West Bromwich: Parliamentary history

A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 17, Offlow Hundred (Part). Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1976.

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'West Bromwich: Parliamentary history', in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 17, Offlow Hundred (Part), (London, 1976) pp. 50. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol17/p50 [accessed 26 April 2024]

PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY.

Under the Reform Act of 1832 West Bromwich became part of the new southern division of the county, and under the Reform Act of 1867 it was transferred to the parliamentary borough of Wednesbury. (fn. 1) Under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885 the borough of West Bromwich became a parliamentary borough returning one member. (fn. 2) Although the boundaries of the county borough were subsequently altered, it was not until 1948 that the parliamentary borough was again made to coincide with the county borough. (fn. 3) In 1885 West Bromwich returned a Liberal, but from 1886 to 1918 it was held by the Conservatives, except for the period 1906-10 when it was again represented by a Liberal. From 1910 to 1918 the member was Viscount Lewisham (succeeded as 7th earl of Dartmouth in 1936). In 1918 it returned a Labour member, and, except for the period 1931-5 when the member was a National Unionist, it has remained a Labour seat. (fn. 4)

Footnotes

  • 1. White, Dir. Staffs. (1834), 15; 30 & 31 Vic. c. 102. For an attempt in 1859 to make West Bromwich a parliamentary borough see Staffs. Advertiser, 12 and 19 Feb., 5 Mar. 1859.
  • 2. V.C.H. Staffs. i. 273.
  • 3. Representation of the People Act, 1948, 11 & 12 Geo. VI, c. 65; Woodall, West Bromwich Yesterdays, 45.
  • 4. Woodall, West Bromwich Yesterdays, 44-6; County Boro. of West Bromwich: Council Diary & Municipal Yearbook 1966/67; Burke, Peerage (1967), 690.