Birmingham North (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham North
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Birmingham
Replaced by	Birmingham Ladywood

Birmingham North was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Birmingham, England. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

The constituency was created in upon the abolition of the Birmingham constituency in 1885, and was itself abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

Before 1885 the city of Birmingham, in the county of Warwickshire, had been a three-member constituency (for further details, see Birmingham constituency). Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the parliamentary borough of Birmingham was split into seven single-member divisions, one of which was Birmingham North. It consisted of the wards of St George's, St Mary's, and St Stephen's.

This division was compact and almost square shaped. It was bounded to the west by Birmingham West, to the north by Handsworth and Aston Manor, to the east by Birmingham East and to the south by Birmingham Central.

In the 1918 redistribution of parliamentary seats, the Representation of the People Act 1918 provided for twelve new Birmingham divisions. The North division was abolished.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	1885	William Kenrick	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1899	John Middlemore	Liberal Unionist
	1912		Unionist
	1918	Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Matthews

General election 1885: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Kenrick	4,179	54.0
	Conservative	Henry Matthews	3,561	46.0
Majority			618	8.0
Turnout			7,740	82.1	'
Registered electors			9,427
	Liberal win (new seat)

Kenrick

General election 1886: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Kenrick	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Kenrick	4,814	69.7	N/A
	Lib-Lab	Eli Bloor	2,089	30.3	New
Majority			2,725	39.4	N/A
Turnout			6,903	71.8	N/A
Registered electors			9,615
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Kenrick	4,547	78.9	+9.2
	Liberal	William James Lancaster	1,213	21.1	−9.2
Majority			3,334	57.8	+18.4
Turnout			5,760	59.1	−12.7
Registered electors			9,753
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+9.2

1899 Birmingham North by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Middlemore	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Middlemore	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

General election 1906: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Middlemore	5,172	80.2	N/A
	Liberal	Joseph Hood	1,275	19.8	New
Majority			3,897	60.4	N/A
Turnout			6,447	71.8	N/A
Registered electors			8,981
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Middlemore	5,189	84.0	+3.8
	Liberal	Joseph Dawson	988	16.0	−3.8
Majority			4,201	68.0	+7.6
Turnout			6,177	73.1	+1.3
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+3.8

General election December 1910: Birmingham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Middlemore	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: John Middlemore
• Liberal: Norman Birkett

See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies

References

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)