# Wolverhampton South West (UK Parliament constituency)

Wolverhampton South West was a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was based in the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, and was first created in 1950.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to moderate boundary changes, it was reformed as Wolverhampton West, which was first contested at the 2024 general election.

## History

Wolverhampton South West was represented by the Conservative Party for 47 years after its formation, with Labour winning it for the first time in its 1997 landslide victory. The Conservatives regained the seat in 2010, only for Labour to regain it at the next general election in 2015, before losing it again in 2019 to the Conservative Party.
The constituency was held by Enoch Powell from 1950 to 1974, a period covering his unsuccessful bid for the Conservative Party leadership in 1965 and his controversial 1968 Rivers of Blood speech, which criticised mass immigration, especially Commonwealth immigration to Britain.

## Constituency profile

This, in the 21st century, repeatedly marginal seat contains a mix of different areas; St Peter's, Graiseley and Park are relatively deprived inner city wards, with significant ethnic minority populations, mainly of Asian origin and are Labour voting-areas. Penn and Merry Hill are more mixed and suburban with mostly Conservative voters in times of economic prosperity. Tettenhall Regis and Tettenhall Wightwick are affluent suburbs on the western fringe of the West Midlands conurbation and are the strongest Tory wards in the seat.
The seat includes Molineux stadium, home to Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

## Boundaries

Wolverhampton South West is one of three constituencies covering the city of Wolverhampton, covering the city centre (including the University and Civic Centre) as well as western and south-western parts of the city. The boundaries run south from the city centre towards Penn and north-west towards Tettenhall.
1950–1955: The County Borough of Wolverhampton wards of Blakenhall and St John's, Graiseley, Penn, St George's, St Mark's and Merridale, St Matthew's, and St Philip's.
1955–1974: As above plus Park.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Wolverhampton wards of Graiseley, Merry Hill, Park, Penn, St Peter's, Tettenhall Regis, and Tettenhall Wightwick.
1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Wolverhampton wards as named above
2010–2024: The City of Wolverhampton wards as named above

## History
### Prominent frontbenchers

The unit is heavily associated with the controversial Conservative politician Enoch Powell who was MP for the seat from 1950 until 1974, when he departed to the Ulster Unionist Party. It was during this time that he served in Edward Heath's shadow cabinet, from which he was dismissed in 1968 after his controversial Rivers of Blood speech in which he predicted severe civil unrest if mass immigration from the Commonwealth continued. This speech was reportedly the result of Powell's meeting with a woman in the constituency who was the last white person living in her street.
He was succeeded by fellow Conservative Nicholas Budgen, who held the seat until 1997. Budgen is best known as one of the Maastricht Rebels of the mid-1990s.

### Summary of results

Wolverhampton South West returned Conservative until a Labour candidate gained it in their 1997 landslide. Budgen was defeated in the 1997 election by Labour's Jenny Jones, a landslide victory for the party. As the next general election loomed, she announced that she would not be seeking re-election. From the 2001 general election, the constituency was represented by Rob Marris of the Labour Party for nine years until he lost it in the 2010 general election to Paul Uppal of the Conservative Party, by a margin of 691 votes. Marris regained the seat from Uppal at the 2015 general election. The 2015 result gave the seat the 14th-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. In 2017, despite Marris standing down after 11 (non-consecutive) years as an MP and Uppal standing for a third time, the new Labour candidate, Eleanor Smith, more than doubled the Labour majority. In 2019, riding the surge from Boris Johnson's Conservative Party, Stuart Anderson was elected as the new Conservative MP for the constituency.

### Other parties' candidates

Of the four other candidates standing in 2015, the UKIP candidate kept his deposit by winning more than 5% of the vote, in the year before the 2016 EU referendum. He failed to do so in the 2017 election.

