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1997 Result:
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Burden, Richard
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Lab
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22,316
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57.40%
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Blumenthal, Alan
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Con
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10,873
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28.00%
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Ashall, Michael
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LibDem
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4,078
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10.50%
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Gent, David
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Ref
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1,243
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3.20%
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Axon, Keith
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BNP
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337
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0.90%
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Majority
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11,443
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13% swing from Con to Lab
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1992 Notional
Result:
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Lab
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18,652
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45.92%
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Con
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17,273
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42.53%
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LibDem
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4,692
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11.55%
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Notional Majority
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1,379
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3.40%
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Description:
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Tucked in the south west corner of Birmingham Metropolitan Council, Northfield is a constituency which after 13 years of Conservative representation reverted to Labour in 1992. Richard Burden picked up sufficient votes from the LibDems to beat the sitting Tory, Roger King. Boundary changes have notionally increased his majority from a tiny 630 to a slightly more comfortable 1,379. Northfield holds the vast Rover car plant at Longbridge and this is obviously the major employer in the area. Half the workforce is employed in either skilled or partly skilled manual trades, whilst unemployment is average for a big city urban area. Housing is a mix of council and private estates, Weoley Castle holding the largest proportion of local authority housing. The departure of Bartley Green to Edgbaston means the constituency has lost much Tory support.
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