|
1997 Result:
|
|
Short, Clare
|
Lab
|
28,134
|
74.10%
|
|
Vara, Shailesh
|
Con
|
5,052
|
13.30%
|
|
Marwa, Sardul Singh
|
LibDem
|
3,020
|
8.00%
|
|
Gurney, Ruth
|
Ref
|
1,086
|
2.90%
|
|
Carmichael, Andrew
|
NatDem
|
685
|
1.80%
|
|
Majority
|
23,082
|
|
|
4.9% swing from Con to Lab
|
|
1992 Notional
Result:
|
|
|
Lab
|
30,065
|
71.4%
|
|
|
Con
|
8,596
|
20.41%
|
|
|
LibDem
|
3,447
|
8.19%
|
Notional Majority
|
21,469
|
50.99%
|
|
|
Description:
|
Birmingham Ladywood has a colourful political history although its boundaries have changed many times. It was represented by Neville Chamberlain during the 1920s and at one election he defeated a Labour candidate called Oswald Mosely by 77 votes. Ladywood has been a safe Labour seat since 1970, electing Brian Walden in February 1974. Mr Walden resigned in 1977 to become a TV presenter. Labour won the by-election but this time the Liberals were beaten into fourth place by the National Front who gained a 5.7% share. The sitting Labour MP was deselected before the 1983 general election and Clare Short chosen in his place. The seat covers most of Birmingham city centre including Winson Green Prison and Aston University. Contrasted with the wealth of the city centre are some residential areas with serious economic and social problems: 41.5% of all families with children are headed by a single parent and unemployment is the highest of any constituency in England & Wales in 1991. Ladywood is very ethnically diverse - 46.4% are white (only Brent South has a smaller non-white population), a third of the population is of Asian origin (4th highest in England & Wales) and 17% are Black.
|