Birmingham West was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It returned one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP), elected by the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

voting system. It was created upon the abolition of the 3-seat Birmingham constituency in 1885 and abolished in 1950.

Boundaries

Before 1885 the city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

had been a three-member constituency (see

Birmingham (UK Parliament constituency) Birmingham was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the city of Birmingham, in what is now the West Midlands Metropolitan County, but at the time was Warwickshire. Boundaries and Histor ...

for further details). Under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

the parliamentary borough of Birmingham was split into seven single-member divisions, one of which was Birmingham West. It consisted of All Saints' and St Paul's wards and part of Rotton Park ward. In the 1918 redistribution of parliamentary seats, the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...

provided for twelve Birmingham divisions - one of which was designated as the Birmingham West constituency. In 1945 one of the other Birmingham seats was split in two, as it had over 100,000 electors, but that change did not affect the other divisions. The Birmingham West constituency in 1918 consisted of the County Borough of Birmingham ward of St Paul's and parts of All Saints' and Lozells wards. In the redistribution which took effect in the

1950 United Kingdom general election The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first ever to be held after a full term of Labour government. The election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was the first held following the abolition of plural voting and university con ...

, the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

redivided Birmingham into thirteen constituencies. The West division was abolished. St Paul's and Lozells wards became part of Birmingham Aston. All Saints' ward became part of

Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Ladywood is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham, represented in the House of Commons since 2010 by Shabana Mahmood of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament Clare Short, elected as a Labour MP from the 1983 gene ...

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

Chamberlain was appointed

President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the Bo ...

, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections 1940s

References

* ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972) * * *{{cite book , last=Craig , first=F. W. S. , author-link= F. W. S. Craig , title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 , orig-year=1969 , edition=3rd , year=1983 , publisher= Parliamentary Research Services , location=Chichester , isbn= 0-900178-06-X , page=90 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950 Parliamentary constituencies in Birmingham, West Midlands (historic)