Acocks Green (ward)

Acocks Green ward is an electoral ward in south-east Birmingham, England, and includes the districts of Acocks Green, Fox Hollies and Tyseley.

Ward History

The parish of Yardley was included within Birmingham County Borough from 1911. The Birmingham ward was created in 1911 from part of the parish (which also created Sparkhill and Yardley wards). The electorate steadily climbed from 4,972 in 1911 to 17,333 in 1939.

The boundary changes to wards of 1934, saw Acocks Green ward lose its western area to Sparkhill ward and its southern portion to a new created Hall Green ward.

After the war the electorate again jumped to 24,556 in 1945 and climbed again until in 1949 it stood at 26,242. In the boundary changed of 1949/1950 the area south of Warwick Road was lost to Fox Hollies ward, and additional areas in Hay Mills and South Yardley (the northern boundary was the Coventry Road) were added. This moved the area covered substantially northwards. In the 1950 election the electorate had reduced to 16,412.

By the 1961 election the electorate had reduced to 14,390 and so the boundary changes of 1961/1962 once again saw the ward expanding. It took a small triangle of territory from Fox Hollies, and expanded northwards from the Coventry Road to Hob Moor Road. The electorate at the 1962 election was up to 20,570.

A further expansion of the boundaries was required at the changes in 1981/1982, and resulted in the loss of the area around Greet in the west of the ward, but the addition of areas north of Hob Mooor Road and south of Blakesley Road. The electorate increased from 19,133 in 1981 to 21,125 in 1982.

The boundary changes in 2003/2004 resulted in major changes, which saw the abolition of Fox Hollies ward and the creation of a South Yardley ward. Acocks Green ward therefore moved south to take substantial electors from Fox Hollies ward south of the Warwick Road, and restored the Grand Union canal as the northern boundary.

Parliamentary Representation

The parish of Yardley was part of the Worcestershire Eastern Division from 1832 until 1918.

At the boundary changes for the 1918 election the parishes and its City Borough wards were incorporated within Birmingham constituencies. Acocks Green ward became part of Birmingham Moseley constituency in 1918, and the electorate steadily grew from 41,546 in 1918 until it reached 101,169 at the 1935 election.

In 1945 a small number of the very biggest constituencies were divided and Acocks Green joined Hall Green ward in the newly created Birmingham Acocks Green seat.

Birmingham Acocks Green constituency was short lived and in the wholesale boundary changes that preceded the 1950 election, the ward was joined by Fox Hollies and Yardley wards in a Birmingham Yardley seat.

Once again this seat only had a short life, although it remained as Birmingham Yardley the wards which made up the seat were changed for the 1955 election to Acocks Green, Sheldon and Yardley. This time the seat was more settled and was left alone at the changes for the 1974, 1983 and 1997 boundary changes.

In 2010 the seat was enlarged, following the loss of a Birmingham constituency, and included Stechford & Yardley North, together with the South Yardley and Sheldon wards.

Politics

From its creation Acocks Green ward was generally a Conservative (or Liberal Unionist) seat, but occasional gains by Independents disrupted the pattern during the 1920s.

In 1945 Labour won the seat (plus a by-election) to give it representation for the first time. However, in 1946 the Tories regained the seat, and held on to it until 1952, when Labour won again. The seat was now more marginal and Labour won in 1954, 1956, 1958, 1963 and 1971.

The all out elections of 1973 (for the new Birmingham Metropolitan Borough), produced, as one my expect a split result with two Tories and one Labour councillor. The Tories won all the elections for the ward in the 1970s, but then lost to Labour in 1980.

The boundary changes prior to the 1982 election once again produced a split result, again two Tories and one Labour councillor. The redrawn seat and the general demographics of the city meant that the new ward was a better bet for Labour and they duly won all the elections, until the Conservatives good year of 1987, but that was a one off and Labour once again won in 1988.

However everything was all about to change, and in 1990 the Liberal Democrats seized the seat. John Hemming, who was later to become the MP for the Yardley constituency, won for the first time. The Liberal Democrats had won the ward at every election until 2011, when it swung strongly back to Labour. Labour gained a second seat in 2012, but the Liberal Democrats held their remaining seat in the 2014 elections.

