# Dudley North (UK Parliament constituency)

Dudley North was a United Kingdom House of Commons constituency from 1997 until 2024.
Campaigns in the seat have resulted in a minimum of 30% of votes at each election consistently for the same two parties' choice for candidate, and the next highest-placed share having fluctuated between 5.5% and 24% of the vote since its creation: for differing parties, the highest placed of these having been the UK Independence Party. The seat attracted seven candidates in 1997 and 2015 and four in 2001.
By the decision of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished and replaced by the new Dudley constituency, retaining current boundaries but expanded to include the Dudley Borough ward of Brockmoor and Pensnett from Dudley South.

## Constituency profile

Dudley North is one of four constituencies presently covering the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, encompassing the northern part of the borough, including the town centre. The constituency voted strongly for Brexit and it is slightly poorer than the UK as a whole.

## Boundaries

1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Castle and Priory, Coseley East, Coseley West, Gornal, St James's, St Thomas's, and Sedgley.
2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Castle and Priory, Gornal, St James's, St Thomas's, Sedgley, and Upper Gornal and Woodsetton.

## History

Before the 1997 election, Dudley was divided into East and West constituencies, rather than the current North and Dudley South. Dudley North covers much of the area previously covered by Dudley East, which included Netherton but excluded the western part of Sedgley, which was part of Dudley West.
The earlier Dudley constituency, consisting of central Dudley, Netherton, and Stourbridge, was more prominent before 1974. Colonel George Wigg (later Lord Wigg), Prime Minister Harold Wilson's adviser on security matters and later a Minister of State, held the seat for many years until elevated to the peerage in 1968. At the Dudley by-election in March of that year, Donald Williams, the Conservative candidate, gained the seat with a swing of 20%. In 1970, however, the seat was regained by Labour with the election of Dr John Gilbert, who subsequently represented Dudley East from February 1974 until its abolition at the 1997 general election. Gilbert served as a Minister of State under both James Callaghan and (as a peer) Tony Blair. Dudley West meanwhile was represented, until his death in 1994, by Conservative MP Dr John Blackburn. At the subsequent Dudley West by election the seat was a Labour gain with Ian Pearson elected. After boundary changes, Pearson became the MP for the newly created Dudley South seat at the 1997 election
Ross Cranston (Labour) was the first MP for the new Dudley North seat after winning it at the 1997 election; he remained the constituencies MP until the 2005 general election, when it was retained by his successor Ian Austin.
In 2010, Austin held onto his seat with 38.7% of the vote, a narrow 1.7% ahead of Conservative candidate Graeme Brown, at the first general election in 36 years which resulted in a hung parliament. Despite increasing his majority to 11% at the 2015 election (4,181 votes), in 2017 – after two recounts – it was reduced to a mere 22 votes, the fourth smallest majority at that election, and was the Labour seat that was closest to being taken by the Conservatives that election. (Walsall North, a closely neighbouring constituency was indeed gained by the Conservatives.) In 2019, the Conservatives gained the seat for the first time, with their candidate Marco Longhi winning a majority of more than 11,000 votes. The Conservative vote share increased by 16.6% in the seat, which was the party's fifth-largest increase at the election.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1997 | Ross Cranston | Labour |
| 2005 | Ian Austin | Labour |
| February 2019 | Ian Austin | Independent |
| 2019 | Marco Longhi | Conservative |
| 2024 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |

## Election results 1997-2024
### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Dudley North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ross Cranston | 24,471 | 51.2 | |
| | Conservative | Charles MacNamara | 15,014 | 31.4 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gerry Lewis | 3,939 | 8.2 | |
| | Socialist Labour | Mark Atherton | 2,155 | 4.5 | |
| | Referendum | Stuart Bavester | 1,201 | 2.5 | |
| | National Front | George Cartwright | 559 | 1.2 | |
| | National Democrats | Simon Darby | 469 | 1.0 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,457 | 19.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,808 | 69.5 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Dudley North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ross Cranston | 20,095 | 52.1 | 0.9 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Griffiths | 13,295 | 34.5 | 3.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Richard Burt | 3,352 | 8.7 | 0.5 |
| | BNP | Simon Darby | 1,822 | 4.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,800 | 17.6 | 2.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,564 | 55.9 | 13.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 1.1 | |
General election 2005: Dudley North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ian Austin | 18,306 | 44.2 | 7.9 |
| | Conservative | Ian Hillas | 12,874 | 31.1 | 3.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gerry Lewis | 4,257 | 10.3 | 1.6 |
| | BNP | Simon Darby | 4,022 | 9.7 | 5.0 |
| | UKIP | Malcolm Davis | 1,949 | 4.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,432 | 13.1 | 4.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,408 | 60.2 | 4.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 2.3 | |

### Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Dudley North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ian Austin | 14,923 | 38.7 | 3.9 |
| | Conservative | Graeme Brown | 14,274 | 37.0 | 5.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mike Beckett | 4,066 | 10.5 | 0.2 |
| | UKIP | Malcolm Davies | 3,267 | 8.5 | 3.9 |
| | BNP | Ken Griffiths | 1,899 | 4.9 | 4.8 |
| | National Front | Kevin Inman | 173 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 649 | 1.7 | 9.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,602 | 63.5 | 2.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 4.7 | |
General election 2015: Dudley North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ian Austin | 15,885 | 41.8 | 3.1 |
| | Conservative | Les Jones | 11,704 | 30.8 | 6.2 |
| | UKIP | Bill Etheridge | 9,113 | 24.0 | 15.5 |
| | Green | Will Duckworth | 517 | 1.4 | New |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mike Collins | 478 | 1.3 | 9.2 |
| | Apni | Rehan Afzal | 156 | 0.4 | New |
| | TUSC | David Pitt | 139 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,181 | 11.0 | 9.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,992 | 62.6 | 0.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 4.7 | |
The original Conservative candidate for the 2015 election Afzal Amin was suspended after allegations he persuaded the English Defence League to announce a march against a mosque in the constituency
General election 2017: Dudley North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ian Austin | 18,090 | 46.49 | 4.7 |
| | Conservative | Les Jones | 18,068 | 46.43 | 15.6 |
| | UKIP | Bill Etheridge | 2,144 | 5.5 | 18.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ben France | 368 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| | Green | Andrew Nixon | 240 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 22 | 0.06 | 10.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,910 | 62.7 | 0.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 5.5 | |
General election 2019: Dudley North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Marco Longhi | 23,134 | 63.1 | 16.6 |
| | Labour | Melanie Dudley | 11,601 | 31.6 | 14.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Flynn | 1,210 | 3.3 | 2.4 |
| | Green | Mike Harrison | 739 | 2.0 | 1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,533 | 31.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,684 | 59.2 | 3.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 61,936 | | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | 15.8 | |