In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
. After resigning from the party in April 1976, he was invited to join the
English National Party
English National Party has been the name of various political parties of England, which have commonly called for a separate parliament for England.
The original ENP
History
The English National Party (ENP) was founded as the John Hampden New ...
, becoming their first (and only) MP, before being forced to resign as an MP in August 1976. The ensuing
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
was won by
Robin Hodgson
Robin Granville Hodgson, Baron Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, (born 25 April 1942) is a British Conservative Party politician and life peer.
Early life and education
Hodgson was born in 1942 in Leamington Spa, son of Henry Edward Hodgson. He ...
, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
.
;Results since 1979
Labour regained the seat in 1979; their candidate was the former
Croydon South MP
David Winnick
David Julian Winnick (born 26 June 1933) is a British Labour Party politician who served 42 years as a Member of Parliament (MP), for Walsall North between 1979 and 2017, he was also the MP for Croydon South from 1966 to 1970.
Early life
Bo ...
, who represented the constituency until 2017. Aside from a marginal majority in 1987 of 3.7%, Winnick's wins from and including 1979 ranged between 7.3% and 29% (the latter twice) until 2010. He fended off a strong challenge from Conservative Helyn Clack, who he beat by 2.7% of the vote in 2010. Going into the
2015 general election, Walsall North was 13th on the list of Conservative target seats. Winnick increased his majority to 1,937 — 5.2% of the vote. The 2015 result gave the seat the 22nd-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.
;Other parties since 1979
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
candidates finished runner-up in each election from and including 1979, winning in 2017.
The
UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...
swing of +17.2% in 2015, coming the year before the UK's
EU membership referendum, was higher than the national average of 9.5%. The
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...
,
TUSC and
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
candidates of 2015 won less than 5% of the vote, so lost their
deposits
A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below.
...
.
The
Liberal Democrats managed to produce their best result since the seat's 1955 creation (counting their two predecessor parties) in 1983, when
Liberal A. Bentley polled 20.7% of the vote. In 2005 and 2010, the
BNP saved their deposit by polling more than 5% of the vote. The last time this percentage had been reached by a candidate in Walsall North in other than the top three parties had been 1976.
Abolition
Further to the completion of the
2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...
, the seat was abolished prior to the
2024 general election
This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
* 2024 United Nations Security Council election
* 2024 national electoral calendar
* 2024 local electo ...
, with its contents distributed three ways:
* The majority, comprising the
Birchills Leamore,
Blakenall and two
Bloxwich
Bloxwich is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills.
The most famous resident is John Singh Sangha, the Bengali tiger, the ...
wards were combined with the majority of the disappearing
Walsall South seat, which includes
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
town centre, to form the new constituency of
Walsall and Bloxwich
*
Short Heath and
Willenhall
Willenhall is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census of 49,587. It is ...
North wards to
Wolverhampton North East
Wolverhampton North East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is represented by Sureena ...
* Willenhall South ward to
Wolverhampton South East
Wolverhampton South East is a constituency in West Midlands that was created in 1974. The seat has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Pat McFadden of the Labour Party since 2005. McFadden curre ...
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
See also
*
Notes
References
External links
Walsall North UK Parliament constituency(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''
(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''
{{Coord, 52.61, -2.01, type:adm2nd_dim:9000_region:GB, display=title
Politics of Walsall
Parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county) (historic)
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1955
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024
Metropolitan Borough of Walsall