The constituency of Tamworth was created in 1997, though it is extremely similar to the old seat of South East Staffordshire, which was held by Conservative David Lightbown from 1983 to 1995. Lightbown's death prompted a 1996 by-election shortly before the last general election, which was won by Labour's Brian Jenkins with a swing of over 20%. As with Wirral South a few months later, it was an early indication that the Conservatives were in serious trouble. Much of the constituency consisted of rapidly expanding estates in and around Tamworth, and it seemed clear that the 'new middle class' they contained had finally decided to make the leap from the Conservatives to 'New' Labour.

Jenkins duly won the slightly altered seat in 1997 with what looks a comfortable majority of 7,500, though Labour have been having problems here since then. In the Euro elections of 1999 they trailed the Conservatives 39-34%, while in local elections to the borough of Tamworth, Labour led comfortably in 1999 only for the Conservatives to make significant gains in May 2000. Considering that the constituency also includes approximately 15,000 mainly rural voters from the district of Lichfield, where the Conservatives could gain vote shares as high as 91% in 1999, this seat may be more vulnerable than it looks. Conservative Luise Gunter should provide Jenkins with a strong challenge at the general election.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 7,496 (15.0%)  Conservative target 123
MP Brian Jenkins
1997 (Turnout 74.2%)
Labour	25,808	51.8%
Conservative	18,312	36.7%
Liberal Democrat	4,025	8.1%
Referendum	1,163	2.3%
UK Independence	369	0.7%
Other	177	0.4%

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For Tamworth 2001 Election result - click here.