Election results

2000s

6 May 2010 Electorate 19,721
Turnout 53.0%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Iain Bowen	4,374	41.9%
	Labour	Stewart Stacey	3,400	32.5%
	Conservative	Joe Edginton	1,416	13.6%
	BNP	Carl Brisker	686	6.6%
	Green	Amanda Baker	280	2.7%
	UKIP	John Butler	233	2.2%
	Social Democratic	Alan Ware	21	0.2%
Majority			974	9.4%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

1 May 2008 Electorate 19,437
Turnout 27.4%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Roger Harmer	2,743	51.5%
	Labour	John O'Shea	1,125	21.1%
	BNP	Tanya Whitehead	617	11.6%
	Conservative	Emma Mahay	598	11.2%
Majority			1,618	30.4%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

3 May 2007 Electorate
Turnout %,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Penny Wagg	3,072	52.0%
	Labour	John O'Shea	1,452	24.6%
	BNP	Ben Lumby	536	9.1%
	Conservative	Hannah Axford	508	8.6%
	Green	Amanda Baker	258	4.4%
	UKIP	Peter Hillman	77	1.3%
Majority				%
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

4 May 2006 Electorate
Turnout %,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Iain Bowen	2,607	43.0%
	Labour	John O'Shea	1,632	26.9%
	BNP	Patrick Collins	927	15.3%
	Conservative	Kenneth Axford	630	10.4%
	Green	Mina Coalter	261	4.3%
Majority				%
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

6 May 2004 Electorate
Turnout %,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Nicola Henry	3,519	%
	Liberal Democrat	Penelope Wagg	3,502	%
	Liberal Democrat	Francis Coyne	3,463	%
	Labour	John O'Shea	1,289	%
	Labour	Allen Samuel	1,234	%
	Labour	Suraiya Makhdoom	946	%
	BNP	Patrick Collins	892	%
	Conservative	Hilda Brien	620	%
	Conservative	Sarah Frankley	624	%
	Green	Richard Batsford	581	%
	Conservative	Ann Haston	524	%
Majority				%
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

1 May 2003 Electorate 19,470
Turnout 27.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	J Whorwood	3,596	68.0%
	Labour	S Makhdoom	1,110	21.0%
	Conservative	E Lear	560	10.6%
Majority			2,486	47.0%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

2 May 2002 Electorate 19,706
Turnout 29.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Hemming	3,675	64.1%
	Labour	P Holbrook	1,501	26.2%
	Conservative	Alan Bluemnthal	501	8.7%
Majority			2,174	37.9%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

4 May 2000 Electorate 19,839
Turnout 25.6%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	D Osborn	2,820	55.5%
	Labour	B O'Brien	1,392	27.4%
	Conservative	B Roberts	849	16.7%
Majority			1,428	28.1%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

1990s

6 May 1999 Electorate 19,913
Turnout 26.3%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	J Whorwood	2,694	51.4%
	Labour	B O'Brien	1,814	34.6%
	Conservative	B Roberts	699	13.3%
Majority			720	16.8%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

7 May 1998 Electorate 19,704
Turnout 26.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Hemming	3,146	61.2%
	Labour	B O'Brien	1,521	29.6%
	Conservative	J Hill	471	9.2%
Majority			1,625	31.6%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

2 May 1996 Electorate 19,797
Turnout 30.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Osborne	3,339	56.0%
	Labour	N Cunningham	1,873	31.4%
	Conservative	P Osborn	612	10.3%
	Independent	P Cartlidge	124	2.1%
Majority			1,466	24.6%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

4 May 1995 Electorate 19,821
Turnout 35.0%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	N Biddlestone	3,646	52.6%
	Labour	I Jamieson	2,476	35.7%
	Conservative	D Hopwood	752	10.8%
Majority			1,170	16.9%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

5 May 1994 Electorate 19,856
Turnout 43.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Hemming	4,917	57,5%
	Labour	I Jamieson	2,560	29.9%
	Conservative	D O'Hagan	1,003	11.7%
Majority			2,357	27.6%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

7 May 1992 Electorate 20,056
Turnout 38.3%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	C Powell	3,064	39.9%
	Conservative	D Clarke	2,358	30.7%
	Labour	M Nangle	1,993	25.9%
	Green	G Grianger	101	1.3%
	Social Democratic	M Hegarty	84	1.1%
	Independent Labour	M Ariss	67	0.9%
Majority			706	9.2%
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

2 May 1991 Electorate 20,266
Turnout 44.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	P Scholfield	5,017	55.1%
	Labour	Stan Yapp	2,243	24.7%
	Conservative	A Unitt	1,674	18.4%
	Green	P Gozra	149	1.6%
Majority			2,774	30.4%
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

