Post by Yaffles on Jul 17, 2020 10:29:45 GMT
Lichfield constituency includes the city along with the town of Burntwood to the west and a swath of rural wards to the north.
The city itself has a mostly pleasant old centre as befits a place of such historical importance (as the ecclesiastical capital of Mercia and home to Dr Johnson of dictionary fame). The rest of the city is a bit a hotchpotch of 20th century development. Ranging from some fairly standard council estates to some larger genteel homes dating from the 50s, 60s and 70s. There has been substantial new development along the southern edge, including a large Waitrose, which probably gives some indication of the target demographic of the bland new build estates around it. There remains a strong north/south divide with the north featuring fewer higher educated professionals and being generally more WWC. Making it closer in character to the Staffs mining towns, whilst the south is perhaps more similar to nearby wealthy Sutton Coldfield.
The close links via both rail and road to Birmingham mean that Lichfield has increasing appeal to commuters. The city even has direct rail services to London and has the nearby M6 Toll so you can always escape the traffic of Birmingham for a price. House prices are high in comparison to other nearby Staffordshire towns like Burton and Rugeley. In district elections it has a mix of Conservatives, Labour, Independents and one sole Lib Dem. However at the county level the city of solidly Conservative.
Burntwood is a former mining town with close connections and historical similarities to the towns with Cannock Chase constituency. Indeed Burntwood still elects a number of Labour councillors to Lichfield District council and one to Staffordshire County Council.
The rural wards to the north are sparsely populated and feature a number of picturesque villages. Lichfield Constituency takes three wards from East Staffordshire council, Bagots, Yoxall and Needwood all of whom include parts of the National Forest. The village of Abbots Bromley (within Bagot ward) is famed for its horn dance and has a number of rather good public houses should you be passing through. The Conservatives draw a great deal of their strength in this constituency from these rural wards. Further to the south east the district wards of Alrewas & Fradley and Whittingdon & Streethay have seen large scale development of modern warehouse complexes along the main A38 linking Derby and Birmingham, which somewhat dwarf the earlier industrial transport infrastructure of the Trent and Mersey Canal. Again these wards are strongly Tory.
Overall the constituency is 95% White British, only 13% social rented with high levels of employment and above average levels of qualifications.
The constituency in its current form was only created in 1997 having previously been split between a number of seats but mostly being part of Mid Staffordshire, which was famously won by Sylvia Heal of Labour in a 1990 byelection. Prior to that Lichfield was joined with Tamworth again occasionally voting Labour.
In fact between 1895 and 1970 the city of Lichfield’s constituency only once elected a Conservative (in 1924). This left leaning tendency seems along way off now as the constituency, like the rest of Staffordshire, now leans strongly towards the blue side. Although it should be noted that the boundaries have shifted around so much that any meaningful comparison is difficult. For example between 1918 and 1950 the constituency included Rugeley and the north Birmingham suburb of Perry Barr.
Michael Fabricant would now appear to be in a very safe position and despite (or possibly as a result of) his buffoonish personality has built up a significant degree of local popularity. Labour came within 238 votes of taking the seat in 1997 but in 2019 the Tory majority was nearly 24k. Whilst the Keir Starmer led Labour Party may turn some of Lichfield’s voters, especially in the city, it is hard to envisage this seat going red anytime soon.
The city itself has a mostly pleasant old centre as befits a place of such historical importance (as the ecclesiastical capital of Mercia and home to Dr Johnson of dictionary fame). The rest of the city is a bit a hotchpotch of 20th century development. Ranging from some fairly standard council estates to some larger genteel homes dating from the 50s, 60s and 70s. There has been substantial new development along the southern edge, including a large Waitrose, which probably gives some indication of the target demographic of the bland new build estates around it. There remains a strong north/south divide with the north featuring fewer higher educated professionals and being generally more WWC. Making it closer in character to the Staffs mining towns, whilst the south is perhaps more similar to nearby wealthy Sutton Coldfield.
The close links via both rail and road to Birmingham mean that Lichfield has increasing appeal to commuters. The city even has direct rail services to London and has the nearby M6 Toll so you can always escape the traffic of Birmingham for a price. House prices are high in comparison to other nearby Staffordshire towns like Burton and Rugeley. In district elections it has a mix of Conservatives, Labour, Independents and one sole Lib Dem. However at the county level the city of solidly Conservative.
Burntwood is a former mining town with close connections and historical similarities to the towns with Cannock Chase constituency. Indeed Burntwood still elects a number of Labour councillors to Lichfield District council and one to Staffordshire County Council.
The rural wards to the north are sparsely populated and feature a number of picturesque villages. Lichfield Constituency takes three wards from East Staffordshire council, Bagots, Yoxall and Needwood all of whom include parts of the National Forest. The village of Abbots Bromley (within Bagot ward) is famed for its horn dance and has a number of rather good public houses should you be passing through. The Conservatives draw a great deal of their strength in this constituency from these rural wards. Further to the south east the district wards of Alrewas & Fradley and Whittingdon & Streethay have seen large scale development of modern warehouse complexes along the main A38 linking Derby and Birmingham, which somewhat dwarf the earlier industrial transport infrastructure of the Trent and Mersey Canal. Again these wards are strongly Tory.
Overall the constituency is 95% White British, only 13% social rented with high levels of employment and above average levels of qualifications.
The constituency in its current form was only created in 1997 having previously been split between a number of seats but mostly being part of Mid Staffordshire, which was famously won by Sylvia Heal of Labour in a 1990 byelection. Prior to that Lichfield was joined with Tamworth again occasionally voting Labour.
In fact between 1895 and 1970 the city of Lichfield’s constituency only once elected a Conservative (in 1924). This left leaning tendency seems along way off now as the constituency, like the rest of Staffordshire, now leans strongly towards the blue side. Although it should be noted that the boundaries have shifted around so much that any meaningful comparison is difficult. For example between 1918 and 1950 the constituency included Rugeley and the north Birmingham suburb of Perry Barr.
Michael Fabricant would now appear to be in a very safe position and despite (or possibly as a result of) his buffoonish personality has built up a significant degree of local popularity. Labour came within 238 votes of taking the seat in 1997 but in 2019 the Tory majority was nearly 24k. Whilst the Keir Starmer led Labour Party may turn some of Lichfield’s voters, especially in the city, it is hard to envisage this seat going red anytime soon.
