Dudley South (UK Parliament constituency)

Dudley South
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Dudley South in West Midlands.
Location of West Midlands within England.
County	West Midlands
Electorate	61,308 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	Chris Kelly (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Dudley West
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Dudley South is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is a Labour-Conservative marginal seat.

Boundaries

Dudley South is one of four constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, covering the central part of the borough. The constituency includes the south of Dudley, and also Netherton, Brierley Hill, Pensnett, Kingswinford, Wall Heath and Wordsley.

History

Prior to 1997, Dudley was divided into East and West constituencies, rather than the current North and South. Dudley South covers most of the area previously covered by Dudley West, which included Sedgley but excluded Netherton.

Dudley West was the scene of a by-election in 1994, held after the death of the Conservative John Blackburn who had represented the constituency since 1979. The by-election was won by Labour's Ian Pearson, who stood for Dudley South in 1997 and held the seat, winning by a comfortable margin each time, until he stood down in 2010.

The Conservatives gained the seat in the subsequent General Election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [2]	Party
	1997	Ian Pearson	Labour
	2010	Chris Kelly	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Dudley South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Kelly	16,450	43.1	+8.1
	Labour	Rachel Harris	12,594	33.0	-11.0
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan Bramall	5,989	15.7	+3.0
	UKIP	Philip Rowe	3,132	8.2	+5.0
Majority			3,856	10.1
Turnout			38,165	63.0	+2.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+9.5

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Dudley South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Pearson	17,800	45.3	−4.5
	Conservative	Marco Longhi	13,556	34.5	+3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan Bramall	4,808	12.2	−2.7
	BNP	John Salvage	1,841	4.7	N/A
	UKIP	Andrew Benion	1,271	3.2	+0.8
Majority			4,244	10.8
Turnout			39,276	60.2	+4.8
	Labour hold		Swing	3.9

General Election 2001: Dudley South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Pearson	18,109	49.8	-6.8
	Conservative	Jason Sugarman	11,292	31.1	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Lorely Burt	5,421	14.9	+4.0
	UKIP	John Westwood	859	2.4	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Angela Thompson	663	1.8	N/A
Majority			6,817	18.7
Turnout			36,344	55.4	-16.3
	Labour hold		Swing	4.2

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Dudley South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Pearson	27,124	56.6	N/A
	Conservative	Mark Simpson	14,097	29.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Burt	5,214	10.9	N/A
	Referendum Party	C. Birch	1,467	3.1	N/A
Majority			13,027		N/A
Turnout				71.8	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dudley

Notes and references

1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)

Coordinates: 52°29′N 2°08′W / 52.49°N 2.13°W / 52.49; -2.13