Brierley Hill (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950–1974

Brierley Hill

Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
1950–February 1974
Seats| one
Created from| Cannock and Kingswinford
Replaced by| Dudley West, Wolverhampton South West, South West Staffordshire & Halesowen and Stourbridge

Brierley Hill parliamentary constituency was located in the West Midlands of England. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

## History

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The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

## Boundaries

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The seat was named after a town in the historic county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England.

It consisted of four local government areas, the Urban Districts of Amblecote, Brierley Hill, and Tettenhall as well as the Rural District of Seisdon, as they existed in 1948.

Before 1950 much of the area (Amblecote and Brierley Hill) had been part of the Kingswinford constituency. The rest (Tettenhall and Seisdon) were part of Cannock constituency.

In the redistribution which took effect in early 1974, this constituency was abolished. There had been changes in local government arrangements since 1950, so most of the area of the old seat had been divided between the County Boroughs of Dudley and Wolverhampton. The Brierley Hill ward of Dudley became part of the Dudley West constituency, whereas the Tettenhall Regis and Tettenhall Wightwick wards of Wolverhampton were part of the Wolverhampton South West seat. Seisdon became part of the South West Staffordshire division. Most of Amblecote had been included in the Worcestershire Municipal Borough of Stourbridge, so it became part of the Halesowen and Stourbridge parliamentary constituency.

## Members of Parliament

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Election | Member | Party | Notes

|
|
|

| 1950 | Charles Simmons | Labour
| 1959 | John Talbot | Conservative | Died January 1967
| 1967 by-election | Fergus Montgomery | Conservative
Feb 1974 | constituency abolished

## Elections

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### Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1950: Brierley Hill[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Charles Simmons | 24,302  | 50.32  |
| Conservative | Rolf Dudley-Williams | 19,665  | 40.72  |
| Liberal | Thomas Patrick Hanley  | 4,329  | 8.96  |
Majority  | 4,637  | 9.60  |
Turnout | 48,296  | 85.45  |
| Labour win (new seat)
General election 1951: Brierley Hill[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Charles Simmons | 25,510  | 52.36  |
| Conservative | John Dalley  | 23,212  | 47.64  |
Majority  | 2,298  | 4.72  |
Turnout | 48,722  | 85.00  |
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
General election 1955: Brierley Hill[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Charles Simmons | 25,013  | 50.97  |
| Conservative | W Howard Green  | 24,064  | 49.03  |
Majority  | 949  | 1.93  |
Turnout | 49,077  | 78.93  |
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
General election 1959: Brierley Hill[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | J. E. Talbot | 31,202  | 53.55  |
| Labour | Charles Simmons | 27,069  | 46.45  |
Majority  | 4,133  | 7.10  | N/A
Turnout | 58,271  | 81.89  |
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing |  |

### Elections in the 1960s

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General election 1964: Brierley Hill[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | J. E. Talbot | 33,370  | 52.01  |
| Labour | Peter Archer | 28,968  | 45.15  |
| Independent |

* William Brown

| 1,820  | 2.84  | New
Majority  | 4,402  | 6.86  |
Turnout | 64,158  | 79.98  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

* Anti-Common Market

General election 1966: Brierley Hill[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | J. E. Talbot | 34,026  | 51.18  |
| Labour | Katharine C Rogers  | 32,459  | 48.82  |
Majority  | 1,567  | 2.36  |
Turnout | 66,485  | 78.95  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |
1967 Brierley Hill by-election[2] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Fergus Montgomery | 31,371  | 53.75  | +2.57
| Labour | Derek Forwood  | 21,151  | 36.24  | −12.58
| Liberal | Michael Steed | 4,536  | 7.77  | New
| All Party Alliance | John Creasey | 1,305  | 2.24  | New
Majority  | 10,220  | 17.51  |
Turnout | 58,363  |  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

### Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1970: Brierley Hill[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Fergus Montgomery | 43,440  | 60.63  |
| Labour | Thomas Pritchard  | 28,203  | 39.37  |
Majority  | 15,237  | 21.27  |
Turnout | 71,643  | 73.29  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

## See also

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* List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g Craig 1971[page needed]
2. ^ "1967 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

## Bibliography

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* Craig, FWS, ed. (1971). British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1970. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 978-0900178023.
* Craig, FWS, ed. (1972). Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972. Political Reference Publications. ISBN 978-0900178092.
* Stenton, M; Lees, S, eds. (1981). Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979. Harvester Press.
* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 5)