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Meriden (UK Parliament constituency)

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Meriden
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
2010–2024 boundary of Meriden in the West Midlands
Outline map
Location of the West Midlands within England
CountyWest Midlands
Electorate83,428 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsBalsall Common, Hampton-in-Arden, Meriden and Chelmsley Wood
1955–2024
SeatsOne
Created fromSutton Coldfield and Nuneaton
Replaced by

Meriden was a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[n 2] It was named after the village of Meriden, halfway between Solihull and Coventry.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to boundary changes, it was reformed as new Meriden and Solihull East constituency, first contested in the 2024 general election.[2]

Constituency profile

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The constituency was one of two covering the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. It covered the rural area known as the Meriden Gap located between the West Midlands conurbation and Coventry, which contains villages such as Balsall Common, Hampton-in-Arden, and Meriden itself, with some suburban towns, particularly Castle Bromwich and Chelmsley Wood (a large area of 1960s council housing on the eastern edge of Birmingham, some of which since acquired privately under the right to buy others of which being remaining social housing), higher than average national income and affluent areas particular examples being Hockley Heath, Bentley Heath, Temple Balsall, Catherine-de-Barnes, Dorridge and Knowle.[3] Incidence of home ownership in this area is high, as opposed to the rented sector.[4][5]

History

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Meriden was the largest geographical constituency in the West Midlands metropolitan area. It was created for the 1955 general election.

The 1983 boundary changes and landslide electoral success of Margaret Thatcher that year transformed the constituency into a Conservative safe seat, with the Labour-leaning areas becoming part of the new Warwickshire North constituency (which was also won by the Conservatives). Iain Mills held this seat until he died in office in January 1997, with the seat remaining vacant until the dissolution of Parliament that March (and therefore no by-election being held). Caroline Spelman was victorious in the 1997 general election, though on that occasion only by a marginal majority, and held the seat until her retirement in 2019, with the challenge from Labour becoming more distant.

Boundaries

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Map
Map of 2010-2024 boundaries

The constituency was created in 1955 following a review of parliamentary seats in Warwickshire by the Boundary Commission appointed under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. The constituency's area was transferred from the neighbouring constituencies of Nuneaton and Sutton Coldfield.[6]

Tamworth Rural District was abolished in 1965, with most of its area redistributed between the two neighbouring rural districts. Accordingly, this resulted in only a minor boundary change to the constituency in 1974.[7]

Until 1983 the seat was a Labour-Conservative marginal, covering the coal mining areas of northern Warwickshire and the more affluent area near Solihull. It changed hands between the two parties several times, including in a by-election in 1968, which was won by Keith Speed of the Conservatives.

In 1983, reflecting the major local government boundary changes effected by the Local Government Act 1972, a new Meriden County Constituency was created as part of the parliamentary county of West Midlands. There were no boundary changes in 1997.[8] The Conservatives have generally achieved solid majorities in the constituency since 1983, although Labour came within 582 votes of gaining the seat in its 1997 landslide.

1955–1974: The Rural Districts of Atherstone, Meriden, and Tamworth.[9]

1974–1983: The Rural Districts of Atherstone and Meriden.

1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull wards of Bickenhill, Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Fordbridge, Kingshurst, Knowle, Meriden, Packwood, and Smith's Wood.

2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull wards of Bickenhill, Blythe, Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Dorridge and Hockley Heath, Kingshurst and Fordbridge, Knowle, Meriden, and Smith's Wood.

Members of Parliament

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The MP from 1997 to 2019 was the Conservative Caroline Spelman. Conservative Saqib Bhatti took over the position after the 2019 General Election.