3 May 1990 Electorate 20,611
Turnout 49.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Hemming	4,197	40.8%
	Labour	P Haymeraj	3,890	37.8%
	Conservative	A Clarke	1,894	18.4%
	Green	S Higgens	305	3.0%
Majority			307	3.0%
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

1980s

5 May 1988 Electorate 20,624
Turnout 39.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M Nangle	4,223	52.2%
	Conservative	A Clarke	3,121	38.6%
	Social Democratic	B Buggins	549	6.8%
	Green	J Bentley	197	2.4%
Majority			1,202	13.6%
	Labour hold		Swing

7 May 1987 Electorate 21,040
Turnout 44.5%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P McAuley	3,644	38.9%
	Labour	B Acker	3,352	35.8%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	C Powell	2,374	25.4%
Majority			292	3.1%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

1 May 1986 Electorate 20,971
Turnout 37.5%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P Haymeraj	3,269	41.6%
	Conservative	D Best	2,512	31.9%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	C Powell	2,092	26.6%
Majority			757	10.3%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

3 May 1984 Electorate 21,190
Turnout 41.7%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M Nangle	4,271	48.3%
	Conservative	C Collett	3,458	39.1%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	R de Havilland	1,102	12.5%
Majority			813	9.2%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

5 May 1983 Electorate 21,063
Turnout 44.0%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B Acker	4,186	45.2%
	Conservative	G Postles	3,996	43.1%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	R de Havilland	1,058	11.4%
Majority			190	2.1%
	Labour hold		Swing

6 May 1982 Electorate 21,125
Turnout 38.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Best	3,163	39.2%
	Conservative	C Collett	3,040	37.7%
	Labour	B Acker	2,977	36.9%
	Labour	G Bradnock	2,643	32.8%
	Conservative	G Postles	2,794	34.6%
	Labour	W Jarvis	2,449	30.3%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	C Gray	1,763	21.8%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	P Jones-Owen	1,686	20.9%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	D Lawson	1,567	19.4%
Majority			520,	%
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

1 May 1980 Electorate 19,133
Turnout 37.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B Acker	3,912	55.0%
	Conservative	L McCulloch	3,104	43.6%
	National Front	B McEwan	98	1.4%
Majority			808	11.4%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

1970s

3 May 1979 Electorate 19,237
Turnout 70.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Rose	6,917	50.7%
	Labour	B Acker	6,724	49.3%
Majority			193	1.4%
	Conservative hold		Swing

4 May 1978 Electorate 19,104
Turnout 37.7%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Collett	3,795	52.6%
	Labour	B Acker	3,078	42.7%
	National Front	C Finch	297	4.1%
	Independent	P Tuey	39	0.5%
Majority			717	9.9%
	Conservative hold		Swing

6 May 1976 Electorate 19,483
Turnout 37.3%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L McCulloch	4,039	55.6%
	Labour	B Acker	2,939	40.4%
	Liberal	D Precelton	272	3.7%
Majority			1,100	15.2%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

1 May 1975 Electorate 19,776
Turnout 31.3%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Rose	3,537	57.2%
	Labour	Levy	2,105	34.0%
	Liberal	D Precelton	541	8.7%
Majority			1,432	23.2%
	Conservative hold		Swing

3 May 1973 Electorate 19,774
Turnout 29.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Collett	3,281	55.4%
	Labour	B Acker	3,105	52.5%
	Conservative	R Jauncey	2,946	49.7%
	Labour	D Goodall	2,920	49.3%
	Conservative	D Rose	2,882	48.7%
	Labour	G Samuels	2,632	44.4%
Majority			361, 185 & 26	6.1%, 3.1% & 0.4%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

4 May 1972 Electorate 19,788
Turnout 35.5%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Goodall	3,635	51.8%
	Conservative	J Bailey	3,383	48.2%
Majority			252	3.6%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

13 May 1971 Electorate 19,696
Turnout 36.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B Acker	4,164	57.3%
	Conservative	M Taylor	3,104	42.7%
Majority			1,060	14.6%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

7 May 1970 Electorate 19,638
Turnout 29.5%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Silk	3,528	60.8%
	Labour	S Gray	2,274	39.2%
Majority			1,254	21.6%
	Conservative hold		Swing

1960s

8 May 1969 Electorate 18,754
Turnout 29.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Bailey	4,046	74.1%
	Labour	W Raybone	1,414	25.9%
Majority			2,632	48.2%
	Conservative hold		Swing

9 May 1968 Electorate 19,078
Turnout 32.5%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Collett	4,802	77.5%
	Labour	R Thrupp	1,394	22.5%
Majority			3,408	55.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing

