Birmingham Northfield
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 19659 (49.9%)
Conservative: 11480 (29.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 5232 (13.3%)
Other: 3052 (7.7%)
Majority: 8179 (20.7%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 8965 (28.9%)
Labour: 15419 (49.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 4171 (13.4%)
BNP: 1278 (4.1%)
UKIP: 641 (2.1%)
Other: 582 (1.9%)
Majority: 6454 (20.8%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 8730 (29.6%)
Labour: 16528 (56%)
Liberal Democrat: 3322 (11.2%)
UKIP: 550 (1.9%)
Other: 404 (1.4%)
Majority: 7798 (26.4%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 10873 (28%)
Labour: 22316 (57.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 4078 (10.5%)
Referendum: 1243 (3.2%)
Other: 337 (0.9%)
Majority: 11443 (29.5%)
Boundary changes: Extensive changes to local government boundary changes in Birmingham and the large size of council wards in the city mean that most of Birmingham`s consitutencies underwent many small changes to bring them into line with local government ward boundaries. Northfield loses a small part of Bournville ward to Selly Oak, gains a small part of Northfield itself from Selly Oak, a small part of Weoley from Selly Oak and gains most of Kings Norton, which was previously split between Northfield, Selly Oak and Hall Green.
Profile: Northfield is at the South-West tip of Birmingham and consists of the wards of Kings Norton, Longbridge, Northfield and Weoley. It is a white working class seat, inextricably linked with the Longbridge car plant which dominates the local economy. The factory closed in 2005, but following a buyout by Nanjing, it is hoped that production will resume in 2007.
On paper it is a long-shot seat for the Conservatives, but was held by the Conservatives between 1979 and 1992 (excluding a Labour by-election victory after Jocelyn Cadbury`s suicide) and in the 2006 local elections the Conservatives won all four wards in the seat. The seat is mostly made up of owner occupied semis and former council properties bought by their owners in the 1980s, though Kings Norton has more council property, especially the large council estate at Highter`s Heath and the Redditch Road Tower Blocks.
Current MP: Richard Burden (Labour) born 1954, Liverpool. Educated at Wallasey Technical School Grammar, Bramhall Comprehensive and the University of York. Before his election was a trade union offical for NALGO. First elected to Birmingham Northfield in 1992. Served as PPS to Jeff Rooker during the 1997-2001 Parliament. Chair of the parliamentary Palestian Group and strong critic of Israeli policy. Voted against the government over the Iraq war (more information at They work for you)
Candidates:
Keely Huxtable (Conservative) born 1981, Birmingham. Educated at Hillcrest School and Cadbury College.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 97858
Male: 47.4%
Female: 52.6%
Under 18: 25.4%
Over 60: 20.2%
Born outside UK: 6%
White: 92.8%
Black: 2.4%
Asian: 1.4%
Mixed: 2.6%
Other: 0.7%
Christian: 73.7%
Muslim: 1%
Full time students: 4%
Graduates 16-74: 12.5%
No Qualifications 16-74: 37.9%
Owner-Occupied: 58.8%
Social Housing: 33.5% (Council: 27.9%, Housing Ass.: 5.6%)
Privately Rented: 3.7%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 16.4%
The worst estate was the Egg Hill estate - it has now been demolished after all concerned it was the best thing to do.
I don’t consider any of this seat to be particularly rough although Overbury Road, Frankley and Weoley Castle obviously have their problems.
Overall this is a low crime constituency for Birmingham. (8th of 11 I believe) and Birmingham is a relatively low crime city - of the eight major cities outside the capital (Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol), Birmingham has the lowest crime rate, so I wouldn’t get too carried away about the impact of one or two hotspots.
I’m sure that is correct.
As for Rednal, I don’t remember it being much more than a few roads.
Seems to be quite a bit of interest in the Birmingham seats so we’ve priced some more up including this one;
1/3 Lab
9/4 Con
I’ve always felt pretty safe walking around Birmingham city centre but maybe that’s because I’m quite familiar with it. Interesting to hear that about the crime levels.
Cheers Shadsy - any chance of a book on Birmingham Hall Green?
It is very interesting to read the comments from people who do not live in the constituency or seem to know not much about it!
Having lived in Northfield all my life, I feel that I can comment on realities and not supposition.
The 2008 council election produced the following total votes:
Conservative 9535 44.92% Labour 6499 30.62% BNP 2706 12.75% Lib Dems 1617 7.62% Green 832 3.9% 38 spoilt papers 0.18% Turnout 29.76%.
All 12 councillors in the constituency are Conservative.
There are no council elections in 2009.
The last few years of rule by the Progressive Partnership has given us all an improving environment and the closure and demolition of the Austin/BMC/Rover works has changed the very nature of the area. The Nanjing efforts can be discounted, since it seems to be just a cover for the purchase of a fully operational car plant which they did not possess. It will not last and will eventually be demolished and redeveloped.
The area does not need a union backed and trained MP any longer. Keely has a good chance given the large changes that have taken place recently.
Bob
I think this could be an outside chance of a Tory gain now. Does anyone agree it’s more credible now?
Yes I do I think Labour were running third here in the European elections behind UKIP. This is perhaps a better prospect now than Selly Oak because it doesnt have a large amount of the public sector Guardian reading middle class that Selly Oak itself does have. All the wards are solidly white working class and lower middle class, the kind of demographic who are abandoning Labour en masse.