### Turnout

Turnout has ranged from 87.2% in 1950 to 62.1% in 2001 and in 2005.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1950 | Enoch Powell | Conservative |
| Feb 1974 | Nicholas Budgen | Conservative |
| 1997 | Jenny Jones | Labour |
| 2001 | Rob Marris | Labour |
| 2010 | Paul Uppal | Conservative |
| 2015 | Rob Marris | Labour |
| 2017 | Eleanor Smith | Labour |
| 2019 | Stuart Anderson | Conservative |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Stuart Anderson | 19,864 | 48.3 | 4.1 |
| | Labour | Eleanor Smith | 18,203 | 44.3 | 5.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Bart Ricketts | 2,041 | 5.0 | 3.1 |
| | Brexit Party | Leo Grandison | 1,028 | 2.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,661 | 4.0 | 1.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,136 | 67.5 | 3.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | 4.6 | |
General election 2017: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Eleanor Smith | 20,899 | 49.4 | 6.2 |
| | Conservative | Paul Uppal | 18,714 | 44.2 | 3.0 |
| | UKIP | Rob Jones | 1,012 | 2.4 | 8.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sarah Quarmby | 784 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
| | Green | Andrea Cantrill | 579 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| | Independent | Jagmeet Singh | 358 | 0.8 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,185 | 5.2 | 3.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,461 | 70.6 | 4.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 1.5 | |
General election 2015: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Rob Marris | 17,374 | 43.2 | 4.2 |
| | Conservative | Paul Uppal | 16,573 | 41.2 | 0.5 |
| | UKIP | Dave Everett | 4,310 | 10.7 | 7.0 |
| | Green | Andrea Cantrill | 1,058 | 2.6 | New |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neale Upstone | 845 | 2.1 | 13.9 |
| | Independent | Brian Booth | 49 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 801 | 2.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,209 | 66.6 | 1.3 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | 1.9 | |
General election 2010: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Paul Uppal | 16,344 | 40.7 | 2.6 |
| | Labour | Rob Marris | 15,653 | 39.0 | 4.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Robin Lawrence | 6,430 | 16.0 | 2.5 |
| | UKIP | Amanda Mobberley | 1,487 | 3.7 | 1.2 |
| | Equal Parenting Alliance | Raymond Barry | 246 | 0.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 691 | 1.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,160 | 67.9 | 4.8 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | 3.5 | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Rob Marris | 18,489 | 44.4 | 3.9 |
| | Conservative | Sandip Verma | 15,610 | 37.5 | 2.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Colin Ross | 5,568 | 13.4 | 5.0 |
| | UKIP | Douglas Hope | 1,029 | 2.5 | 0.8 |
| | BNP | Edward Mullins | 983 | 2.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,879 | 6.9 | 1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,679 | 62.1 | 0.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 0.8 | |
General election 2001: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Rob Marris | 19,735 | 48.3 | 2.1 |
| | Conservative | David Chambers | 16,248 | 39.7 | 0.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mike Dixon | 3,425 | 8.4 | 0.2 |
| | Green | Wendy Walker | 805 | 2.0 | New |
| | UKIP | Doug Hope | 684 | 1.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,487 | 8.6 | 1.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,897 | 62.1 | 10.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jenny Jones | 24,657 | 50.4 | 10.5 |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Budgen | 19,539 | 39.9 | 9.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Matthew Green | 4,012 | 8.2 | 0.3 |
| | Liberal | Mike Hyde | 713 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,118 | 10.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,921 | 72.4 | 5.8 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | 9.9 | |
General election 1992: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Budgen | 25,969 | 49.3 | 1.4 |
| | Labour | Simon Murphy | 21,003 | 39.9 | 9.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mark Wiggin | 4,470 | 8.5 | 10.1 |
| | Liberal | Colin Hallmark | 1,237 | 2.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,966 | 9.4 | 10.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,679 | 78.2 | 2.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | 5.3 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Budgen | 26,235 | 50.7 | 0.1 |
