Stourbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Stourbridge is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the West Midlands represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Cat Eccles of the Labour Party.

Stourbridge
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Stourbridge in West Midlands region
County	West Midlands
Electorate	70,225 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Amblecote, Cradley, Lye, Quarry Bank, Stourbridge, Brierley Hill
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Cat Eccles (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Halesowen & Stourbridge Dudley East Dudley West
1918–1950
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	North Worcestershire
Replaced by	Oldbury and Halesowen and Dudley

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Stourbridge, the Urban Districts of Lye and Wollescote, and Oldbury, and the Rural District of Halesowen.

1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Lye and Wollescote, Norton, Pedmore and Stourbridge East, Quarry Bank and Cradley, and Wollaston and Stourbridge West.

2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Cradley and Foxcote, Lye and Wollescote, Norton, Pedmore and Stourbridge East, Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood, and Wollaston and Stourbridge Town.

2024–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of: Amblecote; Brierley Hill; Lye and Stourbridge North; Netherton, Woodside and St. Andrews; Norton; Pedmore and Stourbridge East; Wollaston and Stourbridge Town.^[2]

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the seat was subject to significant boundary changes. These entail the loss of the areas of Cradley, Wollescote, Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood which were moved to the new constituency of Halesowen, offset by the gain of Brierley Hill, Netherton and Woodside from the abolished constituency of Dudley South.^[3]

Stourbridge is one of three constituencies principally in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley (alongside Dudley and Halesowen), covering the south-west of the borough.

Constituency profile

Much of the town consists of suburban streets, interspersed with green spaces, with the other settlements being contiguous. Stourbridge borders on green belt land, and is close to unspoiled countryside with rural Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire close by to the west. The Clent Hills, Kinver Edge and large areas of farmland lie to the south and west.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 4.8% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[4]

History

1918–1950

Stourbridge was one of just seventeen constituencies to have a woman candidate, Mary Macarthur, to contest the 1918 general election, the first occasion some women could vote and stand in Parliamentary elections. She stood as the Labour Party candidate. Macarthur was a trades union leader and well known in the area. However the returning officer insisted she should be listed under her married name, Mrs W. C. Anderson.^[5]

During this period no ministerial roles happened to have been awarded to any of the members. Prominent members in social history include Wilfred Wellock, who wrote 13 publications, and was an early Gandhian as well as a promoter of increased localism. At the end of this period, Lord Moyle (as he became) went on to serve Oldbury and Halesowen until 1964 and in the ballot for private member's bills achieved three to legislate in respect of:

• Humane Slaughter of Horses
• Air Pollution
• Children of the divorced (custody etc.) as recommended by the Royal Commission

The constituency was abolished in 1950, with the Stourbridge West and Stourbridge East wards being incorporated into the Dudley constituency. An Eastern section of the old constituency was included in the new Oldbury and Halesowen seat.

1997–date

Since its recreation in 1997, the seat has been a bellwether, elected an MP at each general election from the party that formed the Government.

The seat's forerunner, Halesowen and Stourbridge, created in 1974, was held by a Conservative and both of its replacements, including this seat, were taken by Labour in 1997. The smaller remainder of the eastern part of the predecessor forms part of Halesowen and Rowley Regis. To compensate for the loss of these areas, Amblecote ward was brought in from the Dudley West constituency, while the Quarry Bank & Cradley ward was brought in from Dudley East.

Labour retained the seat by just above a marginal majority at the general election in 2001, and retained it again in 2005, with a new candidate, Lynda Waltho, with a marginal majority of 1% of the vote.

Margot James regained the seat for the Conservatives at the 2010 election, retaining it with increased majorities in 2015 and 2017. James had the Conservative whip withdrawn in September 2019 and, although it was restored, she did not stand at the 2019 election and fellow Conservative Suzanne Webb was elected with over 60% of the vote.

In 2024, the seat reverted back to Labour with the election of Cat Eccles with a majority of 7.7%.

In 2015, Pete Lowe, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge had his own beer brewed. 'Born Bred Believes' was brewed by Kinver Brewery in support of his candidacy.^[6]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

Election		Member[7]	Party
	1918	John William Wilson	Liberal
	1922	Douglas Pielou	Unionist
	1927 by-election	Wilfred Wellock	Labour
	1931	Robert Morgan	Conservative
	1945	Arthur Moyle	Labour
	1950	Constituency abolished

MPs since 1997

Halesowen & Stourbridge, Dudley East and Dudley West prior to 1997

Election		Member[7]	Party
	1997	Debra Shipley	Labour
	2005	Lynda Waltho	Labour
	2010	Margot James	Conservative
	2019		Independent
	2019	Suzanne Webb	Conservative
	2024	Cat Eccles	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Stourbridge^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cat Eccles	15,338	38.5	+9.4
	Conservative	Suzanne Webb	12,265	30.8	−31.0
	Reform UK	Richard Shaw	7,869	19.7	N/A
	Green	Stephen Price	1,732	4.3	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	1,607	4.0	−1.8
	Workers Party	Mohammed Ramzan	1,067	2.7	N/A
Majority			3,073	7.7	N/A
Turnout			39,878	57.1	−7.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+20.2

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Stourbridge^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Suzanne Webb	27,534	60.3	5.8
	Labour	Pete Lowe	13,963	30.6	7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	2,523	5.5	3.2
	Green	Andi Mohr	1,048	2.3	1.3
	Independent	Aaron Hudson	621	1.4	New
Majority			13,571	29.7	13.5
Turnout			45,689	65.4	1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.7

