BBC Profile:
Before the 1997 general election Dudley was divided into East and West constituencies, rather than the current North and South.

Since 1997 the seat has been held by Labour's Ian Pearson, who was returned with a majority of 4,244 votes in 2005.

At the election, parts of Brookmoor and Pensnett and Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews have been transferred across from Dudley North while Stourbridge has surrendered its segment of Brierley Hill. 'Losses' for Dudley South include a very large section of Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood formerly in the east and south-east of the seat, now in Stourbridge. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

Dudley South is a working-class residential seat mixing older industrial communities such as Brierley Hill and Pensnett with more modern and affluent developments like Kingswinford and Wordsley.

The seat still contains the bulk of Dudley's declining glass quarter. Besides manufacturing, wholesale and retail trades account for a high proportion of jobs. Expansion in the retail and services sectors has been assisted by the construction of the Merry Hill shopping centre in Brierley Hill, the largest retail centre in the Black Country, and the neighbouring Waterfront business complex.

Two schools - one primary, one secondary - pioneered a federation scheme together in Pensnett in 2004, pooling their resources to provide an

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BBC Profile:
Before the 1997 general election Dudley was divided into East and West constituencies, rather than the current North and South.

Since 1997 the seat has been held by Labour's Ian Pearson, who was returned with a majority of 4,244 votes in 2005.

At the election, parts of Brookmoor and Pensnett and Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews have been transferred across from Dudley North while Stourbridge has surrendered its segment of Brierley Hill. 'Losses' for Dudley South include a very large section of Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood formerly in the east and south-east of the seat, now in Stourbridge. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

Dudley South is a working-class residential seat mixing older industrial communities such as Brierley Hill and Pensnett with more modern and affluent developments like Kingswinford and Wordsley.

The seat still contains the bulk of Dudley's declining glass quarter. Besides manufacturing, wholesale and retail trades account for a high proportion of jobs. Expansion in the retail and services sectors has been assisted by the construction of the Merry Hill shopping centre in Brierley Hill, the largest retail centre in the Black Country, and the neighbouring Waterfront business complex.

Two schools - one primary, one secondary - pioneered a federation scheme together in Pensnett in 2004, pooling their resources to provide an 'all-through' education, a pet initiative of the Innovation Unit of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
Lab 15,896 (43.96%)
C 12,674 (35.05%)
LD 4,587 (12.68%)
Others 1,841 (5.09%)
UKIP 1,165 (3.22%)

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