Stourbridge

Constituency profile

Stourbridge is a constituency in the West Midlands county of England. It covers the towns of Stourbridge, Lye, Brierley Hill and Netherton.

This constituency forms part of the Black Country, an area of contiguous towns to the west of Birmingham with an industrial heritage. Stourbridge was traditionally the national centre for glassmaking whilst Lye, Brierley Hill and Netherton had significant steelmaking, brickmaking and coal mining industries. Lye, Brierley Hill and Netherton were negatively affected by the deindustrialisation of the late 20th century and are still highly-deprived today; most residents of these towns live in semi-detached properties, many of which are socially rented. Stourbridge, in comparison, is mostly affluent and suburban, especially in Withymoor Village and Pedmore. House prices across the constituency are generally similar to the rest of the West Midlands region but lower than the UK average.

Stourbridge has an above-average retired population. Residents have average levels of income and homeownership but high rates of child poverty. They have low levels of education and a high proportion work in the retail and manufacturing sectors. The percentage claiming unemployment benefits is high. White people made up 87% of the population at the 2021 census.

At the local borough council, Lye and Netherton are mostly represented by the Labour Party and Stourbridge and Brierley Hill mostly by Conservatives, although Reform UK councillors were elected across the constituency at the most recent election in 2026. Voters in the Stourbridge constituency strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 64% voted in favour of Brexit compared to the UK-wide figure of 52%.

Boundaries

Historic

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Stourbridge, the Urban Districts of Lye and Wollescote, and Oldbury, and the Rural District of Halesowen.

1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Lye and Wollescote, Norton, Pedmore and Stourbridge East, Quarry Bank and Cradley, and Wollaston and Stourbridge West.

2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Amblecote, Cradley and Foxcote, Lye and Wollescote, Norton, Pedmore and Stourbridge East, Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood, and Wollaston and Stourbridge Town.

Current

Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which became effective for the 2024 general election, the constituency was defined as being composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of: Amblecote; Brierley Hill; Lye and Stourbridge North; Netherton, Woodside and St. Andrews; Norton; Pedmore and Stourbridge East; Wollaston and Stourbridge Town.

The seat was subject to significant boundary changes. These entailed the loss of the areas of Cradley, Wollescote, Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood which were moved to the new constituency of Halesowen, offset by the gain of Brierley Hill, Netherton and Woodside from the abolished constituency of Dudley South.

Further to a local government boundary review in Dudley which became effective from May 2024, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of: Amblecote; Brierley Hill & Wordsley South; Lye & Stourbridge North; Netherton & Holly Hall; Norton; Pedmore & Stourbridge East; Wollaston & Stourbridge Town.

Stourbridge is one of three constituencies principally in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley (alongside Dudley and Halesowen), covering the south-west of the borough.

History

1918–1950

Stourbridge was one of just seventeen constituencies to have a woman candidate, Mary Macarthur, to contest the 1918 general election, the first occasion some women could vote and stand in Parliamentary elections. She stood as the Labour Party candidate. Macarthur was a trades union leader and well known in the area. However the returning officer insisted she should be listed under her married name, Mrs W. C. Anderson.

During this period no ministerial roles happened to have been awarded to any of the members. Prominent members in social history include Wilfred Wellock, who wrote 13 publications, and was an early Gandhian as well as a promoter of increased localism. At the end of this period, Lord Moyle (as he became) went on to serve Oldbury and Halesowen until 1964 and in the ballot for private member's bills achieved three to legislate in respect of:

Humane Slaughter of Horses

Air Pollution

Children of the divorced (custody etc.) as recommended by the Royal Commission

The constituency was abolished in 1950, with the Stourbridge West and Stourbridge East wards being incorporated into the Dudley constituency. An Eastern section of the old constituency was included in the new Oldbury and Halesowen seat.

1997–date

Since its recreation in 1997, the seat has been a bellwether, elected an MP at each general election from the party that formed the Government.

The seat's forerunner, Halesowen and Stourbridge, created in 1974, was held by a Conservative and both of its replacements, including this seat, were taken by Labour in 1997. The smaller remainder of the eastern part of the predecessor forms part of Halesowen and Rowley Regis. To compensate for the loss of these areas, Amblecote ward was brought in from the Dudley West constituency, while the Quarry Bank & Cradley ward was brought in from Dudley East.

Members of Parliament

MPs since 1997

Halesowen & Stourbridge, Dudley East and Dudley West prior to 1997

Elections

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40:

Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Conservative: Robert Morgan

Liberal: Ralph Brown

Labour: Wilfred Wellock