BBC Profile:
Its physical contours have changed but Birmingham Ladywood is an old name: Neville Chamberlain defeated Oswald Mosely here in the 1920s. Labour has held the seat since 1929 apart from a brief interlude from 1969 to 1970 when Wallace Lawler won it for the Liberals at a by-election. Clare Short replaced John Sever here in 1983 when he was deselected before the general election. Short won with a majority of 9,030 votes and her margin increased steadily with every subsequent election until it peaked in 1997 at 60.8%.
After giving up her cabinet role as Secretary for International Development and having the Labour whip withdrawn, Clare Short continued to sit here as an independent MP.
Nechells and Aston wards were acquired following the 1997 boundary changes when Birmingham's parliamentary seats were reduced by one. Boundary changes in 2008 saw a part of Aston come from Birmingham Perry Barr, a piece of Ladywood from Birmingham Edgbaston, and a part of Nechells from the now-defunct Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath. The seat ceded several part-wards to its neighbours, and the former Ladywood borders have been chiselled away from all directions: Washwood Heath to the south-east, Perry Barr to the north and Lozells and East Handsworth to the north-west. However, gains in Nechells and Ladywood expanded the south-eastern borders.
Further boundary changes for the election are minimal. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force
[More...]BBC Profile:
Its physical contours have changed but Birmingham Ladywood is an old name: Neville Chamberlain defeated Oswald Mosely here in the 1920s. Labour has held the seat since 1929 apart from a brief interlude from 1969 to 1970 when Wallace Lawler won it for the Liberals at a by-election. Clare Short replaced John Sever here in 1983 when he was deselected before the general election. Short won with a majority of 9,030 votes and her margin increased steadily with every subsequent election until it peaked in 1997 at 60.8%.
After giving up her cabinet role as Secretary for International Development and having the Labour whip withdrawn, Clare Short continued to sit here as an independent MP.
Nechells and Aston wards were acquired following the 1997 boundary changes when Birmingham's parliamentary seats were reduced by one. Boundary changes in 2008 saw a part of Aston come from Birmingham Perry Barr, a piece of Ladywood from Birmingham Edgbaston, and a part of Nechells from the now-defunct Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath. The seat ceded several part-wards to its neighbours, and the former Ladywood borders have been chiselled away from all directions: Washwood Heath to the south-east, Perry Barr to the north and Lozells and East Handsworth to the north-west. However, gains in Nechells and Ladywood expanded the south-eastern borders.
Further boundary changes for the election are minimal. 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.
Covering almost all of Birmingham city centre and including the Soho, Nechells, and Aston wards slightly to the north as well as Ladywood itself, Birmingham Ladywood is an inner-city seat.
Ladywood is the most central ward, covering most of the city centre. The Aston and Nechells wards to the north and northeast of the city centre comprise mainly post-Second World War housing and have a large Muslim community. Birmingham Ladywood has one of the lowest proportions of professional and managerial workers in the country.
All wards in the constituency are served by the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, rated good for quality of services in 2005/06 and 2006/07. The Ladywood Neighbourhood Renewal Fund directed 32% of its spending towards health in 2006-07.
Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
Lab 15,422 (52.64%)
LD 8,618 (29.42%)
C 2,470 (8.43%)
UKIP 1,621 (5.53%)
Others 1,081 (3.69%)
Green 84 (0.29%)
[Less...]
19,950 (55.68%)