Birmingham Edgbaston is a

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 (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

, 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

UK Parliament 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 supremac ...

since 2017 by

Preet Gill Preet Kaur Gill (Punjabi: ਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਕੌਰ ਗਿੱਲ, born 21 November 1972) is a British politician serving as Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development since 2020. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she h ...

, a

Labour and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candida ...

MP. The most high-profile MP for the constituency was former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Neville Chamberlain (1937–1940). Since 1953 it has elected a succession of female MPs.

Members of Parliament

Boundaries

2018–present: The City of Birmingham wards of

Bartley Green Bartley Green is a residential suburban area and electoral ward in Birmingham, England, south west of the city centre. The ward is part of the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency and is represented in parliament by Labour Co-operative MP Preet Gi ...

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

Harborne Harborne is an area of south-west Birmingham, England. It is one of the most affluent areas of the Midlands, southwest from Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in ...

, and Quinton, part of North Edgbaston and fragments of Weoley & Selly Oak and Balsall Heath West. 1997–2018: The City of Birmingham wards of

, and Quinton. 1983–1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Edgbaston, Harborne, and Quinton. 1974–1983: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of

Deritend Deritend is a historic area of Birmingham, England, built around a crossing point of the River Rea. It is first mentioned in 1276. Today Deritend is usually considered to be part of Digbeth. History Deritend was a crossing point of the River R ...

, Edgbaston, Harborne, and Quinton. 1918–1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Edgbaston, Harborne, and Market Hall. 1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Birmingham ward of Edgbaston, part of Rotton Park ward, the local government district of

, and part of the local government district of

Balsall Heath Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of ...

. South west 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 ...

city centre, this is a house and garden-rich and mostly middle-income constituency with limited

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

, featuring parks, Warwickshire's cricket ground and two grammar schools. It was a safe Conservative seat for decades, emphasised by solid Tory areas like Edgbaston itself and Bartley Green, but some areas, such as the more Labour-inclined Quinton and Harborne, have pockets of considerable deprivation and of low incomes, helping Labour hold the seat since 1997. It contains the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

's main campus, and most of the student halls.

History

The political division elected Conservative candidates as its MP between a by-election in 1898 and the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

general elections inclusive. The election of

Gisela Stuart Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (''née'' Gschaider; born 26 November 1955) is a British-German politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1997 to 2017. A former member of the La ...

in 1997 produced a 10% majority fractionally exceeded in percentage terms by her re-election in 2001 on a lower turnout, stretching her majority to 12.1%. The 2015 re-election of Stuart gave the seat the thirtieth-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority and represented an improvement on

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. On election night in May 1997, Birmingham Edgbaston was the ninth constituency to declare its results and the first seat to be gained by the Labour Party from the Conservatives on a 10% swing, after 99 years of Conservative representation; presaging the Labour landslide victory of that election. Labour have held the seat ever since. Birmingham Edgbaston has returned only female MPs since 1953, longer than any other constituency in the UK. The current MP for the constituency is

of the Labour Party, who is the first-ever female

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

MP in the UK. She was first elected at the 2017 general election, after long-serving Labour MP

stood down. It has been classified as a marginal seat; although in 2017 and 2019, the Labour Party won more than 50% of the vote. Turnout has ranged from 78.8% in 1950 to 48% in 1918, and was recorded as 61.5% in 2019.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

Notes

References

Sources

* ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
Debrett’s Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886

Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901

Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918

External links

Birmingham city council constituency page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham Edgbaston (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Birmingham, West Midlands Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom represented by a sitting Prime Minister Edgbaston