Birmingham Selly Oak (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham Selly Oak is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the West Midlands, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Alistair Carns of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Birmingham Selly Oak
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Birmingham Selly Oak in West Midlands region
County	West Midlands
Population	104,067 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	76,285 (2023)[2]
Current constituency
Created	1955
Member of Parliament	Alistair Carns (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Birmingham King's Norton, Birmingham Northfield and Birmingham Sparkbrook

Boundaries

The seat includes many students and staff from the nearby University of Birmingham. Half of the university's Selly Oak campus is located within the constituency. The Cadbury factory and Cadbury World are also within its boundaries.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Balsall Heath, Moseley and King's Heath, and Selly Oak.^[3]

1974–1983: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of King's Norton, Moseley, and Selly Oak.

1983–1997: The City of Birmingham wards of Bournville, King's Norton, Moseley, and Selly Oak (as they existed on 1 February 1983).

1997–2010: The City of Birmingham wards of Bournville, King's Norton, Moseley, and Selly Oak (as they existed on 1 June 1994).

2010–2018: The City of Birmingham wards of Billesley, Bournville, Brandwood, and Selly Oak.

Major changes, with King's Norton transferred to Birmingham Northfield and Moseley to Birmingham Hall Green. Billesley and Brandwood were transferred from Birmingham Hall Green.

2018–2024: Following a local government boundary review,^[4] which did not effect the parliamentary boundaries, the contents of the constituency were as follows with effect from May 2018:

• The City of Birmingham wards of Bournbrook & Selly Park, Druids Heath & Monyhull, Highter’s Heath, and Stirchley, most of Billesley and Bournville & Cotteridge, the majority of Brandwood & King’s Heath, and a small part of Weoley & Selly Oak.

2024–present: Further to the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency comprises:

• The City of Birmingham wards of Billesley; Bournbrook & Selly Park; Bournville & Cotteridge; Druids Heath & Monyhull; Highter’s Heath; Stirchley; part of Brandwood & King’s Heath; and a small area of Weoley & Selly Oak.^[5]

Minor differences reflecting the revised ward structure.

History

Since its creation in 1955 the constituency has switched hands three times between Labour and the Conservatives. The seat has progressively swung towards Labour from being a safe Conservative seat; this has been attributed to housing redevelopments that took place in the 1960s and 1970s.^{[citation needed]} More recently, it has acquired a reputation for electing outspoken MPs, first with the victory of Anthony Beaumont-Dark of the Conservatives in 1979, and then with his defeat by Lynne Jones of the Labour Party in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[6]	Party
	1955	Harold Gurden	Conservative
	October 1974	Tom Litterick	Labour
	1979	Anthony Beaumont-Dark	Conservative
	1992	Lynne Jones	Labour
	2010	Steve McCabe	Labour
	2024	Alistair Carns	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Birmingham Selly Oak^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alistair Carns	17,371	45.2	−10.5
	Conservative	Simon Phipps	5,834	15.2	−16.4
	Reform UK	Erin Crawford	5,732	14.9	+12.2
	Green	Jane Baston	4,320	11.2	+7.5
	Independent	Kamel Hawwash	2,842	7.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Radcliffe	2,324	6.0	−0.2
Majority			11,537	30.1	+5.0
Turnout			38,423	50.8	−9.0
Registered electors			75,678
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.4

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Birmingham Selly Oak^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steve McCabe	27,714	56.0	−6.9
	Conservative	Hannah Campbell	15,300	30.9	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Radcliffe	3,169	6.4	+3.0
	Green	Joe Peacock	1,848	3.7	+1.9
	Brexit Party	Joseph Tawonezvi	1,436	2.9	New
Majority			12,414	25.1	−5.9
Turnout			49,467	59.8	−6.1
Registered electors			82,665
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 2017: Birmingham Selly Oak^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steve McCabe	30,836	62.9	+15.2
	Conservative	Sophie Shrubsole	15,629	31.9	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Radcliffe	1,644	3.4	−2.2
	Green	Julien Pritchard	876	1.8	−3.3
Majority			15,207	31.0	+12.3
Turnout			48,985	65.9	+5.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.2

General election 2015: Birmingham, Selly Oak^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steve McCabe	21,584	47.7	+9.2
	Conservative	Alex Boulter	13,137	29.0	−2.1
	UKIP	Steven Brookes	5,755	12.7	+10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Green	2,517	5.6	−16.7
	Green	Clare Thomas	2,301	5.1	+3.7
Majority			8,447	18.7	+11.3
Turnout			45,294	60.3	−1.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.6

