Walsall South (UK Parliament Constituency)
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to boundary changes, it will be reformed as Walsall and Bloxwich, to be first contested at the 2024 general election
Constituency profile
The constituency was in the heart of an area traditionally focussed on manufacturing, see Walsall, which retains many mechanical and engineering jobs in its economy and this seat has accessible links to the cities of Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8% and regional average of 4.7%, at 7.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.
Boundaries
Walsall South was one of three constituencies in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and specifically covered Darlaston, Moxley, Pheasey and the southern part of Walsall, including the town centre.
1955–1974: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Bridge, Caldmore, Paddock, Palfrey, and Pleck, and the Urban District of Aldridge.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Darlaston North, Darlaston South, Hatherton, Paddock, Palfrey, Pleck, and St Matthew's.
1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall wards of Bentley and Darlaston North, Darlaston South, Paddock, Palfrey, Pheasey, Pleck, and St Matthew's.
2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall wards of Bentley and Darlaston North, Darlaston South, Paddock, Palfrey, Pheasey Park Farm, Pleck, and St Matthew's.
History
The constituency was first contested in 1955 largely from Walsall constituency, and won by its only Conservative MP to date, Major-General Sir Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid.
Bruce George of the Labour Party won the seat when the Major-General stood down in the February 1974 general election, he too was a prominent supporter of the armed services and led Britain's NATO delegation to its Parliament, subsequently becoming its vice-president. While never a prominent frontbencher, George held Walsall South until his retirement at the 2010 general election, when he was succeeded by Valerie Vaz (also of the Labour Party).
- Synopsis of results
The Conservative holding of the seat through the First Wilson Ministry reveals that in these early elections the seat was not a bellwether. On the 1974 transfer in power to Wilson again, here the result proved to be a watershed election. Labour's majorities since this, only in fairly good years for the Conservatives, such as during the Thatcher ministry as well as in 1992 and 2010 and 2019 general elections have been marginal. In terms of length of a party's representation, Labour represented this area continuously for a total of 45 years as of 2019.
Abolition
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed three ways:
- Approximately half the electorate, including Walsall town centre, combined with the majority of Walsall North (also to be abolished) to form the new seat of Walsall and Bloxwich
- Pheasey Park Farm and part of the Paddock ward transferred to Aldridge-Brownhills
- Darlaston and Bentley transferred to Wolverhampton South East
Members of Parliament
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid | Conservative | |
Feb 1974 | Bruce George | Labour | |
2010 | Valerie Vaz | Labour |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Valerie Vaz | 20,872 | 49.1 | –8.3 | |
Conservative | Gurjit Bains | 17,416 | 41.0 | +3.8 | |
Brexit Party | Gary Hughes | 1,660 | 3.9 | New | |
Liberal Democrats | Paul Harris | 1,602 | 3.8 | +2.5 | |
Green | John Macefield | 634 | 1.5 | New | |
Independent | Akheil Mehboob | 288 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 3,456 | 8.1 | –12.1 | ||
Turnout | 42,472 | 62.4 | –4.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –6.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Valerie Vaz | 25,286 | 57.4 | +10.2 | |
Conservative | James Bird | 16,394 | 37.2 | +4.4 | |
UKIP | Derek Bennett | 1,805 | 4.1 | –11.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Anna Purvis | 587 | 1.3 | –0.3 | |
Majority | 8,892 | 20.2 | +5.8 | ||
Turnout | 44,072 | 66.4 | +4.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Valerie Vaz | 19,740 | 47.2 | +7.5 | |
Conservative | Sue Arnold | 13,733 | 32.8 | –2.6 | |
UKIP | Derek Bennett | 6,540 | 15.6 | +7.2 | |
Green | Charlotte Fletcher | 1,149 | 2.7 | New | |
Liberal Democrats | Joel Kenrick | 676 | 1.6 | –12.8 | |
Majority | 6,007 | 14.4 | +10.1 | ||
Turnout | 41,838 | 61.8 | –1.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +5.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Valerie Vaz | 16,211 | 39.7 | –9.5 | |
Conservative | Richard Hunt | 14,456 | 35.4 | +6.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Murli Sinha | 5,880 | 14.4 | +4.6 | |
