According to the constituency tables, Halesowen and Rowley Regis is the seat the Conservatives must gain if they are to form another majority government after the next election. Probably for this reason, the residents of Downing Street, Halesowen have recently found fame courtesy of one national newspaper, their political opinions filling many column inches since the last general election in an attempt to predict the result of the next. In line with many of the individual views expressed, their local council ward has swung firmly to the Conservatives since 1997, as indeed have all wards in Halesowen. This is a little surprising as the town of Halesowen appears a slightly downmarket kind of place, though it sees itself as a separate entity from the Birmingham-West Midlands conurbation and politically has tended to incline to the right in the past.

However, this is not the whole story as the constituency also includes 30,000 voters further into the West Midlands conurbation in three wards around Rowley Regis, which are far more Labour-inclined and have remained that way in the local elections of both 1999 and 2000. These areas (part of the borough of Sandwell) will almost certainly keep the constituency in the Labour column next time, even if Halesowen continues to back the Conservatives. All of which is good news for Sylvia Heal, the short-term MP for Mid Staffordshire, who should be able to rely on a more stable parliamentary base in this more urban part of the region.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 10,337 (21.2%)  Conservative target 166
MP Sylvia Heal
1997 (Turnout 73.6%)
Labour	26,366	54.1%
Conservative	16,029	32.9%
Liberal Democrat	4,169	8.6%
Referendum	1,244	2.6%
Green	361	0.7%
Others	592	1.2%

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For Halesowen & Rowley Regis 2001 Election result - click here.