Wolverhampton South West will be remembered as the seat of right-wing Conservative Enoch Powell from 1950 until 1974, though he had a worthy successor after 1974 in Nick Budgen, who kept the Conservative flag flying after Powell called on electors to vote Labour and then promptly defected to the Ulster Unionists. However, even Budgen could not withstand the tide in 1997, with former local councillor Jenny Jones achieving the once unthinkable and gaining the seat for Labour with a swing of 10%.

In some ways this was a surprise. The constituency includes some extremely affluent suburbs to the west of the town centre, such as Tettenhall Regis and Tettenhall Wightwick, where the Conservatives recorded over 70% of the vote in the May 2000 local elections. Only the central wards of Graiseley and St.Peter's provide reliable Labour leads, yet this was enough in the landslide year of 1997. In the Euro elections of 1999, normal service was restored as the Conservatives led by 11%, and this margin was doubled in the local council elections of May 2000, giving David Chambers hope that he can regain the mantle established by Powell and Budgen after a short interlude.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 5,118 (10.5%)  Conservative target 81
MP Jenny Jones (retiring)
1997 (Turnout 72.5%)
Labour	24,657	50.4%
Conservative	19,539	39.9%
Liberal Democrat	4,012	8.2%
Others	713	1.5%

Politico's Bookstore - General Election Shop

Back to West Midlands page
Back to main UK page

For Wolverhampton South West 2001 Election result - click here.