Redditch (UK Parliament constituency)

Redditch
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Redditch in Worcestershire.
Location of Worcestershire within England.
County	Worcestershire
Electorate	66,492 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Karen Lumley (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	part of Mid Worcestershire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Redditch is a constituency^{[n 1]} in East Worcestershire and in the south of the West Midlands (region) represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Karen Lumley, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

Redditch was created in 1997 following major changes to the Mid Worcestershire constituency.

Boundaries

1997-2010: The Borough of Redditch (the wards of Abbey, Batchley, Central, Church Hill, Crabbs Cross, Feckenham, Greenlands, Lodge Park, Matchborough, West, and Winyates), and the District of Wychavon ward of Inkberrow.

2010-present: The Borough of Redditch (the wards of Abbey, Astwood Bank and Feckenham, Batchley, Central, Church Hill, Crabbs Cross, Greenlands, Headless Cross and Oakenshaw, Lodge Park, Matchborough, West, and Winyates), and the District of Wychavon ward of Inkberrow.

This seat contains the whole of the borough of Redditch in the county of Worcestershire. To make the size of the constituency's electorate suitable, the nearby villages of Inkberrow, Callow Hill, Cookhill, Feckenham, and Astwood Bank were included upon the constituency's creation in 1997. For the 2010 general election the villages of Hanbury and the Lenches have been included, and the constituency reclassified from borough to county.^[2]

Constituency profile

From 1983 to 1997 the town of Redditch was, based on a series of high majorities, in the Conservative safe seat of Mid Worcestershire. The first MP for that constituency, Eric Forth, moved to the equally safe seat of Bromley and Chislehurst in south east London as a result of major boundary changes in Worcestershire for the 1997 general election, and held that seat until his death in 2006. The seat has been a bellwether since 1997.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1997	Jacqui Smith	Labour
	2010	Karen Lumley	Conservative

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Redditch[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Karen Lumley	20,771	47.1	+3.6
	Labour	Rebecca Blake	13,717	31.1	+0.9
	UKIP	Peter Jewell[5]	7,133	16.2	+12.8
	Liberal Democrat	Hilary Myers	1,349	3.1	-14.5
	Green	Kevin White[6]	960	2.2	+1.3
	Independent	Seth Colton	168	0.4	+0.4
Majority			7,054	16.0
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

General Election 2010: Redditch[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Karen Lumley	19,138	43.5	+5.0
	Labour	Jacqui Smith	13,317	30.3	-13.4
	Liberal Democrat	Nicholas Lane	7,750	17.6	+3.2
	UKIP	Anne Davis	1,497	3.4	0.0
	BNP	Andy Ingram	1,394	3.2	+3.2
	Green	Kevin White	393	0.9	+0.9
	English Democrats	Vincent Schittone	255	0.6	+0.6
	Christian	Scott Beverley	101	0.2	+0.2
	Independent	Paul Swansborough	100	0.2	+0.2
	Independent	Derek Fletcher	73	0.2	+0.2
Majority			5,821	13.2
Turnout			44,018	64.2	+1.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+9.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Redditch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jacqui Smith	18,012	44.7	−0.9
	Conservative	Karen Lumley	15,296	38.0	−0.9
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Hicks	5,602	13.9	+3.6
	UKIP	John Paul Ison	1,381	3.4	0.0
Majority			2,716	6.7
Turnout			40,291	62.8	+3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	0.0

General Election 2001: Redditch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jacqui Smith	16,899	45.6	-4.2
	Conservative	Karen Lumley	14,415	38.9	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Ashall	3,808	10.3	-0.7
	UKIP	George Flynn	1,259	3.4	N/A
	Green	Richard Armstrong	651	1.8	N/A
Majority			2,484	6.7
Turnout			37,032	59.2	-14.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Redditch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jacqui Smith	22,280	49.8
	Conservative	Anthea McIntyre	16,155	36.1
	Liberal Democrat	Malcolm Hall	4,935	11.0
	Referendum	Richard Cox	1,151	3.4
	Natural Law	Paul Davis	227	0.5
Majority			6,125
Turnout			44,748	73.5
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and Worcestershire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Letter from Jacqui Smith to the Boundary Commission
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
4. http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/Redditch/
5. http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/redditch/
6. http://www.redditchgreens.org.uk/
7. Redditch, UKPollingReport

Coordinates: 52°15′N 1°57′W / 52.25°N 1.95°W