Smethwick (UK Parliament constituency)

Smethwick
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–February 1974
Number of members one
Replaced by Warley East

Smethwick was a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Smethwick in Staffordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

The constituency gained national media coverage during the 1964 general election when Peter Griffiths, the Conservative Party candidate, gained the seat against the national trend, unseating the Labour Party sitting member, Patrick Gordon Walker, a front bench opposition spokesman in the previous Parliament and it was alleged that there had been racial overtones in the campaign.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1918 John Emanuel Davison Labour
1926 Sir Oswald Mosley Labour
1931 New Party
1931 Roy Wise Conservative
1945 Alfred Dobbs Labour
1945 Patrick Gordon Walker Labour
1964 Peter Griffiths Conservative
1966 Andrew Faulds Labour
Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see Warley East

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

Christabel Pankhurst
General Election 1918: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Emanuel Davison 9,389 52.2 N/A
Women's Party Christabel Harriette Pankhurst 8,614 47.8 N/A
Majority 775 4.4 N/A
Turnout 18,003 54.7 N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Emanuel Davison 13,141 50.7 −1.5
Conservative Arthur Henry Addenbrooke Simcox 12,759 49.3 +1.5
Majority 382 1.4 −3.0
Turnout 25,900 75.9 +21.2
Labour hold Swing 1.5
General Election 1923: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Emanuel Davison 13,550 54.7 +4.0
Unionist Clement Edmund Royds Brocklebank 11,217 45.3 −4.0
Majority 2,333 9.4 +8.0
Turnout 24,767 71.7 −4.2
Labour hold Swing −4.0
General Election 1924: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Emanuel Davison 14,491 52.3 −2.4
Conservative Marshall James Pike 13,238 47.7 +2.4
Majority 1,253 4.6 −4.8
Turnout 27,729 78.2 +6.5
Labour hold Swing 2.4
By-election 1926: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oswald Ernald Mosley 16,077 57.1 +4.8
Conservative Marshall James Pike 9,495 33.7 −14.0
Liberal Edwin Bayliss 2,600 9.2 N/A
Majority 6,582 23.4 +18.8
Turnout 35,862 78.6 +0.4
Labour hold Swing −9.4
General Election 1929: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oswald Ernald Mosley 19,550 54.8 −2.3
Conservative Alfred Roy Wise 12,210 34.2 +0.5
Liberal Miss M.E. Marshall 3,909 11.0 +1.8
Majority 7,340 20.6 −2.8
Turnout 35,669 78.9 +0.3
Labour hold Swing 1.4

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alfred Roy Wise 20,945 60.1 +25.7
Labour W. Ernest Lawrence 13,927 39.9 −14.9
Majority 7,018 20.2 N/A
Turnout 34,872 74.7 −4.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing 20.3
General Election 1935: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alfred Roy Wise 16,575 52.5 −7.7
Labour Charles W. Brook 15,023 47.5 +7.6
Majority 1,552 5.0 −17.2
Turnout 31,598 70.7 −4.0
Conservative hold Swing −7.7

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alfred James Dobbs 20,522 65.9 +18.4
Conservative Gilbert Harold Samuel Edgar 10,637 34.1 −18.4
Majority 9,885 31.8 N/A
Turnout 31,159 72.4 +1.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing −18.4
By-election 1945: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker 19,364 68.8 +2.9
Conservative Gilbert Harold Samuel Edgar 8,762 31.2 −2.9
Majority 10,602 37.6 +5.8
Turnout 43,020 65.4 −7.0
Labour hold Swing −2.9

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker 28,750 62.1 −6.7
Conservative J. Fallon 17,553 37.9 +6.7
Majority 11,197 24.2 −13.4
Turnout 46,303 86.9
Labour hold Swing 6.7
General Election 1951: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker 27,739 60.6 −1.5
Conservative A. Norman Giles 18,012 39.4 +1.5
Majority 9,727 21.2 −3.0
Turnout 45,751 83.5 +1.8
Labour hold Swing 1.5
General Election 1955: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker 23,151 58.2 −2.5
Conservative John Julius Wells 16,656 41.8 +2.5
Majority 6,495 16.3 −4.9
Turnout 39,807 75.5 −8.5
Labour hold Swing 2.5
General Election 1959: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker 20,670 54.7 −3.5
Conservative Peter Harry Steve Griffiths 17,126 45.3 +3.5
Majority 3,544 9.4 −4.9
Turnout 37,796 75.9 +0.4
Labour hold Swing 3.5

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Harry Steve Griffiths 16,690 47.6 +2.3
Labour Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker 14,916 42.6 −12.1
Liberal David Hugill 3,172 9.0 N/A
Independent Dudley Trevor Davies 262 0.8 N/A
Majority 1,774 5.1
Turnout 35,040 74.1 −1.8
Conservative gain from Labour Swing −7.2
General Election 1966: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Andrew Matthew William Faulds 18,440 54.4 +11.8
Conservative Peter Harry Steve Griffiths 14,950 44.1 −3.5
British National R. Stanley 508 1.5 N/A
Majority 3,490 10.3
Turnout 33,898 75.4 +1.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing −7.6

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Smethwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Andrew Matthew William Faulds 16,077 52.2 −2.2
Conservative B. Brian Rathbone 13,968 45.4 +1.3
Liberal Mihir Gupta 747 2.4 N/A
Majority 2,109 6.9 −3.4
Turnout 30,792 68.1 −7.3
Labour hold Swing 1.7

See also

References

Coordinates: 52°29′N 2°0′W / 52.483°N 2.000°W / 52.483; -2.000

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