11 May 1967 Electorate 19,354
Turnout 33.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Silk	4,468	69.5%
	Labour	J Morris	1,962	30.5%
Majority			2,506	39.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing

12 May 1966 Electorate 19,416
Turnout 40.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Bailey	4,274	53.8%
	Labour	G Evans	3,670	46.4%
Majority			604	7.4%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

13 May 1965 Electorate 19,733
Turnout 41.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Collett	5,379	65.0%
	Labour	P Carter	2,892	35.0%
Majority			2,487	30.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing

7 May 1964 Electorate 20,019
Turnout 40.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Silk	4,205	52.3%
	Labour	G Hartland	3,832	47.7%
Majority			373	4.6%
	Conservative hold		Swing

9 May 1963 Electorate 20,255
Turnout 38.8%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E Raven	3,958	50.3%
	Conservative	L Howes	3,908	49.7%
Majority			50	0.6%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

10 May 1962 Electorate 20,570
Turnout 38.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Collett	4,276	54.5%
	Labour	W Pringle	3,567	45.5%
Majority			709	9.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing

11 May 1961 Electorate 14,390
Turnout 45.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Silk	3,554	54.7%
	Labour	W Pringle	2,944	45.3%
Majority			610	9.4%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

12 May 1960 Electorate 14,374
Turnout 5,506%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H Seccombe	3,523	64.0%
	Labour	W Pringle	1,983	36.0%
Majority			1,540	28.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing

1950s

14 May 1959 Electorate 14,480
Turnout 49.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Collett	4,051	56.9%
	Labour	J Walsh	3,068	43.1%
Majority			983	13.8%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

8 May 1958 Electorate 14,739
Turnout 43.6%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A Taylor	3,214	50.0%
	Conservative	C Collett	3,210	50.0%
Majority			4	0.0%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

9 May 1957 Electorate 14,835
Turnout 44.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Vernon	3,337	51.0%
	Labour	S Wall	3,202	49.0%
Majority			135	2.0%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

10 May 1956 Electorate 15,142
Turnout 41.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Walsh	3,209	51.5%
	Conservative	J Vernon	3,024	48.5%
Majority			185	3.0%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

12 May 1955 Electorate 15,339
Turnout 49.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Collett	4,120	54.6%
	Labour	G Evans	3,429	45.4%
Majority			691	9.2%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

13 May 1954 Electorate 15,549
Turnout 47.7%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S Wall	3,805	51.3%
	Conservative	N Bradbeer	3,614	48.7%
Majority			191	2.6%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

7 May 1953 Electorate 15,760
Turnout 45.4%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S Postle	3,677	51.4%
	Labour	S Wall	3,472	48.6%
Majority			205	2.8%
	Conservative hold		Swing

8 May 1952 Electorate 16,084
Turnout 55.2%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G Evans	5,057	57.0%
	Conservative	B Davis	3,822	43.0%
Majority			1,235	14.0%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

10 May 1951 Electorate 18,250
Turnout 46.1%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N Bradbeer	4,438	57.7%
	Labour	G Turner	3,253	42.3%
Majority			1,185	15.4%
	Conservative hold		Swing

11 May 1950 Electorate 16,412
Turnout 50.3%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S Postle	4,376	53.0%
	Labour	J Cole	3,885	47.0%
Majority			491	6.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing

1940s

12 May 1949 Electorate 26,242
Turnout 52.8%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Davis	7,512	54.2%
	Conservative	S Postle	7,387	53.3%
	Labour	C Beer	6,034	43.6%
	Labour	E Bartleet	5,968	43.1%
Majority			1,478 & 1,353	10.6% & 9.7%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

1 November 1947 Electorate 26,109
Turnout 52.9%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N Bradbeer	7,949	57.5%
	Labour	V Jackson	5,871	42.5%
Majority			2,078	15.0%
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

2 November 1946 Electorate 25,580
Turnout 38.0%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	O Gloster	5,031	51.8%
	Labour	H Wynshenck	4,366	45.0%
	Communist	S Blackwell	316	3.3%
Majority			665	6.8%
	Conservative hold		Swing

3 November 1945 (2 seats) Electorate 24,556
Turnout 43.6%,

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W Kirby	5,323	49.7%
	Labour	V Jackson	5,314	49.6%
	Conservative	R Scorer	3,807	35.5%
	Conservative	A Harrison	3,541	33.1%
	Liberal	T Veitch	1,485	13.9%
Majority			1,516 & 1,507	14.2% & 14.1%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a