Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath in Birmingham for the 2005 general election.

Outline map

Location of Birmingham within England.
County West Midlands
19972010
Replaced by Birmingham Hall Green
Created from Birmingham Sparkbrook and Birmingham Small Heath
European Parliament constituency West Midlands

Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. The constituency was notable for having the largest percentage of Muslim voters of any UK constituency at 48.8% (based on 2001 census figures).

The seat was abolished following a review of parliamentary boundaries by the Boundary Commission for England.

Boundaries

The City of Birmingham wards of Fox Hollies, Small Heath, Sparkbrook, and Sparkhill.

This was an inner-city residential seat in the south-east of Birmingham, noted for its large immigrant population.

In the first half of the 20th century, it was home to many Irish families. In more recent times it has attracted people of Asian origin, who now account for some 50% of residents - the highest proportion of any seat in the country. The majority of ethnic minorities in this area are of Pakistani and British Pakistani origin.

By 2010, unemployment was high, at well over 10%. There are hardly any white collar workers in the seat and it has the third highest proportion of only partly skilled workers in the country.

However, it is a major site for urban regeneration and some £35m is to be invested in local redevelopment initiatives over the next five years.

The constituency was historically a safe seat Labour, but in 2005 their incumbent MP Roger Godsiff saw his majority slashed to just over 3,000 following a strong challenge from RESPECT. Labour also lost many local council seats in the constituency, primarily to the Liberal Democrats but also to the now-defunct People's Justice Party and later to RESPECT's Salma Yaqoob in the Sparkbrook ward.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Birmingham and the West Midlands, the Boundary Commission for England abolished the Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency.

The Sparkbrook electoral ward formed one part of a revised Birmingham Hall Green constituency. The incumbent MP Roger Godsiff was selected for the new Hall Green seat, and won the seat at the 2010 election.

Members of Parliament

Roger Godsiff of the Labour Party represented this seat throughout its existence. From 1992 he was previously MP for Birmingham Small Heath, which was merged with Birmingham Sparkbrook to create this seat.

ElectionMember [1] Party
1997 Roger Godsiff Labour
2010 constituency abolished: see Birmingham Hall Green

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Roger Godsiff 13,787 36.1 -21.4
Respect Salma Yaqoob 10,498 27.5 N/A
Liberal Democrat Talib Hussain 7,727 20.2 +7.0
Conservative Sameer Mirza 3,480 9.1 -1.7
UKIP Jennifer Brookes 1,342 3.5 +1.8
Green Ian Jamieson 855 2.2 N/A
Independent Abdul Chaudhary 503 1.3 N/A
Majority 3,289 8.6
Turnout 38,192 51.8 +2.5
Labour hold Swing -24.4%
General Election 2001: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Roger Godsiff 21,087 57.5 -6.7
Liberal Democrat Qassim Afzal 4,841 13.2 +3.9
People's Justice Shafaq Hussain 4,770 13.0 N/A
Conservative Iftkhar Hussain 3,948 10.8 -6.7
Independent Gul Mahammed 662 1.8 +0.5
UKIP Wayne Vincent 634 1.7 N/A
Muslim Party Abdul Aziz 401 1.1 N/A
Socialist Alliance Salman Mirza 304 0.8 N/A
Majority 16,246 44.3
Turnout 36,647 49.3 -7.8
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Roger Godsiff 26,841 64.3
Conservative Kenneth George Hardeman 7,315 17.5
Liberal Democrat Roger Harmer 3,889 9.3
Green Alan Clawley 959 2.3
Referendum Riaz Dooley 737 1.8
Independent Pankaj Patel 538 1.3
Independent Rashid Syed 513 1.2
Independent Sajada Bi 490 1.2
Socialist Labour Colin Wren 483 1.2
Majority 19,526 46.8
Turnout 41,765 57.0
Labour hold Swing

See also

References

Coordinates: 52°27′25″N 1°50′49″W / 52.457°N 1.847°W / 52.457; -1.847

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