Election Member[10] Party Notes
1955 Reg Moss Labour
1959 Gordon Matthews Conservative
1964 Christopher Rowland Labour Died November 1967
1968 by-election Keith Speed Conservative
February 1974 John Tomlinson Labour
1979 Iain Mills Conservative Died January 1997; no by-election held due to imminent general election
1997 Caroline Spelman Conservative Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2010–2012)
Second Church Estates Commissioner (2015–2020)
2019 Saqib Bhatti Conservative
2024 Constituency abolished

Elections

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Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1955: Meriden [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Reg Moss 22,796 51.24
Conservative John Peel 21,691 48.76
Majority 1,105 2.48
Turnout 44,487 81.48
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1959: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gordon Matthews 26,498 50.25
Labour Reg Moss 26,235 49.75
Majority 263 0.50 N/A
Turnout 52,733 84.44
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1960s

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General election 1964: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christopher Rowland 29,425 50.31
Conservative Gordon Matthews 29,062 49.69
Majority 363 0.62 N/A
Turnout 58,487 83.45
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1966: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christopher Rowland 33,831 53.6 +3.3
Conservative Jonathan Aitken 29,250 46.4 −3.3
Majority 4,581 7.2 +6.6
Turnout 63,081 85.7 +2.3
Labour hold Swing
Meriden by-election, 1968
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Keith Speed 33,344 64.8 +18.4
Labour Roderick MacFarquhar 18,081 35.2 –18.4
Majority 15,263 29.6 N/A
Turnout 51,425 66.0 –19.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +18.4

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1970: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Keith Speed 40,077 53.13
Labour Peter Lister[12] 35,353 46.87
Majority 4,724 6.26
Turnout 75,430 75.59
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Tomlinson 40,541 52.93
Conservative Keith Speed 36,056 47.07
Majority 4,485 5.86 N/A
Turnout 76,597 79.47
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election October 1974: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Tomlinson 34,641 47.39
Conservative Christopher Horne 25,675 35.12
Liberal Dennis Minnis[13] 12,782 17.49 New
Majority 8,966 12.27
Turnout 73,098 75.08
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Mills 37,151 48.77
Labour John Tomlinson 33,024 43.35
Liberal David Spurling[14] 4,976 6.53
National Front Alfred Parkes[15] 1,032 1.35 New
Majority 4,127 5.42 N/A
Turnout 76,183 77.02
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1983: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Mills 28,474 53.7
Labour John Sever 13,456 25.4
SDP Pamela Dunbar[16] 10,674 20.1
National Front Cliff Collins[17] 460 0.9
Majority 15,018 28.3
Turnout 53,064 71.6
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Mills 31,935 55.1 +1.4
Labour Richard Burden 15,115 26.1 +0.7
SDP Christine Parkinson 10,896 18.8 −1.3
Majority 16,820 29.0 +0.7
Turnout 57,946 73.9 +2.3
Conservative hold Swing +0.3

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1992: Meriden[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Iain Mills 33,462 55.1 0.0
Labour Co-op Nick Stephens 18,763 30.9 +4.8
Liberal Democrats Judy A Morris[19] 8,489 14.0 –4.8
Majority 14,699 24.2 –4.8
Turnout 60,714 78.8 +4.9
Conservative hold Swing –2.4
General election 1997: Meriden[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Caroline Spelman 22,997 42.0 –13.1
Labour Brian Seymour-Smith 22,415 41.0 +10.1
Liberal Democrats Tony Dupont 7,098 13.0 –1.0
Referendum Paul Gilbert 2,208 4.0 New
Majority 582 1.0 –23.2
Turnout 54,718 71.7 –7.1
Conservative hold Swing –11.6

Elections in the 2000s

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General election 2001: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Caroline Spelman 21,246 47.7 +5.7
Labour Christine Shawcroft 17,462 39.2 –1.8
Liberal Democrats Nigel Hicks 4,941 11.1 –1.9
UKIP Richard Adams 910 2.0 New
Majority 3,784 8.5 +7.5
Turnout 44,559 60.4 –11.3
Conservative hold Swing +3.7
General election 2005: Meriden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Caroline Spelman 22,416 48.2 +0.5
Labour Jim Brown 15,407 33.1 –6.1
Liberal Democrats William Laitinen 7,113 15.3 +4.2
UKIP Denis Brookes 1,567 3.4 +1.4
Majority 7,009 15.1 +6.6
Turnout 46,503 60.1 –0.3
Conservative hold Swing +3.3

Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2010: Meriden[22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Caroline Spelman 26,956 51.7 +4.0
Labour Ed Williams 10,703 20.5 –11.7
Liberal Democrats Simon Slater 9,278 17.8 +1.0
BNP Frank O'Brien 2,511 4.8 New
UKIP Barry Allcock 1,378 2.6 –0.7
Green Elly Stanton 678 1.3 New
Solihull and Meriden Residents' Association Nikki Sinclaire 658 1.3 New
Majority 16,253 31.2 +15.7
Turnout 52,162 63.3 +3.2
Conservative hold Swing +7.9
General election 2015: Meriden[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Caroline Spelman 28,791 54.7 +3.0
Labour Tom McNeil[25] 9,996 19.0 –1.5
UKIP Mick Gee 8,908 16.9 +14.3
Liberal Democrats Ade Adeyemo 2,638 5.0 –12.8
Green Alison Gavin[26] 2,170 4.1 +2.8
Independence from Europe Chris Booth 100 0.2 New
Majority 18,795 35.7 +4.5
Turnout 52,603 64.9 +1.6
Conservative hold Swing +2.3
General election 2017: Meriden[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Caroline Spelman 33,873 62.0 +7.3
Labour Tom McNeil 14,675 26.9 +7.9
Liberal Democrats Antony Rogers 2,663 4.9 –0.1
UKIP Les Kaye 2,016 3.7 –13.2
Green Alison Gavin 1,416 2.6 –1.5
Majority 19,198 35.1 –0.6
Turnout 54,643 67.6 +2.7
Conservative hold Swing –0.3
General election 2019: Meriden[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Saqib Bhatti 34,358 63.4 +1.4
Labour Teresa Beddis 11,522 21.3 –5.6
Liberal Democrats Laura McCarthy 5,614 10.4 +5.5
Green Stephen Caudwell 2,667 4.9 +2.3
Majority 22,836 42.1 +7.0
Turnout 54,161 64.9 –2.7
Conservative hold Swing +3.5

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

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  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ^ "West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  4. ^ 2011 census interactive maps Archived 2016-01-29 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 1681 (section Schedule) The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007 (Coming into force 27 June 2007)
  6. ^ F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.II: Northern England, London, 1991
  7. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970/1674)
  8. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/1626)
  9. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Birmingham and North Warwickshire) Order 1955. SI 1955/177". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2099–2102.
  10. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 2)
  11. ^ The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.
  12. ^ "Meriden's Labour candidate adopted". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 25 May 1970. p. 5.
  13. ^ "Third Time will be Lucky - Liberal Hope". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 12 September 1974. p. 17.
  14. ^ "Liberal to Fight Meriden". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 12 April 1979. p. 18.
  15. ^ "At the Heart of the Matter". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 29 April 1979. p. 10.
  16. ^ "The seat that was hard to hold". Birmingham Evening Mail. 26 May 1983. p. 8.
  17. ^ "Election Line-Up". Sandwell Evening Mail. p. 18.
  18. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  19. ^ "Tories Triumph". Solihull Times. 10 April 1992. p. 1.
  20. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  21. ^ C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.118 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
  22. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  23. ^ http://www.solihull.gov.uk/Attachments/SOPN.pdf[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  25. ^ "UK ELECTION RESULTS: MERIDEN 2015".
  26. ^ "Greens Select Meriden Parliamentary Candidate". westmidlands.greenparty.org.uk.
  27. ^ "Meriden Parliamentary constituency". BBC. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  28. ^ "Meriden Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
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