| | Labour | Roger Lawrence | 15,917 | 30.7 | 3.2 |
| | Alliance (SDP) | Beris Lamb | 9,616 | 18.6 | 2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,318 | 20.0 | 3.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,768 | 75.5 | 3.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1983: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Budgen | 25,214 | 50.6 | 1.1 |
| | Labour | Bob Jones | 13,694 | 27.5 | 4.7 |
| | Alliance (SDP) | Edgar Harwood | 10,724 | 21.5 | 8.0 |
| | Anti-Common Market | John Deary | 201 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,520 | 23.1 | 3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,833 | 72.4 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Budgen | 26,587 | 52.4 | 8.3 |
| | Labour | Ivan Geffen | 15,827 | 31.2 | 1.8 |
| | Liberal | Joseph Wernick | 6,939 | 13.7 | 5.8 |
| | National Front | June Lees | 912 | 1.8 | 1.5 |
| | Anti-Common Market | John Deary | 401 | 0.8 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,760 | 21.3 | 10.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,666 | 76.6 | 2.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Budgen | 20,854 | 44.2 | 1.5 |
| | Labour | Ivan Ernest Geffen | 15,554 | 33.0 | 0.9 |
| | Liberal | Joseph Abraham Wernick | 9,215 | 19.5 | 0.3 |
| | National Front | Garth Anthony Cooper | 1,573 | 3.3 | 0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,300 | 11.2 | 2.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,196 | 73.7 | 5.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election February 1974: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Budgen | 23,123 | 45.7 | 24.4 |
| | Labour | Helene Middleweek | 16,222 | 32.1 | 8.8 |
| | Liberal | Joseph Abraham Wernick | 9,691 | 19.2 | New |
| | National Front | Garth Anthony Cooper | 1,523 | 3.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,901 | 13.6 | 23.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,559 | 79.6 | |
| | Conservative win (new boundaries) | Conservative win (new boundaries) | Conservative win (new boundaries) | Conservative win (new boundaries) | Conservative win (new boundaries) |
General election 1970: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Enoch Powell | 26,220 | 64.3 | 5.2 |
| | Labour | Joshua Andrew Nicholas Bamfield | 11,753 | 28.8 | 12.1 |
| | Liberal | Eric Robinson | 2,459 | 6.0 | New |
| | Communist | Pete Carter | 189 | 0.5 | New |
| | Independent | Gavin Menzies | 77 | 0.2 | New |
| | Independent | Dharam Dass | 52 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,467 | 35.5 | 17.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,750 | 76.0 | 2.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Enoch Powell | 21,466 | 59.1 | 1.7 |
| | Labour | Alexander Collier | 14,881 | 40.9 | 9.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,585 | 18.2 | 11.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,347 | 73.6 | 1.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1964: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Enoch Powell | 21,736 | 57.4 | 6.5 |
| | Labour | Antony Gardner | 11,880 | 31.4 | 4.7 |
| | Liberal | Nick Lloyd | 4,233 | 11.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,856 | 26.0 | 1.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,849 | 75.3 | 3.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Enoch Powell | 25,696 | 63.9 | 3.9 |
| | Labour | Eric Thorne | 14,529 | 36.1 | 3.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,167 | 27.8 | 7.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,225 | 78.4 | 0.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1955: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Enoch Powell | 25,318 | 60.0 | 6.4 |
| | Labour Co-op | Lewis Burgess | 16,898 | 40.0 | 6.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,420 | 20.0 | 12.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,216 | 77.7 | 8.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1951: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Enoch Powell | 23,660 | 53.6 | 7.6 |
| | Labour | Annie Llewelyn-Davies | 20,464 | 46.4 | 2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,196 | 7.2 | 5.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,124 | 86.3 | 0.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1950: Wolverhampton South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Enoch Powell | 20,239 | 46.0 | |
| | Labour | Billy Hughes | 19,548 | 44.4 | |
| | Liberal | William Frederick Hubert Rollason | 4,229 | 9.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 691 | 1.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,016 | 87.2 | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |