Warley (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997-2024

Warley

Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons

2010–2024 boundary of Warley in West Midlands

Location of West Midlands within England

County| West Midlands
Electorate| 63,024 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements| Smethwick, Brandhall, Langley Green
1997–2024
Seats| One
Created from| Warley East, Warley West
Replaced by| Smethwick

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Election | Member[5] | Party

|
|

| 1997 | John Spellar | Labour
| 2024 | Constituency abolished

## Election results 1997–2024

[edit]

### Elections in the 1990s

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* List of parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)

## 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

[edit]

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. ^ "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.

## External links

[edit]

* Warley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
* Warley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

People|

* UK Parliament