General election 2010: Birmingham, Selly Oak^[13][14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steve McCabe	17,950	38.5	−7.6
	Conservative	Nigel Dawkins	14,468	31.1	+6.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Radcliffe	10,371	22.3	−0.7
	BNP	Lynette Orton	1,820	3.9	New
	UKIP	Jeffrey Burgess	1,131	2.4	+0.1
	Green	James Burn	664	1.4	−2.4
	Christian	Samuel Leeds	159	0.3	New
Majority			3,482	7.4	−13.8
Turnout			46,563	62.2	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Birmingham Selly Oak^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynne Jones	19,226	46.1	−6.3
	Conservative	Joe Tildesley	10,375	24.9	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Brighton	9,591	23.0	+6.7
	Green	Barney Smith	1,581	3.8	+0.5
	UKIP	Ronan Burnett	967	2.3	+0.9
Majority			8,851	21.2	−4.6
Turnout			41,740	59.5	+3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.3

General election 2001: Birmingham Selly Oak^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynne Jones	21,015	52.4	−3.2
	Conservative	Kenneth Hardeman	10,676	26.6	−1.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Osborne	6,532	16.3	+4.2
	Green	Barney Smith	1,309	3.3	New
	UKIP	Sheila Williams	568	1.4	New
Majority			10,339	25.8	−2.0
Turnout			40,100	56.3	−13.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.0

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Birmingham Selly Oak^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynne Jones	28,121	55.6	+9.6
	Conservative	Graham Greene	14,033	27.8	−14.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Osborne	6,121	12.1	+1.8
	Referendum	Laurence Marshall	1,520	3.0	New
	ProLife Alliance	Greg Gardner	417	0.8	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Peter Sheriff-Knowles	253	0.5	New
	Natural Law	Huw Meads	85	0.2	−0.1
Majority			14,088	27.8	+24.1
Turnout			50,550	70.1	−6.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.1

General election 1992: Birmingham, Selly Oak^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynne Jones	25,430	46.0	+6.7
	Conservative	Anthony Beaumont-Dark	23,370	42.3	−1.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Osborne	5,679	10.3	New
	Green	Paul Slatter	535	1.0	−0.2
	Natural Law	Christopher Barwood	178	0.3	New
	Revolutionary Communist	Kenan Malik	84	0.2	New
Majority			2,060	3.7	N/A
Turnout			55,276	76.6	+3.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.3

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Birmingham Selly Oak^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Beaumont-Dark	23,305	44.2	−0.7
	Labour	Albert Bore	20,721	39.3	+4.9
	Liberal	Charlotte Cane	8,128	15.4	−5.3
	Green	Winifred Hackett	611	1.1	New
Majority			2,584	4.9	−5.6
Turnout			52,765	73.1	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.8

General election 1983: Birmingham Selly Oak^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Beaumont-Dark	23,008	44.9	−3.8
	Labour	John Turner	17,612	34.4	−4.3
	SDP	Kevin Wheldall	10,613	20.7	New
Majority			5,396	10.5	+0.5
Turnout			51,233	71.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Beaumont-Dark	23,175	48.7	+8.4
	Labour	Tom Litterick	18,400	38.6	−2.5
	Liberal	Paul Clifford	5,452	11.4	−7.2
	National Front	George Bassett	401	0.8	New
	Child and Family Protection Group	Philip Crome	190	0.4	New
Majority			4,775	10.1	N/A
Turnout			47,618	73.7	+3.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.3

General election October 1974: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Litterick	17,320	41.1	+4.7
	Conservative	Harold Gurden	16,994	40.3	−2.3
	Liberal	Roger Austin Grant	7,850	18.6	−2.4
Majority			326	0.8	N/A
Turnout			42,164	67.2	−7.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.0

General election February 1974: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Gurden	19,705	42.6	−9.6
	Labour	Tom Litterick	16,823	36.4	−11.4
	Liberal	Roger Austin Grant	9,718	21.0	New
Majority			2,882	6.2	+1.8
Turnout			46,246	74.2	+10.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

General election 1970: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Gurden	18,281	52.2	+7.0
	Labour	Michael John Hartley-Brewer	16,758	47.8	+4.8
Majority			1,523	4.4	+2.3
Turnout			35,039	64.0	−2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Gurden	16,533	45.1	−11.8
	Labour	John Garwell	15,756	43.0	−0.1
	Liberal	Roy Lewthwaite	4,333	11.8	New
Majority			777	2.1	−11.7
Turnout			36,622	66.4	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.0

General election 1964: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Gurden	21,443	56.9	−3.2
	Labour	John Garwell	16,232	43.1	+3.2
Majority			5,211	13.8	−6.4
Turnout			37,675	66.3	−5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	− 3.1

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Gurden	24,950	60.1	+ 2.6
	Labour	J Oliver Rhydderch	16,594	39.9	−2.6
Majority			8,356	20.2	+5.2
Turnout			41,544	71.6	−2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

General election 1955: Birmingham Selly Oak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Gurden	25,774	57.5
	Labour	Harry Watton	19,054	42.5
Majority			6,720	15.0
Turnout			44,828	74.3
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

Notes

1. A borough 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.