Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. The constituency was notable for having the largest percentage of Muslim voters of any UK constituency at 48.8% (based on 2001 census figures).

The seat was abolished following a review of parliamentary boundaries by the Boundary Commission for England.

Boundaries

The City of Birmingham wards of Fox Hollies, Small Heath, Sparkbrook, and Sparkhill.

This was an inner-city residential seat in the south-east of Birmingham, noted for its large immigrant population.

In the first half of the 20th century, it was home to many Irish families. In more recent times it is populated by people of Asian origin, who now account for some 50% of residents—the highest proportion of any seat in the country. The majority of ethnic minorities in this area are of Pakistani and British Pakistani origin.

By 2010, unemployment was high, at well over 10%. There are hardly any white collar workers in the seat and it has the third highest proportion of only partly skilled workers in the country.

However, it is a major site for urban regeneration and some £35m is to be invested in local redevelopment initiatives over the next five years.

The constituency was historically a safe seat Labour, but in 2005 their incumbent MP Roger Godsiff saw his majority slashed to just over 3,000 following a strong challenge from RESPECT. Labour also lost many local council seats in the constituency, primarily to the Liberal Democrats but also to the now-defunct People's Justice Party and later to RESPECT's Salma Yaqoob in the Sparkbrook ward.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Birmingham and the West Midlands, the Boundary Commission for England abolished the Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency.

The Sparkbrook electoral ward formed one part of a revised Birmingham Hall Green constituency. The incumbent MP Roger Godsiff was selected for the new Hall Green seat, and won the seat at the 2010 election.

Members of Parliament

Roger Godsiff of the Labour Party represented this seat throughout its existence. From 1992 he had been MP for Birmingham Small Heath, which was merged with Birmingham Sparkbrook to create this seat.

Election		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1997	Roger Godsiff	Labour
	2010	constituency abolished: see Birmingham Hall Green

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 2005: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Salma Yaqoob	10,498	27.5
		Talib Hussain	7,727	20.2
		Sameer Mirza	3,480	9.1
		Jennifer Brookes	1,342	3.5
		Ian Jamieson	855	2.2
		Abdul Chaudhary	503	1.3
Majority			3,289	8.6
Turnout			38,192	51.8
	hold		Swing	−24.4

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 2001: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Qassim Afzal	4,841	13.2
		Shafaq Hussain	4,770	13.0
		Iftkhar Hussain	3,948	10.8
		Gul Mahammed	662	1.8
		Wayne Vincent	634	1.7
	Muslim Party	Abdul Aziz	401	1.1
		Salman Mirza	304	0.8
Majority			16,246	44.3
Turnout			36,647	49.3
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1997: Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Kenneth Hardeman	7,315	17.5
		Roger Harmer	3,889	9.3
		Alan Clawley	959	2.3
		Riaz Dooley	737	1.8
		Pankaj Patel	538	1.3
		Rashid Syed	513	1.2
		Sajada Bi	490	1.2
		Colin Wren	483	1.2
Majority			19,526	46.8
Turnout			41,765	57.0
	win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)
• Sparkbrook and Small Heath

External links

• Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK