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Post by John Chanin on May 10, 2020 13:18:40 GMT
Bromsgrove constituency exactly matches the boundaries of Bromsgrove District and has consequently been entirely unchanged since a separate Redditch constituency was created in 1983. It can be divided into 3 sections. The largest is the town of Bromsgrove itself. Bromsgrove was an old market town, industrialised in the 1800s as a spillover from the nearby Black Country, and specialised in nail making. These days with the M5 running just to the west of the town , the M42 to the north, and a recently expanded station on the Birmingham-Worcester line, there is a lot of commuting to Birmingham. The town is very split - to the north and east it is solidly middle-class - high managerial occupations, over 80% owner-occupied, no social housing to speak of, and generally solidly Conservative, although the Liberal Democrats made inroads here at the 2019 local elections. The west side of the town on the other hand is quite working class, with as many routine employees as managerial, and a lot of council housing, particularly in Charford ward south of the centre. This side of the town votes Labour at local elections. Separated from Bromsgrove proper by the M42 is the satellite town of Catshill. This is socially intermediate between east and west Bromsgrove, with more social housing than you might expect, but politically it is safely Conservative. Taken together this urban section accounts for just under half the electorate. Another third of the constituency consists of commuter villages. These are generally very similar to other villages to the east and west of the Birmingham conurbation included in the Meriden and South Staffordshire constituencies. In the east is the Hollywood/Wythall area, continuous with the Birmingham suburb of Highters Heath. West of here on either side of the M42 are Alvechurch and Barnt Green. The former is an attractive village with some fine old buildings, on the Birmingham-Worcster canal. The latter is mostly post-war development. Both have stations on the main Redditch-Lichfield commuter railway to take workers into Birmingham. Cofton Hackett adjoins the old Longbridge car plant on the edge of Birmingham. Further west and part of the Birmingham built-up area, albeit on the far outskirts, is Rubery. The small town is split between Bromsgrove and Birmingham, the larger and more up market half being in Bromsgrove, although curiously the Bromsgrove wards return Labour councillors, while the Birmingham ward returns a Conservative. In the far north-west corner of the District is Hagley, just south of Stourbridge. At local elections there are plenty of independents in this section, but at general elections the villages will all vote solidly Conservative, apart from Rubery. The remaining quarter of the constituency is rural. It includes the Lickey Hills country park, with its spectacular outlook at Beacon Hill, curiously run by Birmingham City Council, and the Waseley Hills country park, which is the source of the river Rea. The Clent hills sit between Hagley and Bromsgrove, with their views over Shropshire and the Malverns. All this area makes for good walking. West and south of Bromsgrove are areas of rather more ordinary and very sparsely populated country, extending to the outskirts of Redditch. The most notable landmark here is the Tardebigge flight of locks on the Birmingham-Worcester canal, which takes it over the divide between the Trent and Severn drainage, and is the longest flight of locks in the country. The countryside is solidly Conservative at a local level, and ensures that the Conservatives retain a majority on Bromsgrove council. At General elections, the Labour vote in Bromsgrove town is easily outweighed by the Conservative vote in the rest of the constituency. Even in 1997 they had a comfortable 5000 majority. Current MP here is former banker Sajid Javid, until recently a very senior figure in the government. He was first elected in 2010 in succession to Julie Kirkbride who was one of the casualties of the expenses scandal. Worcestershire provided an unusually easy task for the Boundary Commission as the only change required was to move one ward from Mid Worcestershire to Redditch. This seat is entirely unchanged. Census data: Owner-occupied 80% (14/573 in England & Wales), private rented 9% (558th), social rented 10% (510th). : White 96%, Black 0%, South Asian 1%, Mixed 1%, Other 1% : Managerial & professional 43% (112th), Routine & Semi-routine 23% (468th) : Degree level 31%(154th), No qualifications 34%(349th) : Students 2.8% (363rd), Over 65: 20% (113th)
| 2010 | % | 2015 | % | 2017 | % | 2019 | % | Conservative | 22,558 | 43.7% | 28,133 | 53.8% | 33,493 | 62.0% | 34,408 | 63.4% | Labour | 11,250 | 21.8% | 11,604 | 22.2% | 16,920 | 31.3% | 11,302 | 20.8% | Liberal Democrat | 10,124 | 19.6% | 2,616 | 5.0% | 2,488 | 4.6% | 6,779 | 12.5% | UKIP | 2.950 | 5.7% | 8,163 | 15.6% | | | |
| | BNP | 1,923 | 3.7% |
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| Green |
| | 1,729 | 3.3% | 1,139 | 2.1% | 1,783 | 3.3% | Others | 2,825 | 5.5% | | | | | |
| Majority | 11,308 | 21.9% | 16,529 | 31.6% | 16,573 | 30.7% | 23,106 | 42.6% |
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Post by John Chanin on May 10, 2020 19:19:23 GMT
Redditch was not so named until 1997. Before then it was the dominant part of the Mid Worcestershire constituency, nowadays a completely different seat with almost nothing in common with its namesake. What they had in common was Droitwich, famous mostly for its long wave radio transmitter. I don’t know enough about Redditch to do a profile, but I might do the current Mid Worcestershire, as I’m familiar with Evesham, and the Cotswolds on the east where I walk, including the pretty village of Broadway with its tower. There’s good walking at Bredon Hill as well, although this has now been moved into West Worcestershire, with the attractive villages around it. Someone else has already done that seat( greenhert with one of his early less satisfactory efforts) which includes Pershore, Malvern, and its ridge of pre-Cambrian hills, and I don’t think it’s worth my trying to do an alternative profile. |
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Chris from Brum
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Posts: 9,732
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Post by Chris from Brum on May 10, 2020 20:26:18 GMT
Redditch was not so named until 1997. Before then it was the dominant part of the Mid Worcestershire constituency, nowadays a completely different seat with almost nothing in common with its namesake. What they had in common was Droitwich, famous mostly for its long wave radio transmitter. I don’t know enough about Redditch to do a profile, but I might do the current Mid Worcestershire, as I’m familiar with Evesham, and the Cotswolds on the east where I walk, including the pretty village of Broadway with its tower. There’s good walking at Bredon Hill as well, although this has now been moved into West Worcestershire, with the attractive villages around it. Someone else has already done that seat( greenhert with one of his early less satisfactory efforts) which includes Pershore, Malvern, and its ridge of pre-Cambrian hills, and I don’t think it’s worth my trying to do an alternative profile. Mid Worcestershire might be better named South East Worcestershire now, especially now it stretches out to Broadway. Or possibly Vale of Evesham. |
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Post by John Chanin on May 11, 2020 7:11:31 GMT
There was a seat called Evesham until the 50s. The zombie review (both of them) recommended an Evesham seat. In fact Worcestershire worked quite well under the zombie review. In the next iteration with 650 seats I imagine there will be no change in Worcestershire, so we are stuck with this inconvenient Droitwich & Evesham seat. Although at least both towns are in the same District (Wychavon). |
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Post by middleenglander on May 11, 2020 7:34:36 GMT
There was a seat called Evesham until the 50s. The zombie review (both of them) recommended an Evesham seat. In fact Worcestershire worked quite well under the zombie review. In the next iteration with 650 seats I imagine there will be no change in Worcestershire, so we are stuck with this inconvenient Droitwich & Evesham seat. Although at least both towns are in the same District (Wychavon). No, the 2018 Boundary Review had Bromsgrove & Droitwich as one seat with Evesham as another - mainly Wychavon together with parts of southern Malvern Hills along the River Severn. |
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Post by John Chanin on May 11, 2020 7:38:20 GMT
The zombie review (both of them) recommended an Evesham seat. In fact Worcestershire worked quite well under the zombie review. In the next iteration with 650 seats I imagine there will be no change in Worcestershire, so we are stuck with this inconvenient Droitwich & Evesham seat. Although at least both towns are in the same District (Wychavon). No, the 2018 Boundary Review had Bromsgrove & Droitwich as one seat with Evesham as another - mainly Wychavon together with parts of southern Malvern Hills along the River Severn. That is exactly what I said! It recommended an Evesham seat!! |
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Post by middleenglander on May 11, 2020 7:52:09 GMT
No, the 2018 Boundary Review had Bromsgrove & Droitwich as one seat with Evesham as another - mainly Wychavon together with parts of southern Malvern Hills along the River Severn. That is exactly what I said! It recommended an Evesham seat!! You said: so we are stuck with this inconvenient Droitwich and Evesham seat. It was proposed Droitwich was in one seat and Evesham in another. |
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Post by John Chanin on May 11, 2020 9:34:21 GMT
That is exactly what I said! It recommended an Evesham seat!! You said: so we are stuck with this inconvenient Droitwich and Evesham seat. It was proposed Droitwich was in one seat and Evesham in another. Can’t you read? In the next iteration with 650 seats we will be stuck with the Droitwich and Evesham seat. It could hardly be clearer. |
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Post by middleenglander on May 11, 2020 10:12:16 GMT
You said: so we are stuck with this inconvenient Droitwich and Evesham seat. It was proposed Droitwich was in one seat and Evesham in another. Can’t you read? In the next iteration with 650 seats we will be stuck with the Droitwich and Evesham seat. It could hardly be clearer. I can read perfectly well. The proposed seat is / was Bromsgrove & Droitwich which is something different to Droitwich. If you were referring to two seats of Evesham and Droitwich, you should have made "seat" plural rather than singular. I am now in the peculiar position where I live literally a few yards from the boundary with Droitwich but will / would have been in the proposed Evesham seat. |
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Post by John Chanin on May 11, 2020 10:17:32 GMT
I give up. I can only conclude you are a moron. You are it seems wilfully misunderstanding something that is perfectly clear. You still haven’t got it. I NEVER SAID WHAT YOU THINK I SAID.
