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UK Parliament - Birmingham Selly Oak

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United Kingdom > England > West Midlands > West Midlands > Birmingham Selly Oak

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 05:00pm

Data Sources

[Link]

Description

This is a residential slice of south-west Birmingham stretching in towards the city centre. It contains the 'model village' of Bournville, created by the Cadbury chocolate family for its workers, still governed by restrictive covenants prohibiting the sale of alcohol within its boundaries. The chocolate factory is also here. Bournville and Selly Oak wards are similar to neighbouring Edgbaston - some attractive suburbs with many residents commuting to the city or to the University. King's Norton contains some large post-war council estates. On the national stage, Labour first won this seat in October 1974 but the left-winger Tom Litterick was defeated in 1979 by the voluble and outspoken Conservative Anthony Beaumont Dark. The SDP took 20% of the vote in 1983 but Labour's share increased thereafter until Dr Lynne Jones was elected in 1992 with a majority of just over 2,000. This was increased to 14,000 in 1997 and fell back to almost 10,400 four years later on a much lower turn-out of 56%.