Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham Aston
Birmingham Aston
Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
County	West Midlands
Major settlements	Aston
1918–1974
Seats	One
Created from	Aston Manor
Replaced by	Birmingham Handsworth and Birmingham Erdington

52°30′N 1°53′W / 52.5°N 1.88°W / 52.5; -1.88

Birmingham Aston was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1918 to 1974 it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

History[edit]

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, when the boundaries of the city of Birmingham had been expanded. One of the areas included in the city's expansion was the Aston area, which had formerly been part of Warwickshire. From 1885 to 1918, Aston Manor was a borough constituency in Warwickshire.

Boundaries[edit]

1918–1950: Parts of the County Borough of Birmingham wards of All Saints', Aston, Lozells, and St Mary's. The newly created seat was smaller and more the northern part of central Birmingham than Aston Manor had been.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Aston, Lozells, and St Paul's.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Aston, Gravelley Hill, and Stockland Green.^[1] The latter two wards had formerly been part of Birmingham Erdington. St Paul's ward became part of Birmingham Ladywood. Lozells ward was transferred to Birmingham Handsworth.

In the 1974 redistribution, this constituency disappeared. Aston ward became part of Birmingham Handsworth, while Gravelley Hill and Stockland Green wards became part of Birmingham Erdington.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Sir Evelyn Cecil	Coalition Conservative
	1922	Sir Evelyn Cecil	Conservative
	1929	John Strachey	Labour
	February 1931		New
	June 1931		Independent
	October 1931	Arthur Hope	Conservative
	1939 by-election	Edward Kellett
	1943 by-election	Redvers Prior
	1945	Woodrow Wyatt	Labour
	1955	Julius Silverman	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished

Elections[edit]

Elections in the 1910s[edit]

General election 1918: Birmingham Aston ^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Unionist	Evelyn Cecil	9,997	62.4
	Labour	William Banfield	4,451	27.8
	NFDDSS	James Henry Dooley	1,561	9.8
Majority			5,546	34.6
Turnout			16,009	45.2
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s[edit]

General election 1922: Birmingham Aston ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Evelyn Cecil	15,913	60.8	−1.6
	Labour	Joe Cotter	10,279	39.2	+11.4
Majority			5,634	21.6	−13.0
Turnout			26,192	72.5	+27.3
Registered electors			36,113
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.5

General election 1923: Birmingham Aston ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Evelyn Cecil	13,291	56.2	−4.6
	Labour	P. Bower	7,541	31.8	−7.4
	Liberal	Joseph Conyers Tillotson	2,846	12.0	New
Majority			5,750	24.4	+2.8
Turnout			23,678	65.0	−7.5
Registered electors			36,416
	Unionist hold		Swing	+1.4

General election 1924: Birmingham Aston ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Evelyn Cecil	14,244	54.6	−1.6
	Labour	John Strachey	11,859	45.4	+13.6
Majority			2,385	9.2	−15.2
Turnout			26,103	71.7	+6.7
Registered electors			36,391
	Unionist hold		Swing	−7.6

General election 1929: Birmingham Aston ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Strachey	18,672	52.2	+6.8
	Unionist	John Whiteley	17,114	47.8	−6.8
Majority			1,558	4.4	N/A
Turnout			35,786	78.3	+6.6
Registered electors			45,687
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+6.8

Elections in the 1930s[edit]

General election 1931: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Hope	22,959	70.9	+23.1
	Labour	T. J. May	6,212	19.2	-33.0
	Independent	John Strachey	3,236	10.0	New
Majority			16,747	51.7	N/A
Turnout			32,407	73.5	-4.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Hope	18,933	68.8	-2.1
	Labour	Rudolph Putnam Messel	8,578	31.2	+12.0
Majority			10,355	37.6	-14.1
Turnout			27,511	64.5	-9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

1939 Birmingham Aston by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kellett	12,033	66.3	-2.5
	Labour	Samuel Segal	6,122	33.7	+2.5
Majority			5,911	32.6	-5.0
Turnout			18,155
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s[edit]

1943 Birmingham Aston by-election^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Redvers Prior	6,316	72.4	+3.6
	Common Wealth	Gilbert Hall	1,886	21.6	New
	Independent	Samuel Henry Davis	515	6.0	New
Majority			4,430	50.8	+13.2
Turnout			8,717
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1945: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Woodrow Wyatt	15,031	61.9	+28.2
	Conservative	Frederick Bruce Normansell	9,264	38.1	-28.2
Majority			5,767	23.8	N/A
Turnout			24,295	67.75
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s[edit]

General election 1950: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Woodrow Wyatt	28,867	60.8	-1.1
	Conservative	Charles Doughty	16,826	35.4	-2.7
	Liberal	Arthur Embrey	1,487	3.1	New
	Independent	SW Keatley	338	0.7	New
Majority			12,041	25.4	+1.6
Turnout			47,518	78.4	+10.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Woodrow Wyatt	27,899	62.6	+1.8
	Conservative	Clement Sweet	16,136	36.2	+0.8
	Independent	SW Keatley	545	1.2	+0.5
Majority			11,763	26.4	+1.0
Turnout			44,580	74.6	-3.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julius Silverman	25,546	59.7	-2.9
	Conservative	Frances Vale	17,284	40.4	+4.2
Majority			8,262	19.3	-7.1
Turnout			42,830	71.6	-3.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julius Silverman	21,518	53.1	-6.6
	Conservative	Anthony Beaumont-Dark	18,894	46.8	+6.4
Majority			2,534	6.3	-13.0
Turnout			40,412	70.3	-1.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s[edit]

General election 1964: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julius Silverman	19,512	54.7	+1.6
	Conservative	Anthony Beaumont-Dark	16,146	45.3	-1.5
Majority			3,366	9.4	+3.1
Turnout			35,658	65.4	-4.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julius Silverman	20,716	60.9	+6.2
	Conservative	Joseph R Kinsey	13,316	39.1	-6.2
Majority			7,400	21.8	+12.4
Turnout			34,032	64.2	-1.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s[edit]

General election 1970: Birmingham Aston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julius Silverman	15,456	55.1	-5.8
	Conservative	Arthur A Hill	11,894	42.4	+3.3
	British Movement	Colin Jordan	704	2.5	New
Majority			3,562	12.7	-9.1
Turnout			28,054	58.8	-5.4
	Labour hold		Swing

References[edit]

^ "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.
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ Birmingham Daily Post. 11 June 1943 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000619/19430611/139/0004 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)

[1] "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.

[2] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[3] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[4] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[5] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[6] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[7] Birmingham Daily Post. 11 June 1943 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000619/19430611/139/0004 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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