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Post by middleenglander on May 11, 2020 10:34:58 GMT
I give up. I can only conclude you are a moron. You are it seems wilfully misunderstanding something that is perfectly clear. You still haven’t got it. I NEVER SAID WHAT YOU THINK I SAID. I will leave it to others to decide who, if anyone, is a moron. I have attempted to show politely that what you have actually written is not what you thought / intended to write. But that is not a problem, if indeed it is, confined to you personally. |
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Post by finsobruce on May 11, 2020 10:36:45 GMT
I give up. I can only conclude you are a moron. You are it seems wilfully misunderstanding something that is perfectly clear. You still haven’t got it. I NEVER SAID WHAT YOU THINK I SAID. Try and keep this civil please John. If you disagree, you disagree. |
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Post by Pete Whitehead on May 11, 2020 11:56:32 GMT
I give up. I can only conclude you are a moron. You are it seems wilfully misunderstanding something that is perfectly clear. You still haven’t got it. I NEVER SAID WHAT YOU THINK I SAID. I will leave it to others to decide who, if anyone, is a moron. I have attempted to show politely that what you have actually written is not what you thought / intended to write. But that is not a problem, if indeed it is, confined to you personally. I don't think anyone here is a moron but it is quite clear to me that John was suggesting that had the Zombie review gone ahead with 600 seats, Droitwich and Evesham would have been in separate seats, but as it is not and the likelihood is that we will stick with 650 seats, they will continue within the same seat as currently |
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Post by No Offence Alan on May 11, 2020 12:14:24 GMT
On the off chance there might a railway enthusiast on this site, I would like to mention the Lickey Incline. This is the steepest bit of main line railway in the UK. John Chanin alluded to the expansion of Bromsgrove station. It was also moved a bit further south, so the trains get a better "run up" to the Incline. |
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Post by Adam in Stroud on May 11, 2020 12:47:10 GMT
On the off chance there might a railway enthusiast on this site, I would like to mention the Lickey Incline.This is the steepest bit of main line railway in the UK. John Chanin alluded to the expansion of Bromsgrove station. It was also moved a bit further south, so the trains get a better "run up" to the Incline. Another great band/conspiracy theory. Or possibly something to do with women not wanting to have sex with men - who can tell? |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on May 22, 2020 15:20:02 GMT
A very pleasant part of the world. And some sporting trivia, if you'll forgive me- it is home to Alvechurch FC, who with Oxford City hold the record for the most FA Cup replays needed to settle a tie (five). Alvechurch finally won the sixth game. FA rules of the day meant that any replays after the first had to be at a neutral ground, and therefore the tie also features the most grounds used to settle a tie (other than the two home grounds, the Manor Ground, St. Andrew's and Villa Park were also used). Four games went to extra time, and Alvechurch also had a league game between these ties- which were played across the space of 17 days.
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Post by Pete Whitehead on May 22, 2020 15:35:14 GMT
A very pleasant part of the world. And some sporting trivia, if you'll forgive me- Personally I am not inclined to forgive you. For one thing you are engaging in a tautology, because anything related to sport is by definition trivial. |
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Post by John Chanin on May 22, 2020 15:56:40 GMT
A very pleasant part of the world. And some sporting trivia, if you'll forgive me- it is home to Alvechurch FC, who with Oxford City hold the record for the most FA Cup replays needed to settle a tie (five). Alvechurch finally won the sixth game. FA rules of the day meant that any replays after the first had to be at a neutral ground, and therefore the tie also features the most grounds used to settle a tie (other than the two home grounds, the Manor Ground, St. Andrew's and Villa Park were also used). Four games went to extra time, and Alvechurch also had a league game between these ties- which were played across the space of 17 days. Alvechurch FC have a surprisingly high status for such a small place. They play in the 7th tier South Central League. Evesham - a much bigger town - play in the 8th tier, as do Bedworth and Halesowen. Still they can (or could - this is all a bit theoretical at the moment) have local derbies with Bromsgrove Sporting, Redditch, and Stratford Town. |
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Richard Allen
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Post by Richard Allen on May 22, 2020 16:01:49 GMT
A very pleasant part of the world. And some sporting trivia, if you'll forgive me- it is home to Alvechurch FC, who with Oxford City hold the record for the most FA Cup replays needed to settle a tie (five). Alvechurch finally won the sixth game. FA rules of the day meant that any replays after the first had to be at a neutral ground, and therefore the tie also features the most grounds used to settle a tie (other than the two home grounds, the Manor Ground, St. Andrew's and Villa Park were also used). Four games went to extra time, and Alvechurch also had a league game between these ties- which were played across the space of 17 days. Alvechurch's ground is noted for quite a pronounced side to side slope. |
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Post by Robert Waller on Dec 8, 2022 17:58:50 GMT
2021 Census
Owner occupied 78.7% 13/573
Private rented 10.7% 569/573
Social rented 10.7% 495/573
White 93.1%
Black 0.8%
Asian 3.2%
(South Asian 2.4%)
Mixed 2.4%
Other 0.5%
Managerial & professional 41.4% 86/573
Routine & Semi-routine 18.5% 463/573
Degree level 36.6% 156/573
No qualifications 15.7% 397/573
2011 same criteria
Owner occupied 80.1% 14/573
Private rented 9.9% 554/573
Social rented 10.0% 510/573
Degree level 30.5% 154/573
No qualifications 21.3% 331/573
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