UKIP | Derek Bennett | 3,449 | 8.4 | +3.6 | |
Christian | Gulzaman Khan | 482 | 1.2 | New | |
Independent | Mohammed Mulia | 404 | 1.0 | New | |
Majority | 1,755 | 4.3 | –18.2 | ||
Turnout | 40,882 | 63.1 | +3.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –8.2 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 17,633 | 49.9 | –9.1 | |
Conservative | Kabir Sabar | 9,687 | 27.4 | –3.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mohamed Asmal | 3,240 | 9.2 | +2.4 | |
UKIP | Derek Bennett | 1,833 | 5.2 | +2.4 | |
BNP | Kevin Smith | 1,776 | 5.0 | New | |
Respect | Nadia Fazal | 1,146 | 3.2 | New | |
Majority | 7,946 | 22.5 | –6.0 | ||
Turnout | 35,315 | 58.5 | +2.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –3.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 20,574 | 59.0 | +1.1 | |
Conservative | Michael Bird | 10,643 | 30.5 | –1.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Bill Tomlinson | 2,365 | 6.8 | +0.6 | |
UKIP | Derek Bennett | 974 | 2.8 | New | |
Socialist Alliance | Peter Smith | 343 | 1.0 | New | |
Majority | 9,931 | 28.5 | +2.3 | ||
Turnout | 34,899 | 55.7 | –11.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +1.1 |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 25,024 | 57.9 | +9.7 | |
Conservative | Leslie Leek | 13,712 | 31.7 | –10.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Harry Harris | 2,698 | 6.2 | –2.1 | |
Referendum | Thomas Dent | 1,662 | 3.8 | New | |
Natural Law | Linda Meads | 149 | 0.4 | +0.1 | |
Majority | 11,312 | 26.2 | +19.9 | ||
Turnout | 43,245 | 67.3 | –9.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +10.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 24,133 | 48.2 | +3.3 | |
Conservative | LC Jones | 20,955 | 41.9 | –0.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | GE Williams | 4,132 | 8.3 | –4.1 | |
Green | RJ Clarke | 673 | 1.3 | New | |
Natural Law | JD Oldbury | 167 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 3,178 | 6.3 | +4.1 | ||
Turnout | 50,060 | 76.3 | +0.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.1 |
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 22,629 | 44.9 | +1.4 | |
Conservative | Graham Postles | 21,513 | 42.7 | +0.6 | |
Liberal | Lionel King | 6,241 | 12.4 | -0.8 | |
Majority | 1,116 | 2.2 | +0.8 | ||
Turnout | 50,383 | 75.5 | +1.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +1.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 21,735 | 43.5 | -7.4 | |
Conservative | David Nicholson | 21,033 | 42.1 | -5.2 | |
Liberal | Bernard Silver | 6,586 | 13.2 | New | |
BNP | J Parker | 632 | 1.3 | New | |
Majority | 702 | 1.4 | -2.2 | ||
Turnout | 49,986 | 74.3 | -2.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | -1.1 |
Elections in the 1970s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 22,539 | 50.9 | +2.9 | |
Conservative | A Hill | 20,951 | 47.3 | +10.0 | |
National Front | V Parker | 795 | 1.80 | -1.0 | |
Majority | 1,588 | 3.6 | -7.1 | ||
Turnout | 44,285 | 76.7 | +3.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 20,917 | 48.0 | +2.8 | |
Conservative | H Smith | 16,255 | 37.3 | -4.4 | |
Liberal | GFA Hooper | 5,031 | 11.5 | -1.6 | |
National Front | JC Parker | 1,226 | 2.8 | New | |
More Prosperous Britain | Tom Keen | 150 | 0.34 | New | |
Majority | 4,662 | 10.7 | +7.2 | ||
Turnout | 43,579 | 73.6 | -4.7 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bruce George | 20,775 | 45.2 | ||
Conservative | H Smith | 19,195 | 41.7 | ||
Liberal | Richard Hains | 6,038 | 13.1 | ||
Majority | 1,580 | 3.5 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 46,008 | 78.3 | |||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid | 35,545 | 59.5 | +6.1 | |
Labour | Graham S Rea | 24,196 | 40.5 | -6.1 | |
Majority | 11,349 | 19.0 | +12.1 | ||
Turnout | 59,741 | 73.0 | -4.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1960s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid | 30,161 | 53.4 | -3.7 | |
Labour | R Geoffrey Drake | 26,280 | 46.6 | +3.7 | |
Majority | 3,881 | 6.9 | -7.3 | ||
Turnout | 56,441 | 77.2 | -1.9 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid | 32,602 | 57.1 | -1.3 | |
Labour | Bryan Stanley | 24,532 | 42.9 | +1.3 | |
Majority | 8,070 | 14.2 | -2.6 | ||
Turnout | 57,314 | 79.1 | -4.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1950s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid | 30,471 | 58.4 | +5.7 | |
Labour | John AF Ennals | 21,689 | 41.6 | -5.8 | |
Majority | 8,782 | 16.8 | +11.5 | ||
Turnout | 52,160 | 83.1 | +2.9 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid | 24,077 | 52.7 | ||
Labour | John Ennals | 21,651 | 47.4 | ||
Majority | 2,426 | 5.3 | |||
Turnout | 45,728 | 80.2 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |