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Birmingham Small Heath
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyWest Midlands
1950–1997
SeatsOne
Created fromBirmingham Yardley (Majority), Birmingham Deritend (Part) and Birmingham Duddeston (Part)
Replaced byBirmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath and Birmingham Ladywood

Birmingham Small Heath was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Small Heath area of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election, when it was partly replaced by the new Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath.

Boundaries

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Throughout its existence the constituency (as can be inferred from its name) included Small Heath ward, but that district was linked with various adjoining parts of the inner-city area of Birmingham. In its first three incarnations the constituency was to the south east of the city centre. Its boundaries moved more to the east of the city centre in the 1983 redistribution.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Duddeston, Saltley, and Small Heath. Before 1950 Duddeston ward had been part of Birmingham Duddeston and the other two wards had been part of Birmingham Yardley.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Deritend, Saltley, and Small Heath.[1] Deritend ward was formerly part of Birmingham Sparkbrook. Duddeston ward was transferred to Birmingham Ladywood.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Duddeston, Newtown, Saltley, and Small Heath. Duddeston ward had formerly been in Birmingham Ladywood. Deritend ward was transferred to Birmingham Edgbaston.

1983–1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Aston, Nechells, and Small Heath. 72.7% of the new constituency came from the old one, 11.9% from Birmingham Handsworth (Aston ward) and smaller amounts from Birmingham Sparkbrook (6.1%), Birmingham Erdington (4.9%), Birmingham Yardley (2.6%) and Birmingham Ladywood (1.7%).

In the 1997 redistribution, this constituency disappeared. Small Heath ward joined a new seat of Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, while Aston and Nechells wards became part of the redrawn Birmingham Ladywood.

In 1971, 17.2% were non-White.[2] In 1981, 36% of the constituency were non-White.[3]

Members of Parliament

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ElectionMemberPartyNotes
1950 Fred Longden Labour Member for Birmingham Yardley (1945–1950); Died October 1952
1952 by-election William Wheeldon Labour Died October 1960
1961 by-election Denis Howell Labour Member for Birmingham All Saints (1955–59); Minister for Sport (1964–70 & 1974–79)
1992 Roger Godsiff Labour Contested Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath following redistribution
1997 Constituency abolished: see Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath & Birmingham Ladywood

Election results

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Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1950: Birmingham Small Heath[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour Co-op Fred Longden 31,985 62.8
Conservative J. Pagett 15,556 30.6
Liberal F.G. Smith 3,365 6.6
Majority 16,429 32.2
Turnout 50,906 79.3
Registered electors
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1951: Birmingham Small Heath[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Fred Longden 31,079 63.4 +0.6
Conservative Francis Charles Irwin 15,156 30.9 +0.3
Liberal F.G. Smith 2,779 5.7 −0.9
Majority 15,923 32.5 +0.3
Turnout 49,014 77.2 −2.1
Registered electors
Labour Co-op hold Swing +0.5
1952 Birmingham Small Heath by-election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op William Wheeldon 19,491 67.0 +3.6
Conservative Edith Pitt 9,614 33.0 +2.1
Majority 9,877 34.0 +1.5
Turnout 29,105 46.6 −30.6
Registered electors
Labour Co-op hold Swing −2.9
General election 1955: Birmingham Small Heath[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour Co-op William Wheeldon 22,444 60.8
Conservative John Bissell 14,484 39.2
Majority 7,960 21.6
Turnout 36,928 65.8
Registered electors
Labour Co-op win (new boundaries)
General election 1959: Birmingham Small Heath[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op William Wheeldon 19,213 57.4 −3.4
Conservative Bernard Charles Owens 14,282 42.6 +3.4
Majority 4,931 14.8 −6.8
Turnout 33,495 65.7 −0.1
Registered electors
Labour Co-op hold Swing −3.4

Elections in the 1960s

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1961 Birmingham Small Heath by-election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 12,182 59.2 +1.8
Conservative Bernard Charles Owens 5,923 28.8 −13.8
Liberal W. Kirk 2,476 12.0 New
Majority 6,259 30.4 +15.6
Turnout 20,581 42.6 −23.1
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing −7.8
General election 1964: Birmingham Small Heath[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 17,010 60.4 +3.0
Conservative Anthony J Prescott 10,233 36.3 −6.3
Communist George Jelf 926 3.3 New
Majority 6,777 24.1 +9.3
Turnout 28,169 60.9 +18.2
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing +4.4
General election 1966: Birmingham Small Heath[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 18,075 69.5 +9.1
Conservative Francis Goodhart 7,471 28.7 −7.6
Communist George Jelf 477 1.8 −1.5
Majority 10,604 40.8 +16.7
Turnout 26,023 59.6 −1.3
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing +8.4

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1970: Birmingham Small Heath[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 13,794 61.1 −8.4
Conservative Nicholas Budgen 6,923 30.6 +1.9
Liberal Gordon Herringshaw 1,754 7.8 New
British Commonwealth Saeeduz Zafar 117 0.5 New
Majority 6,871 30.5 −10.3
Turnout 22,588 57.9 −1.7
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing −5.2
1970 notional result[5]
Party Vote %
Labour18,30054.8
Conservative9,10027.2
Liberal6,00018.0
Turnout 33,400 59.5
Electorate 56,161
General election February 1974: Birmingham Small Heath[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 19,319 57.3 +2.5
Liberal D.G. Minnis 7,441 22.1 +4.1
Conservative R. O'Connor 6,941 20.6 –6.6
Majority 11,878 35.2 +4.7
Turnout 33,701 66.0 +6.6
Registered electors 51,038 –5,123
Labour hold Swing –0.8
General election October 1974: Birmingham Small Heath[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 19,703 66.5 +9.2
Conservative R. O'Connor 5,648 19.1 −1.5
Liberal D. Caney 4,260 14.4 −7.7
Majority 14,055 47.4 +12.2
Turnout 29,611 57.6 −8.4
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing +5.4
General election 1979: Birmingham Small Heath[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 17,735 60.5 −6.0
Conservative D.J. Savage 6,268 21.4 +2.3
Liberal D.G. Minnis 4,470 15.2 +0.8
National Front M. Caffery 490 1.7 New
Socialist Unity C.C. Adamson 349 1.2 New
Majority 11,467 39.1 −8.3
Turnout 29,312 62.9 +5.3
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing −4.2

Elections in the 1980s

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1979 notional result[7]
Party Vote %
Labour23,88964.1
Conservative7,63720.5
Liberal4,86413.0
Others8832.4
Turnout 37,273
Electorate
General election 1983: Birmingham Small Heath[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 22,874 63.8 –0.3
Conservative Paul Nischal 7,262 20.2 –0.2
SDP Andrew Bostock 5,722 16.0 +2.9
Majority 15,612 43.6 +4.5
Turnout 35,858 60.4 –0.1
Registered electors 57,707
Labour hold Swing –0.0
General election 1987: Birmingham Small Heath[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Howell 22,787 66.3 +2.5
Conservative Paul Nischal 7,266 21.1 +0.9
Liberal John Hemming 3,600 10.5 −5.5
Green Alan Clawley 559 1.6 New
Communist Peter Sheppard 154 0.5 New
Majority 15,521 45.2 +1.6
Turnout 34,366 60.6 +0.2
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing +1.7

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1992: Birmingham Small Heath[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Roger Godsiff 22,675 65.3 −1.0
Conservative Abdul Chaudhary 8,686 24.8 +3.7
Liberal Democrats Haydn A. Thomas 2,515 7.2 −3.3
Green Hazel M. Clawley 824 2.4 +0.8
Majority 13,989 40.5 −4.7
Turnout 34,700 62.8 +2.2
Registered electors
Labour hold Swing −2.4

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Birmingham and North Warwickshire) Order 1955. SI 1955/177". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2099–2102.
  2. ↑ Layton-Henry, Z. (1978). "RACE, ELECTORAL STRATEGY AND THE MAJOR PARTIES". Parliamentary Affairs. XXXI (3): 268–281. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a054265. ISSN 1460-2482.
  3. ↑ Studlar, Donley T. (1 September 1983). "The ethnic vote, 1983: Problems of analysis and interpretation". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. doi:10.1080/1369183x.1983.9975820. ISSN 1369-183X.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Craig, Fred W. S (1983). British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 (2nd ed.). Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0900178078. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  5. ↑ Michael Stead. "1970 notional general election & February 1974 general election". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Craig, Fred W. S (1980). Britain votes 2 : British parliamentary election results 1974-1979. Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0900178183. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "BBC/ITN NOTIONAL ELECTION 1979". election.demon.co.uk. BBC/ITN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  8. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1974-1983, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1984)
  • Britain Votes 4, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1988)
  • Britain Votes 5, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Parliamentary Research Services - Dartmouth Publishing 1993)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
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