Birmingham Northfield 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

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Gary Sambrook Gary William Sambrook (born 25 June 1989) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Joint Executive Secretary of the backbench 1922 Committee since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Northfield ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

. It represents the southernmost part of 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 ...

Members of Parliament

Constituency profile

Among the area's largest features is the Longbridge Town shopping area built on the site of the now demolished

MG Rover Group MG Rover Group was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to the Phoenix Consor ...

factory which for decades had been a major employer in the constituency but which was closed down in the run up to the 2005 general election, two hospitals, Northfield Shopping Centre and the now also closed North Worcestershire Golf Course. Despite the closure of the Longbridge Motor works the Labour MP at the time,

Richard Burden Richard Haines Burden (born 1 September 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Northfield from 1992 to 2019. He served as a Shadow Transport Minister from 2013 to 2016 and again from 2016 ...

was returned in the subsequent general election with his majority reduced by 5.6%. He was re-elected with his majority further reduced by 14.1% in 2010. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Burden was re-elected with a majority of 2,509 votes and a vote share of 41.6%, which made Northfield the most marginal seat in Birmingham. Two years later at the 2017 snap election, Burden increased his majority to 4,667 votes and his vote share to 53.2% on an overall turnout of 44,348 voters. At the 2019 general election, the seat was won by the

candidate

with a majority of 1,640 votes. The Conservatives therefore held the Birmingham Northfield seat for the first time in 27 years.

Boundaries

1950–1955: The County Borough of Birmingham Wards of Northfield, Selly Oak, and Weoley. 1955–1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of King's Norton, Northfield, and Weoley. 1974–1983: As above less King's Norton, plus Longbridge 1983–1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Bartley Green, Longbridge, Northfield, and Weoley. 1997–2010: As above less Bartley Green 2010–present: As above plus King's Norton Following the review of parliamentary representation in

and the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for E ...

created a modified Northfield seat which gained the ward of

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward within the Government of Birmingham, England. The district lies 6.5 miles south-southwes ...

(previously in the Selly Oak constituency).

History

;Summary of results The 2015 result gave the seat the 26th-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. From its creation in 1950 until 2019, Labour Party MPs were elected and served the seat, with the exception of the period from 1979 to 1992, which was whilst the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

were in government, with a one-year gap caused by a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

win at a 1982 by-election. From 1979 to 1982, the MP was

Jocelyn Cadbury Jocelyn Benedict Laurence Cadbury (3 March 1946 – 31 July 1982) was a British Conservative Party politician. Early life and education Jocelyn Cadbury was born in 1946, the son of Laurence Cadbury and Joyce née Mathews, and the younger broth ...

, a member of the influential and large Cadbury family. ;Opposition parties The Conservative candidate for 2015, MacLean, came within 5.9% of winning the seat. UKIP's swing nationally was +9.5% in 2015; here it was 13.5%, enabling a third place, having been fifth-placed in the previous election. The other two candidates, standing for parties other than Labour on the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

, narrowly forfeited their

deposits A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, Transaction account#Current accounts, current accounts or any of several othe ...

. ;Turnout Turnout has ranged between 84.7% in 1950 and 52.8% in 2001 (which was below the percentage of the 1982 by-election).

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Going into the 2015 general election, this was the 121st most marginal constituency in Great Britain, the Conservatives requiring a swing from Labour of 3.3% to take the seat (based on the result of the 2010 general election).

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Notes

References

External links

Birmingham city council constituency page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham Northfield (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Birmingham, West Midlands Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950