History
The constituency was created in 1974 and took its present boundaries in 1997. From 1974 to 2000 it was the constituency of Betty Boothroyd, who was first elected for the former West Bromwich constituency in a by-election in 1973 and became the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons in 1992. She retired as Speaker in 2000 and was elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell. The ensuing by-election was won by Labour Co-operative candidate Adrian Bailey, he has held the seat to date.
At local level, Labour safely hold most of the wards of the constituency, but they are followed by the controversial British National Party, who now have four councillors, ahead of the Conservatives who have just three, hence their fairly strong showing in the 2005 General Election, receiving nearly 10% of the vote.
Read more about this topic: West Bromwich West (UK Parliament Constituency)
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