General election 2017: Stourbridge^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margot James	25,706	54.5	8.5
	Labour	Pete Lowe	18,052	38.3	6.8
	UKIP	Glen Wilson	1,801	3.8	13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	1,083	2.3	1.0
	Green	Andi Mohr	493	1.0	1.2
Majority			7,654	16.2	1.7
Turnout			47,855	67.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.9

General election 2015: Stourbridge^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margot James	21,195	46.0	3.3
	Labour	Pete Lowe	14,501	31.5	0.2
	UKIP	James Carver	7,774	16.9	12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	1,538	3.3	13.1
	Green	Christian Kiever	1,021	2.2	1.4
Majority			6,694	14.5	3.5
Turnout			46,029
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.8

General election 2010: Stourbridge^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margot James	20,153	42.7	3.4
	Labour	Lynda Waltho	14,989	31.7	10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	7,733	16.4	0.4
	UKIP	Maddy Westrop	2,103	4.5	1.8
	BNP	Robert Weale	1,696	3.6	New
	Green	Will Duckworth	394	0.8	New
	Independent	Alun Nicholas	166	0.4	New
Majority			5,164	11.0	N/A
Turnout			47,234	67.8	3.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Stourbridge^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynda Waltho	17,089	41.0	6.1
	Conservative	Diana Coad	16,682	40.0	2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	6,850	16.4	4.3
	UKIP	Daniel Mau	1,087	2.6	0.7
Majority			407	1.0	8.5
Turnout			41,708	64.7	2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	4.3

General election 2001: Stourbridge^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Debra Shipley	18,823	47.1	0.1
	Conservative	Stephen Eyre	15,011	37.6	1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	4,833	12.1	2.2
	UKIP	John Knotts	763	1.9	New
	Socialist Labour	Mick Atherton	494	1.2	New
Majority			3,812	9.5	1.9
Turnout			39,924	61.8	14.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Stourbridge^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Debra Shipley	23,452	47.2	8.9
	Conservative	Warren Hawksley	17,807	35.8	13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bramall	7,123	14.3	2.5
	Referendum	Peter Quick	1,319	2.7	New
Majority			5,645	11.4	N/A
Turnout			49,701	76.5
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Stourbridge^[17] Electorate 97,095

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Moyle	34,912	48.5	14.2
	Conservative	Robert Morgan	18,979	26.3	17.2
	Liberal	Ralph Brown	18,159	25.2	3.0
Majority			15,933	22.2	N/A
Turnout			72,050	74.2	3.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1939–40: Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Robert Morgan
• Liberal: Ralph Brown^[18]
• Labour: Wilfred Wellock^[19]

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Stourbridge^[17] Electorate 80,598

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Morgan	24,898	43.5	4.2
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	19,597	34.3	1.5
	Liberal	Donald Finnemore	12,684	22.2	5.8
Majority			5,301	9.2	2.7
Turnout			57,179	70.9	11.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Stourbridge^[17] Electorate 70,324

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Morgan	22,652	39.3	7.5
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	18,910	32.8	5.6
	Liberal	Donald Finnemore	16,121	28.0	1.8
Majority			3,742	6.5	N/A
Turnout			57,683	82.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.5

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Stourbridge^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	21,343	38.4	3.6
	Unionist	Stanley Reed	17,675	31.8	7.7
	Liberal	Donald Finnemore	16,537	29.8	4.1
Majority			3,668	6.6	N/A
Turnout			55,555
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

1927 Stourbridge by-election^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	16,561	41.9	7.1
	Unionist	Henry Hogbin	13,462	34.0	5.5
	Liberal	Aneurin Edwards	9,535	24.1	1.6
Majority			3,099	7.9	N/A
Turnout			39,558
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

General election 1924: Stourbridge^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Pielou	16,023	39.5	−0.3
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	14,113	34.8	+10.4
	Liberal	Geoffrey Mander	10,418	25.7	−10.1
Majority			1,910	4.7	+0.7
Turnout			40,554
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1923: Stourbridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Pielou	14,764	39.8	−12.0
	Liberal	Harry Palfrey	13,269	35.8	−12.4
	Labour	Wilfred Wellock	9,050	24.4	New
Majority			1,495	4.0	+0.4
Turnout			37,083
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1922: Stourbridge^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Pielou	18,200	51.8	New
	Liberal	John William Wilson	16,949	48.2	9.7
Majority			1,251	3.6	N/A
Turnout			35,149
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Stourbridge^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wilson	8,920	38.5
	Labour	Mary Macarthur	7,587	32.7
C	National Democratic	Victor Fisher	6,690	28.8
Majority			1,333	5.8
Turnout			23,197	55.0
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

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 Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
3. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
4. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
5. Hallam, David J. A. Taking on the Men: the first women parliamentary candidates 1918, Studley 2018, chapter 3 "Mary Macarthur in Stourbridge".
6. "Meet the only candidate in the election with his own election song AND his very own beer". The Independent. 6 April 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
8. "Stourbridge". BBC News. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
9. "Stourbridge Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
10. Bev Holder (10 May 2017). "UKIP confirms General Election candidates for Stourbridge and Dudley South". Stourbridge News. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
11. "Stourbridge results". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
18. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
19. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
20. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949, Craig, F.W.S.

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 503. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

External links

• Stourbridge UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Stourbridge UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Stourbridge UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

52.46°N 2.13°W / 52.46; -2.13