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UK Parliament - Birmingham Northfield

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United Kingdom > England > West Midlands > West Midlands > Birmingham Northfield

Office

Parliament

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

April 19, 2005 - 12:00pm

Polls Open

May 05, 2005 - 01:00am

Polls Close

May 05, 2005 - 05:00pm

Term Start

May 17, 2005 - 12:00pm

Term End

May 17, 2010 - 11:00am

Contributor

Wishful Thinking

Last Modified

Wishful Thinking May 28, 2005 05:01pm

Data Sources

[Link]

Description

This is home to the Longbridge car plant and, had MG Rover been closed rather than rescued in 2000, the outcome might well have been very different for Labour at the 2001 election. With the future of the plant very much uncertain, the issue continues to dominate local politics. The constituency is to the south-west of Birmingham, along the A38. Many of the Longbridge Rover workers live here in the inter-war housing built by both private and local authority developers. More than half those employed are in skilled or partly-skilled manual trades. There is also a service and leisure development at Birmingham Great Park in the south of the constituency and a 'new technology' corridor along the A38. This is a white (93%) working-class seat which has been marginal in the past and voted Conservative in 1979, 1983 and 1987. Labour's Richard Burden won by just 1,379 votes in 1992 and has held it relatively comfortably ever since. Of the wards within the constituency, Weoley is a sprawl of estates - council and private which tend to vote Labour. Northfield itself votes Conservative.