Wolverhampton South West
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 17542 (43.7%)
Conservative: 15289 (38.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 5388 (13.4%)
Other: 1911 (4.8%)
Majority: 2252 (5.6%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 15610 (37.5%)
Labour: 18489 (44.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 5568 (13.4%)
BNP: 983 (2.4%)
UKIP: 1029 (2.5%)
Majority: 2879 (6.9%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 16248 (39.7%)
Labour: 19735 (48.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 3425 (8.4%)
UKIP: 684 (1.7%)
Green: 805 (2%)
Majority: 3487 (8.5%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 19539 (39.9%)
Labour: 24657 (50.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 4012 (8.2%)
Other: 713 (1.5%)
Majority: 5118 (10.5%)
Boundary changes
Current MP: Rob Marris (Labour) (more information at They work for you)
Candidates:
Paul Uppal (Conservative) born Birmingham. Contested Birmingham Yardley 2005.
Doug Hope (UKIP) Contested Wolverhampton South West 2001
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 81714
Male: 48.9%
Female: 51.1%
Under 18: 20.7%
Over 60: 23.2%
Born outside UK: 13.8%
White: 74.8%
Black: 4.4%
Asian: 17.4%
Mixed: 2.4%
Other: 0.9%
Christian: 64.3%
Hindu: 4.4%
Muslim: 3.6%
Sikh: 8.2%
Full time students: 7.3%
Graduates 16-74: 21.7%
No Qualifications 16-74: 29.9%
Owner-Occupied: 68.1%
Social Housing: 18.9% (Council: 13.4%, Housing Ass.: 5.5%)
Privately Rented: 9.9%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 10.9%
















162 Responses
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Oh - I’ve been to Wolverhampton at least twice.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:17 amRuislip Northwood
Very strange I’m logged in and for all other threads it shows me as such but on this one it says i’m not. Perhaps im being discouraged from posting.
Anyway I lived in Wolverhampton for three years most of the time in this very constituency and without wishing to sound too William Hague about it I think I literally drunk more pints in the pubs and clubs of Wolverhampton than I have had subsequent hot dinners
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:25 amNearly a year ago, David Boothroyd referred to Labour suffering in 2001 because their MP stood down after only one term. I am not fully clear why Jenny Jones stood down, although googling to write this comment I see an anoymous whip was quoted in the “Telegraph” as suggesting that the trouble with her was that she had a mind of her own (but her voting record was hardly that of a persistent rebel). David Boothroyd suggests that Labour in consequence achieved an incumbency effect in 2005 but not 2001. It would be interesting to know if the change of MP has had any lasting effect.
More (if not very) recently, H.Hemmelig discussed the importance of local candidates. But he suggested Enoch Powell was not local. Well, whatever else you think of him, Powell was born in Birmingham and had strong Black Country connections (yes, I know Wolverhampton is not in the Black Country). And of course he had a very strong West Midlands accent. So, whilst Powell did not actually come from Wolverhampton he was by no means a carpetbagger, whatever other criticisms many of us would like to lay at his door. But then H.Hemmelig also asks what would have happened if Churchill had been rejected by the electors of Dundee, but indeed Churhcill was defeated in Dundee in 1922, after which he found a seat in Epping. Churchill was beaten by a Prohibitionist by the name of Scrymgeor. Given Churchill’s reputation as a drinker, perhaps he would have been a more effective war leader if he had heeded the message the good people of Dundee gave him. But so far as I know, Chruchill had no particular political connection with Wolverhampton, so I am drifting from the point!
Many people who have never been to Wolverhampton have a very unfair image of the place. As previous comments have indicated, different wards in Wolverhampton have very contrasting characters, with the political implications this involves.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:43 pmRuislip Northwood
May 2008
Con 13641 55.5 %
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 amLab 5947 24.2 %
LD 4875 19.8 %
Oth 101 0.4 %
You missed off turnout.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:24 pmTwickenham (& Richmond Park,Windsor)
A Tory gain I think,
May 8th, 2008 at 3:47 pm2 to 2,500.
You’re right about turnout but it’s a dreadful loss of votes,
and the Tories are within 2,000 of the vote at the 2005 General Election.
Beckenham
You’re right, an absolutely appalling result for Labour.
Where does that leave David Hackett’s prediction?
May 8th, 2008 at 4:31 pmShipley
JJB, Like me you’re a pessimist!!
Apply the change in local elections 2004-2008 (Con: +6.9; Lab: -7.1) and you get:
Con: 18000
Lab: 14700
LD: 5000
Oth: 2000
Maj: 3300
But, I guess, add about 1000 Labour votes (half from the Tories) to acknowledge all the stuff about Rob Marris being a local lad - result 17500 Con; 15700 Lab - Maj 1800. Tory Gain!!
May 8th, 2008 at 4:50 pmThe swing here will exceed national trends. No serious commentator can expect Marris to hold on.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:34 pmTwickenham (& Richmond Park,Windsor)
I have to say I had doubts about this seat until very recently. It seemed to take years and years for us to get anywhere near controlling the council again.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:09 pmI don’t think the majority would exceed about 3,000 though - and would put 2/2,500 as most likely.
There seems to be more history of direct switches between Labour and Conservative in the West Midlands than other areas so I would expect greater potential for Conservative gains in this region.
Immigration has also tended to be an important issue in the West Midlands.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:31 pmA different way of putting Richard’s point is that the Liberal Democrats have for a long time been very weak in the West Midlands. This probably traces right back to Joseph Chamberlain’s defection at the end of the nineteenth century from Liberal to Liberal Unionist and then Conservative. Wolverhampton itself has a long tradition of investment by Conservative industrialists, for instance Tarmac (Carillon), a major employer here, was founded by a Tory MP at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Racism no longer has the psephological importance in this seat that Richard implies, although ethnic diversity raises social issues that local people have learned to handle.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:15 pmPages: « 1 … 7 8 9 10 [11] Show All