Tamworth is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, based on the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. The seat is currently represented by Sarah Edwards of the Labour Party, following a by-election in October 2023.[2][3] It was previously held by Chris Pincher of the Conservative Party, who held the seat from 2010 to 2023, when he resigned. He had been suspended from the party since July 2022.
Boundaries
1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Birmingham, the Sessional Divisions of Birmingham and Solihull, part of the Sessional Divisions of Atherstone and Coleshill, and part of the Municipal Borough of Tamworth.
1918–1945: The Municipal Borough of Sutton Coldfield, the Rural Districts of Meriden and Solihull, and part of the Rural District of Tamworth.
1997–2010: The Borough of Tamworth, and the District of Lichfield wards of Bourne Vale, Fazeley, Little Aston, Mease Valley, Shenstone, Stonnall, and Tame.
2010–2024: The Borough of Tamworth, and the District of Lichfield wards of Bourne Vale, Fazeley, Little Aston, Mease and Tame, Shenstone, and Stonnall.
The District of Lichfield wards of: Bourne Vale; Fazeley; Little Aston & Stonnall; Mease Valley; Shenstone; Whittington & Streethay (polling districts JA, YA, YB, YC, ZA and ZB).
A previous Tamworth constituency existed from 1563 until it was abolished for the 1945 general election. It was a borough constituency that elected two MPs until the 1885 general election, when it was reincarnated as a single-MP constituency in the county of Warwickshire by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
Political history
Since its 1997 recreation the seat has been a bellwether, reflecting the largest party in terms of seats in the House of Commons with the largest share of the vote for the candidate locally. However, the seat has heavily trended towards the Conservatives in the most recent general elections, with majorities in excess of 10,000 in both 2015 and 2017 and almost 20,000 in 2019.
In the October 2023 By-Election caused by the resignation of Chris Pincher Conservative, Sarah Edwards Labour was Elected. The results were videoed. [6] Whilst it was a 24% swing to Labour, the turnout was a competitively low 35%. Sarah Edwards's full speech was videoed. [7]
Prominent members
The Prime Minister and leader of the breakaway Tory group, the Peelites, Sir Robert Peel, represented the area for a long period 1830–1850, as did his father, brother and son at different periods. His father and son, also named Robert, also shared the baronetcy gained by his father, which gave them the automatic right to the style "Sir".
Constituency profile
Income and wealth are around average for the UK. The area voted strongly for Brexit in 2016.[8]
The constituency is convenient for all of the West Midlands conurbation and has considerable local employment. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.9% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[9]
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:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected:
List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)
Notes
^A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
References
^"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.
^"MP Chris Pincher quits after losing groping appeal". BBC News. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
^"Elections 2023". Tamworth Borough Council. Retrieved 13 September 2023. UK Parliamentary By-Election – Thursday 19 October 2023
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007: Schedule", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 13 June 2007, SI 2007/1681 (sch.), retrieved 7 September 2023
^"Video of Declaration of Result of Poll: Election of a Member of Parliament for Tamworth on Thursday 19 October 2023". JAmedia.uk.
^"Video of Full Acceptance Speech by Sarah Edwards 20 October 2023". JAmedia.uk.
^Cust, Richard (2004). "Archer, Sir Simon (1581–1662)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/626. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^Brydges, Sir Egerton (1812). "Earl of Chesterfield". Collin's Peerage of England. Vol. III (nine volumes ed.). p. 423.
^Oswald Barron, 'The Wild Wilmots', The Ancestor XI (1904), 5.
^ abLeigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
^ abcdefghijklStooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 48–50.
^Prest, John (21 May 2009) [2004]. "Peel, Sir Robert, second baronet (1788–1850)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21764.
^"Electioneering Intelligence". Carlisle Patriot. 24 December 1847. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED, NOTICE OF POLL & SITUATION OF POLLING STATIONS" (PDF). Tamworth Borough Council. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
^"Tamworth Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
^"Elections 2017". Tamworth Borough Council. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Jenny Pinkett – PPC for Tamworth". libdems.org.uk. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Fogarty, Michael Patrick". Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc (online ed.). Oxford University Press. April 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
^ abcdefgCraig, F.W.S., ed. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. London: Political Reference Publications. pp. 18–49. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
^Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1922 p. [page needed]
^ abcdefghijCraig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
^ abDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916 p. [page needed]
^ abcdefgThe Liberal Year Book, 1907
^ abDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901 p. [page needed]
^Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886 p. [page needed]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxCraig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.