Labour's results in the local council elections of 2000 were poor in many areas, but nowhere worse than parts of the West Midlands. In Dudley North, their vote dropped from just over 51% in both 1997 and 1999 down to 38%, with the Conservatives capturing the previously Labour ward of Gornal with a majority of 1,200 votes and taking almost 48% of the vote overall.

This brought to an end a run of success which started when Labour gained Dudley West in a by-election in late 1994, with a gigantic swing of 29%. Since then the constituency boundaries have been radically changed, and the new Dudley North is very mixed, including traditionally Conservative Sedgley, divided Coseley and strongly Labour wards in the centre of Dudley itself. On balance, the constituency should be retained by Ross Cranston when the general election is called, but this part of the West Midlands seems to have been regularly associated with volatile results, and the Conservatives cannot be entirely discounted.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 9,457 (19.8%)  Conservative target 157
MP Ross Cranston
1997 (Turnout 69.5%)
Labour	24,471	51.2%
Conservative	15,014	31.4%
Liberal Democrat	3,939	8.2%
Socialist Labour	2,155	4.5%
Referendum	1,201	2.5%
Others	1,028	2.1%

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For Dudley North 2001 Election result - click here.