Smethwick (constituency)

19181974 The County Borough of Smethwick. 2024present The re-established constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020): • The Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell wards of: Abbey; Blackheath (polling districts BLA, BLB, BLC, BLD, BLE, BLF and BLH); Bristnall; Langley; Old Warley; St. Pauls; Smethwick; Soho and Victoria. It comprises the whole of the former Warley constituency, with the addition of the bulk of the Blackheath ward from the abolished constituency of Halesowen and Rowley Regis, thus bringing its electorate within the permitted range. == History ==

The constituency gained national interest during the 1918 general election when the Suffragette leader Christabel Pankhurst decided to stand as a Woman's Party candidate supporting the Coalition. She was one of 17 women candidates standing for Parliament at the first opportunity. This was her one and only parliamentary campaign which she lost to the Labour candidate. In 1945 the constituency held the first post-war by-election when the winning Labour candidate, Alfred Dobbs, was killed in a road traffic accident less than twenty four hours after the count. The constituency was the subject of 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, in a campaign with racial overtones. In 1966, 6.5% of the constituency was born in the New Commonwalth. == Members of Parliament ==

MPs 1888–1999 MPs since 2024 Warley prior to 2024 == Elections ==

Elections in the 2020s Elections in the 1970s Elections in the 1960s Elections in the 1950s Elections in the 1940s Elections in the 1930s Elections in the 1920s Elections in the 1910s == See also ==