Dudley West (UK Parliament constituency)

Dudley West
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Midlands
February 1974–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Dudley North Dudley South Stourbridge
Created from	Brierley Hill Dudley

Dudley West was a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Dudley in the West Midlands. It existed from 1974 to 1997, returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election, from the old Dudley constituency (which was created following the Reform Act in 1832) along with the Brierley Hill constituency, and abolished for the 1997 general election. It was a 'bellwether' constituency where the winner of each general election throughout its existence matched the party which won the election.

Boundaries

1974-1983: The County Borough of Dudley wards of Brierley Hill, Brockmoor and Pensnett, Gornal, Kingswinford and Wall Heath, Quarry Bank, Sedgley, and Wordsley.

1983-1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Brierley Hill, Brockmoor and Pensnett, Gornal, Kingswinford North and Wall Heath, Kingswinford South, Sedgley, and Wordsley.

Dudley West was one of three constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, encompassing the western half of the town of Dudley. The constituency included Brierley Hill, Kingswinford, and parts of Sedgley. At abolition in 1997, both Dudley West and Dudley East were replaced by two new constituencies: Dudley North and Dudley South, with some constituents being transferred to the re-formed Stourbridge constituency.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[1]	Party	Notes
Feb 1974	Colin Phipps	Labour
1979	John Blackburn	Conservative	Died October 1994
1994 by-election	Ian Pearson	Labour
1997	constituency abolished: see Dudley South, Dudley North and Stourbridge

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

1994 by-election: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ian Pearson	28,400	68.8	+28.0
	Conservative	Graham Postles	7,706	18.7	−30.2
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Hadley	3,154	7.6	−2.8
	UKIP	Malcolm Floyd	590	1.4	N/A
	National Front	Andy Carmichael	561	1.4	N/A
	Liberal	Mike Hyde	548	1.3	N/A
	New Britain	Mike Nattrass	146	0.3	N/A
	FOREST - Freedom of Choice for Smokers	Marjorie Nicholson	77	0.2	N/A
	Natural Law	John Oldbury	70	0.2	N/A
	21st Century Conservatives Party	Colin Palmer	55	0.1	N/A
Majority			20,694	50.1	+42.0
Turnout			41,307	47.0	-32.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+29.1

General Election 1992: Dudley West^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Graham Blackburn	34,729	48.8	−1.0
	Labour	KJ Lomax	28,940	40.7	+6.7
	Liberal Democrat	GPT Lewis	7,446	10.5	−5.7
Majority			5,789	8.1	−7.7
Turnout			71,115	82.1	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.8

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Graham Blackburn	32,224	49.82
	Labour	Gary Titley	21,980	33.98
	Liberal	Gerald P.T. Lewis	10,477	16.20
Majority			10,244	15.84
Turnout				79.08
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Graham Blackburn	27,250	46.16
	Labour	W Price	18,527	31.39
	Liberal	GPT Lewis	13,251	22.45
Majority			8,723	14.78
Turnout				75.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Graham Blackburn	30,158	50.88
	Labour	MJ Hartley-Brewer	29,109	49.12
Majority			1,049	1.77
Turnout				76.45
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election October 1974: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Colin Phipps	28,740	51.13
	Conservative	LE Smith	20,215	35.96
	Liberal	A Martin	7,259	12.91
Majority			8,525	15.17
Turnout				75.21
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Dudley West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Colin Phipps	29,143	48.9	N/A
	Conservative	Fergus Montgomery	24,474	41.1	N/A
	Independent Liberal	M Thirlby	5,971	10.0	N/A
Majority			4,669	7.84	N/A
Turnout			59,588	80.3	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Notes and references

↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.

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